We recently announced the Lock & Load release of the cephalyx in our Keynote video featuring a terrifying live-action sequence that sets the tone for the sinister nature of the cephalyx. I caught up with the video’s creators, Tony Konichek and Ed Bourelle, to get some inside info on the making of the video. —Lyle

What exactly does the live vignette depict?

Tony: Early on we knew we wanted to start the cephalyx video with the creation of a drudge. Our goal was to make it as creepy and unnerving as possible, to make viewers uncomfortable watching the process because that is exactly what the cephalyx embody. They aren’t gentle, and the process of “drudgifying” someone is extremely painful. They are seriously bad news, and you shouldn’t feel good when they are around.

Ed: The problem with shooting the creation of a drudge is that we didn’t have a Hollywood budget. We had no drudge to show at the end, so we knew all our shots would need to be tight in on body parts and leave a lot to the viewer’s imagination.

What was the inspiration for this macabre display?

T: WIth a timeframe of only a minute or two to get our point across we took a lot of inspiration from hard-rock music videos. We focused on creating an intense mood using visceral imagery and sound to let the viewer’s mind fill in the blanks. This is something music videos excel at. We brainstormed images we thought would not only be appropriate for a cephalyx surgical procedure but would also be disturbing and cause viewers discomfort.

E: I viewed it as a torture-horror rock-video marketing movie. Trust me, it’s a thing. I’m not a huge fan of torture-horror, especially when directors are using shocking images to make up for lack of a good story, but I really wanted to find a way to tell our story using horrific images without pushing it too far.

Who was the poor soul used as the guinea pig in that video?

T: There were only a handful of us working on the shoot, and someone had to do it. I really wanted to be the one who got his eye poked out, but I had to be behind the camera, so Ed got to have all the fun being poked and mouth-hooked. He also served as most of the black-gloved cephalyx hands as well.

E: Yep, with the exception of the cephalyx hands screwing the bolt into my arm (which was Will Shick), I got to be the star of the show. When you crop in close enough, you would never know I’m holding my own eye open.

Some of that imagery is pretty grotesque. What did you use as props?

T: It’s amazing what you can accomplish with stuff from your garage and a trip to the butcher shop! Ed and I just collected parts we thought would be cool to use as cruel surgical instruments and drudge parts: tile cutters, spikes, hooks, chain, an auger, a circular saw, pressure gauges, conduit, sheet metal, a skull from Ed’s office. We even borrowed some of Jason Soles’ art sculptures and a pair of hemostats. We spent the morning dirtying up the props with P3 paint so they didn’t look too clean—I don’t think the cephalyx are concerned with good sterilization practices.

E: I custom-made a few of the props, like converting some of Nick Kay’s concept art into the schematics on the surgery table. We also disguised some modern implements with the addition of masking tape and Formula P3 paint weathering.

How did you achieve such realistic flesh?

T: Flesh manipulation is a big part of making a drudge. We trotted off to the local butcher and got ourselves a nice pork loin to serve as a torso or other meaty body part. To help sell the effect of drilling and cutting into flesh, Ed recommended we get some pigskin, which uncannily resembles human skin, to put over the top of the pork loin. We were also able to use a little fake blood made out of corn syrup, chocolate syrup, and food coloring. It smelled really good. The fake blood, I mean. Not the raw meat.

E: The pigskin was super-clean when we got it (apparently the butcher doesn’t like to sell filthy goods), so we went in a rubbed it down with various P3 paints. This helped the pores stand out, added some depth, and even made it looked bruised in a few places. When we were done, it looked straight-up creepy.

Tell me about some of your favorite special effects from the shoot.

T: I think my favorite shots are those featuring the fake flesh. It just looked so real. During the shoot I would frequently hear someone, including myself, saying “Eeeeeeeeeew!” That’s when we knew we had what we going for. When the crew is creeped out, you’re probably doing it right.

E: They were all good as we were doing them. In the end, one of the creepier shots in the video is where the flesh just sort of jiggles to the perfect hit in the music. Really hit home that it belonged to something living. The shot with the eyeballs dropping into the jar was a nice happy accident, as we got our best take just as a trickle of blood was running down the side of the glass.

What was your favorite part of filming this video?

T: In the beginning we had a list of what we wanted to get on camera, but I think my favorite part was all the shots we hadn’t planned for. We had a lot of fun coming up with ideas and combinations of what we could do with everything we had at our disposal, trying to increase the creep-out factor. There is a whole lot of footage that didn’t make it into the final cut, but every second of it was an absolute blast to shoot. I hope that comes through in the final video.

E: Really, my favorite part was just having fun with it. We hit our shots and improvised along the way. I’m convinced that the reason so many crappy torture-horror films get made is because they are so damn fun to make. We got a few others involved as well, holding stretched flesh in place or assisting with moving shadows across our lighting setup. I really did run that drill through the meat on the table and during one take I still had the drill spinning when I pulled it out and splattered graphic designer Laine Garrett with some viscera as she assisted. Thanks to the liberal application of tarps we didn’t destroy the PPHQ conference room during the making of this film.