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After three days of board, card and dexterity games, I decided a while ago that the last day needed something special. The teams would be exhausted (they are), and in need of time for their editing. And a change.

My friend Francis Davey suggested "Zombies", the favourite of his games which he invented in the school playground. It starts with a large group of people as humans, and a few zombies. The zombies can only walk, whereas the humans can run. When a zombie touches a human, they grab their shoulder and lead them to the Zombie Master's lair. The Zombie Master performs a dark ritual, and turns them into a zombie. The new zombie goes out hunting for human flesh, helping the other zombies. Thus it gets easier and easier for the zombies and harder and harder for the humans with time.

Sabine, Iwan, and Jacqui did a great job dressing up the pool room to look like a zombie master's lair. Life candles, skulls, fairy lights, and Mark in torn bandages and suit.

I had great fun planning surprising the players. I led people to believe all week that there would be four boardgames on the Friday, as usual. When we went into the smoking room for teams to choose their players today, I continued the pretence, and they chose 4 players for the first Race game Zombies. Jacqui, adjudicator of the pretend board game, took the unlucky people out of the room. A few seconds later there was screaming, and Jacqui rushed back in!

I wasn't completely happy with the hammy conversation we then both improvised, but it did the job. Jacqui explained that a zombie had caught all the team players. Someone asked "can we go and see?", and I said "no, but you can run away! They all leapt up, ready to run. "Today's game is Zombies, it is a game for 16 players". You could feel the joy in the room, no boring boardgames tonight!

I explained the rules, but everyone was egging me on so much to explain them, that I went too quickly, and had to start again for the French speakers from Fruitcake. By this time everyone was practically bursting out of the door. It was like winding up a clock.

"Run run run!"

It was fun walking round the house watching the game, as you can see from the photos Joel took in the two posts linked below. The first capture I saw was two zombies capturing two humans in a pincer movement through the two entries of a bedroom / bathroom complex.

Sara from Have Wings tried to hide in the full size Dalek in the bathroom. She couldn't climb in, so she got on a chair and Matt from Degawdawn lifted her in. She was so well hidden, and was trapped, couldn't get out by herself. Eventually Matt was turned into a zombie, and came back and captured her.

The last human standing, Elaine, had hidden all the time behind a curtain in her bedroom. It took even 15 other zombies quite a while to find her. The house was a perfect size for the number of players.

Photos of Zombies 1, Photos of Zombies 2

This afternoon it came to my attention that one of the teams has behaved really really badly today. It did seem that I would have no choice but to disqualify them outright! But it's my birthday today, and everyone has been so nice to me, singing me songs, playing the whistle for me and giving me cake.

Degawdawns are the guilty team. They used something they shouldn't have done! Some would call it stealing, but as I say, I'm feeling unusually mellow this evening. They took a light that they shouldn't have had. It was only a cheap light, but it was in its box in the equipment room, and was it in the equipment they had been allocated? It was not. And the project is Really Restrictive Shorts, not Fairly Restrictive Shorts Where You Can Ignore The Restrictions If You Like. (Also, as it happens, they broke the light.) So I had to call them in and tell them off.

In the end, I made them eat dinner with their hands tied to each other's in a row. I think they got off lightly, considering that dinner was a curry which each of them only needed one hand to eat. Maybe their punishment should have been heavier, but unfortunately, under this steely exterior, I'm just a big softy.

Gemima

Its sometime past 9 and I'm feeling weary. There are 6 of us in the production office and we're still a way of being done.

While we're tired though I think the teams are also feeling it and they've got a much longer night ahead of them. The editing has begun for real. Many of the team members are expecting an all nighter.

Its not going to be easy editing either and much will rely on it. Done well it will tie the films together and provide cohesion. That might win them the public vote and the glory that will come with that.

I've just finished the final call sheet. It all wraps up at 10am on Sunday with a "teary good bye to all our teams"

But thats a long way away, we've got the finale coming up, we're going to get to see the films our teams have produced. I'm really looking forward to seeing them. I've seen a couple of snipets on the edit screens and its all looking good.

See you tomorrow

Ian

zombies 1
Today the teams final game was a wide game called Zombies devised by our games master Frances and took place throughout the hall.

zombies 2

Invasion

(Half of) All Crew: The whole Really Restrictive Shorts Crew at Trevor Hall! (Well, maybe half of them anyway)

Teams: From both the front and back. For easy identification at a distance.

I'm Jacqui and I've been a performer on the really restrictive shorts project. every evening the teams have had the chance to win me or other performers to be in their film the following day. I've worked with three of the four teams- so all except octopus.
Its been greatfun to be part of this project i've been an unhappy teratorial wife, a fetish cat suited lady and today a nurse! i've enjoyed all three for very differet reasons... tehe! can't wait to see the end results i'm sure it will be quite a treat! enjoy the web site and hope to see people at the film night on saturday... that was my first ever blog!

Dining Room: Ffion from Degawdawns making a guest appearance...

In the Smoking Room: Shooting the big cardigan scene! "Hey! There's my cardigan! They didn't chop it up into little pieces or burn it! Hurrraaay!" - Dom, Cardigan Expert

Work It, Baby!: All action in the music room - Nurse Jacqui struts her stuff!
This Tall: All performers must be at least this tall.