Back then, all my production meetings were taking place at SECOND CUP (those coffee places we have around here...), just for the heck of staying in the spirit of the shoot to come. There, I met Isabelle for the really first time. Brought her a VHS copy of the first (Cup), poster advertising, stickers, a metal pin (Yeah, we also had made some of these collectables)... a sexy small G-String and of course, a copy of the script to go on top of that. One night, at another meeting I had called (same place, same time, same "bat-channel"...), Isabelle brought a friend... (If I had knew that night that I was about to meet with THE DEVIL, I would have dressed in a much more proper way to fight against that force of nature.) Going back home, she (the friend) had to make half of the same way that I was going to get to her own place. Almost not said a word the whole night, she anyhow risked herself to ask if I still had some parts left in the sequel. For a reason I can't explain, she had fell in love with the Cups and truly, madly, deeply wanted to be a part of it. The problem was, all the casting was done. Friend of mine (Jacques Roy) already had trapped me the same way just after he had seen my story-board (he "wanted" to be attacked !!!), so I knew in a way, that there is always room for one (cute) more !! By the time I went home, half a hour later, I had crafted a new character in the plot, just for her. Ever since, Catherine Daly (who likes to be called "KITTY"...) has been there to help in what ever way of promotion possible, posing in black Cup-Gear (cause those for the sequel are now white, and completely different...) and taking shots that deserved her a place on the (planned) front cover box of "KC2". She soon became so important in the story, mostly for the last line she has to deliver (!!), that nothing on Earth would have made me replace her. Now, she simply OPENS and FINISHES the show... in complete beauty. Don't forget that my son's a big Cups fan, with all that "push the envelope" evil attitude... My friends, on the other side, were all like: are you gonna put some nudity in this one ??!! The way to cut the deal was clear in my mind and simple enough to read. I made a lot of nice shots, for adults to enjoy the view very much... but never too deep, for kids to get the point. For them (the kids), it's just gonna be "a girl walking around in panties", and for the others, it's more gonna be like "one hell of a piece of ass". And in order to close that debate, I never felt that graphic meat had a place in the Cup "universe" anyway (so I'll keep that HUSTLER style for another tale...).

Time was always against us. Getting everything ready, months had passed by and weeks never seemed long enough. When it came time to start the latex puppet production again, around the middle of April 2003, something moist in the air made everything go wrong a couple of times. I wanted to make brand new puppets and decided not to use any of the old (original) ones. My idea was to make as many puppets as possible, so that "it won't be possible to have the same one at two different places at the same time" (like in the first KC...). I had now made about six new molds to achieve that, to run those things like a factory all at once... but the moisty damn weather kept on messing my plans. I finally changed my methods (the LATEX bill was getting high...), and things started to go fine, almost too late but at once.

To have many differents cups around was not my only goal... I wanted some of them (I'll say about 5, from specific actions in the sctipt) to be "really" different from the others, and have more features. The "Smoker-Cup" is a good example. First, the "Fat-Cups" had to be really bigger this time, so that the distinction would be easy (and here you had a different mold to the bunch of others six...). Plus, of course, the "new" Leader also had to have a specific look on his own, and there, five more molds where added the day I sculpted thoses unique personalities. Here, to make you understand a little more of the spirit, I'm gonna tell you about the one I called "REX", one of my all time favorites...

REX has a rusty long chain attached to the back of his "head", and it takes two other Cups to hold him down. He's a vicious/rabid cup, and when you see him in full speed action, you will call IT too, "A REAL KILLING MACHINE"... So a cup like that needed to be a little different, him and some of the others. There is also THE "Tall-Cup", the big dumb/misfits one of the clan (a poor mistake when the packs where made...) who react and "mutated" severely, after he got bitten by a mosquito... And one day on set, my friend Jacques (Roy) asked me if IT was the new leader... cause he was a bigger cup. In my book, I told him, any Cup can become a Leader if he is pissed enough, so size don't really matter.

The shooting, I think, started with the hardest parts of the script condensed all at once, over the course of the same weekend (in July of 2003). 3 weeks before, me and Jacques went to his brother Michel's place and asked him "not to cut the grass" in his backyard, since he had such enough space to set a "fake camp set-up" there. Looking at the sky for any sight of rain became my worst uncontrollable nightmare, since the script called for a "nice and sunny weekend" of camping in the woods, high life and party time... This was going to be the only time the four main actors where going to be there and sharing screen time at the same moment. Richard and Véronique, who live in a different town, had to come down, ready for battle, with their Mini-DV Camera I was about to use (and borrow for the rest of the shoot...). My fingers where crossed, since pretty mutch all had to work, at once again. Jonathan (Aubin) was cast to play Isabelle's boyfriend in the story, more meats for Cups... So on friday night, I packed Jonathan's Jeep/truck (used in the shoot also) with freshly cut branches of trees, and moved them to the location, in order to patch some minor holes that let the neighbours houses visible... and there created a "false forest" as soon as the camping equipment arrived, right next to Michel's picnic table and BBQ station. Getting there, the place now looked like a total SWOOMP !! It was terrific (!!), he really had made it possible. And soon, the "illusion" was there. Poor Jonathan never really said much against my visions and way of doing things, and just before that ride began, we knew that it was gonna be one weird of a summer to come. Oh YEAH !!

One day, shooting some chasing scenes in the "real" forest with mostly just Isabelle, and all my crew, two (damn real) POLICE OFFICERS arrived. Some lazy neighbours of the area had probably made a cheap complaint, about kids going in with "a lot of stuff and never coming out", and sent them for check-up. Isabelle, at this hour, was all wounded with make-up gear at that moment, with many Cups down to her legs... While some of my friends where about to run (for their life...), I had the camera in my hand and could not go really far... I smiled to Isabelle and let THEM come. Not much THEY asked, till one of THEM finally asked "what was the title of the movie??"... and yep, one of my friends said "Killer CUP, part 2" !!... with a big silly smile up his face. Lucky for us, someone else had put on his KILLER CUP "t-shirt" that day and was able to cool THEM down (already a hand on their guns...). THEY looked around again, half sure, trusted that we where not doing some PORNO shit, and left us alone to finish the day on a tight schedule.

Since I know now how ...ric works the editing process, I made sure not to forget anything during the shooting... to the point that it kind of became my own paranoia. I so madly not wanted to go back, months after to finish "some scenes", that every time, I shot from as many angles as possible, with as many various actions as possibleI I truly cut it down. Better have more than less... All along with the sun's hour which was getting shorter, day from day. Running from work to shoot missing INSERTS, when a "with actors" day had been done, I kept going in the woods mostly all that Summer (2003), till the leaves turned yellow and fell down to the ground... to make me realize that Fall had come and that it was over.

But the word "OVER" does not exist. Really... Now, it's up to ...ric and myself to soon bring all of this to one big piece again. So far, I know that the story is a better one... That the sickness in it is more fun... More twisted... I've seen some of Monique's new designs, and they are better "damn great"... Old pal Phil (Ivanovick) is working on some sequences of virtual CGI Cups... to spice up the action... YEAH. The Sequel, all in all, is better crafted... I'm telling ya, for those who liked the first one, YOU HAVE SEEN NOTHING YET !!!

I'll shut my mouth before I say that I want to go back...
And I'm gonna warn you all with one last thing...

The Killer Cups will get ya AGAIN !!!
(Before 4 more years will have pass...)

Best,
JeF.X
--------
Careful, please, with your coffee... ;)

All e-mails can be provided on special request at:
grenier.jef@videotron.ca
13,829 Victoria
Montréal, Québec
H1A 1N4
Canada

Read The Monsters review of The Killer Cup right here!

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