Set roughly three years after the events of Top Predators (2016), we find Jeremy working alongside the mysterious bioweapon organization CEO to hunt down the still-loose monsters. But all at once, a huge new wave of creatures goes on the attack, on a much larger and more organized scale than they could ever accomplish on their own. Who... or what... could be behind this invasion?

​

Production notes:

​

Top Predators 2 (2019) was by far the most ambitious project that No Budget Films had ever created. The time it took to create was staggering—the earliest planning stages began in the first few months of 2017, and the last of the finishing touches were added all the way in April 2019. Ironically, all Top Predators sequels were originally intended to be short and sweet episodes, akin to some kind of a show. But in the end, Top Predators 2 turned into the third longest No Budget Film and decidedly the most complex yet. I wanted to expand on the idea of large numbers of monsters on the loose, so inevitably the project increased in its ambition.

 

The script was 45 pages in length, and called for a variety of locations, costumes, and props. Two essential pillars established early were the Giant Brain, and the return of Bobby as a cyborg. Neither of these were actually serious suggestions originally. The Giant Brain, for example, was just an inside joke based on Pierre's large afro (we often liked to joke that he didn't actually have a lot of hair and that he just had a really big brain). I however thought these joke suggestions would be pretty funny to actually implement into the film, so I kept them.

 

The Giant Brain prop was no doubt the most difficult asset to create for the film. We began with a wire frame, on top of which was applied a whole lot of tape, followed by papier-mache strips. Then we applied a generous amount of sealant (you know, the kind you use to seal up leaking pipes and whatnot), and made sure to shape it into a very brain-like texture. Once the sealant dried, we spray painted it all hot pink, and added some finishing touches like bits of random electronic junk as well as eyeballs. The whole assembly was built with a hole in the bottom so we could stick it onto Pierre's head, but after some testing we found that it was pretty loose so we came up with the ingenious idea of integrating a bicycle helmet into it. After that, the Giant Brain was complete and ready for action.

 

Top Predators 2 was full of other props as well, such as nerf guns, creature puppets, various tools, and a custom-made "paralyzing neurotoxin dart" constructed out of a pen, screw, random bits of metal, and dish soap. The costumes also got a bit more attention than usual in this movie. Jeremy and the CEO's clothes were handpicked by the actors themselves, and CyberBobby's robot suit was purchased for around $40. The bucket helmet was custom and already in hand before the movie began pre-production. The Cyber Surgeon's lab coat was borrowed from none other than Bob Bobbington, and as for the crocs... Nikki wears those just anyway. The werewolf and zombie costumes are both past Halloween costumes of mine that have appeared in previous movies (long time viewers may be able to recognize them).

​

Of course, the puppets are a bit of an icon of No Budget Films, so I can't not talk about those for a bit. The Allosaurus puppet was prominent in Top Predators 2, making this film the first larger scale production to feature it. Its scenes involved a lot of green screening techniques to allow full body shots, something that was pretty rare up until now. The green screen also allowed for more than one to be on screen at once, since we've only got one of these things at our disposal. A Spinosaurus puppet similar to the one featured in the first Top Predators appears, though this one has a different color scheme, giving it a distinct, meaner look. Top Predators 2 is the first video of mine to showcase this newer Spinosaurus. Its inclusion was actually a somewhat last-minute decision, as its scene originally called for two Allosaurus, but I thought it might be nice to call back to the first film. The last notable puppet would be the crocodile that emerges from the ground, and it was included to add a bit more variety to the monsters, and as a nod to The Crocodile of Lornwood Lake (2017). Aside from a brief cameo in a Dino Duels episode as a corpse, this appearance is the debut of this particular crocodile puppet. The puppet scenes overall utilized a lot of green screen, so their use on the actual set was a lot less than in past productions. Because of the more complex nature of the scenes, this increased use of green screen was something of a necessity.

​

The filming locations were selected with care, and I think the areas chosen were quite exciting and fit well. Becoming friends with Nikki was something that really helped the movie, because it allowed us to film up at her mountainous abode, a perfect setting for the story because it's high ground nicely isolated from the society below, making it an ideal escape route for our protagonists. There was one awkward situation though, in which we were filming on a neighbor's property that Andrew (Nikki's brother) picked out. He assured us the spot would work out fine and that the neighbors wouldn't mind, even though we couldn't ask them because they were away. But I trusted Andrew's judgement, since he knew these people better than me, and besides, he would have our backs if we raised any eyebrows. That was, until he and Nikki had to take off on one particular filming day, leaving the rest of us to finish the scene on this stranger's property. And unfortunately, it was on this exact day that a suspicious neighbor came over to ask what we were doing, and believe me, it was an awkward exchange as we tried to clarify who we were and what we were doing. Luckily though, we managed to smooth things out in the end, and the scene proceeded as planned.

​

Other locations included suburban streets for the monster attacks on the city, and the inside of my garage for the Cyber Surgeon's base of operations. Sure it was kinda obvious that it was just a garage, but I thought it looked appropriately cluttered and claustrophobic, so it served the needs of the film. We even snagged a bunch of gnarly looking tools from Maury (Nikki's dad) to really sell that "mad surgeon" vibe.

​

Filming itself was kind of a nightmare though. Attempting to round up this many high school/college age people is no easy task, because it always seems like at least one person is bound to be too busy. It's like herding cats. Finding a day when everyone was available to film was like a miracle. Believe me, I was always trying, but everyone's schedule is different and always shifting, so the whole production process ended up taking a whopping seven months. On top of that, as I was editing, I kept finding areas in the movie I thought would require additional shots to make it all flow properly, so I'd often have to return to a location, usually with a helper, to film some extra shots. One time we even re-shot a portion of an entire scene. The green screen shots were also tedious to do, because there were a lot of them, and I'd often have to use my large 9 x 15 foot green screen (which I bought specifically for this film), and setting that up was always difficult.

​

Overall, Top Predators 2 was a mammoth task, with unprecedented complexity and attention to props, costumes, and locations. It was difficult, but was it worth it? Absolutely. I think we really made something special, and every time I look back on it, I feel great pride for our accomplishment. Still, I don't know if tackling something of this scale is something I'd want to do again in the near future, because trust me, it was EXHAUSTING. And focusing on it so much kinda robbed my attention from shorter, more frequent uploads, so there's that as a downside. However, I regret none of it, and one day I will undoubtedly return to making larger scale productions, this time equipped with invaluable knowledge and experience gained from Top Predators 2.