31 Days of Halloween...

Something I've always wanted to do was the whole horror-movie-a-day thing through the entire month of October.  It's no secret that I'm a die-hard horror fan, and like the rest of my kind, October is my favorite month out of the year. 
Great weather. Scary movies take over the television networks. Candy everywhere. And it's socially acceptable to hang mutilated body parts in your lawn, and for women to walk around looking like prostitutes. Themed prostitutes (the best kind!)

I look forward to this every year, and this time, it's even bookended with two more extra helpings of awesome.  For one, the Breaking Bad finale airs two days before October first.  And two, my birthday is two days after Halloween.  So, yes, I will have an extra bite of that awesome sandwich, thank you.  In fact, I think I have enough to share.  Oh, and throw in a side of Skull and Bones Sweet-Tarts (the best kind!)

What am I doing to enjoy the shit out of October this year?  Well, for starters, I want to do that whole horror marathon. Last year, I ambitiously picked 31 movies and planned to watch one a night leading up to Halloween.  Here's a link if you fact-checkers need verification.  All the ducks should be in a row.  Go ahead and give it a read too, while you're there.  I thought it was kinda funny. 

Unfortunately, I my eyes were bigger than my... well, I guess eyes would be the best analogy in this case, because I didn't get a chance to watch them all.  Between working my ass off with my cohort, Paul Kurutsides on getting our movie finished in time for our Halloween premiere, and managing work and family, I just didn't have time to enjoy all 31 of them.  I think I got through 12 of them.  Not a great ratio, I know.

This year, I feel like my odds are a little better.  I'm not guaranteeing I'll make it through 31 movies, because let's face it, things come up. However, I really want to try to post a blog update every day, on something Halloween or horror movie related.  Whether it's my thoughts on a particular movie I just watched or re-watched, or a favorite book or short story, or even a TV series.  There's lots I can talk about. 

I was originally toying with the idea of doing a video blog for each movie review- but quickly side-tabled that for a possible future project.  I'd love to do it, but I don't have the time or the resources at the moment, and frankly, there's already so many of those out on the net already, I don't know if I really need to re-invent the wheel.  Speaking of which, I figured I'd keep this short, and end it with one of my favorite Horror-retrospectives.  Every year, Cinemassacre does something similar to this- where James Rolfe tells a little about the most influential horror films of the genre.  He's an incredibly knowledgeable dude on the subject- and I can't recommend his videos enough.  If you're looking for a fantastic timeline through the most genre-defining films from the silent era up to now, I'd give this a watch; The History of Horror. Other years cover Godzilla, Sequels, Cult films, and 80's trash.  Like I said, he does such a good job with these, I don't know if I could really bring anything new to the table.  So, if you were into the idea I teased earlier of me doing a video blog over important horror films, just watch this instead- it's essentially the same thing.  If you didn't give a shit, you should be fine.

-Oh, and one more thing-  the flicks I have in mind for this marathon- they're not all Oscar-caliber material.  Some of them are brilliant, others are a little wonky, but they've all got their charm.  I selected the upcoming films based purely on the idea that these are movies I think of when I think of "Halloween."  There's plenty of great horror films I'm not including (in fact, if you want a list of great horror to watch, again, check out Cinemassacre's site- they go right down the list, and in my opinion, they get it right-)  I'm just picking out movies that give me that good old fashioned fun, Halloween atmosphere.  Bats, cemeteries, castles, witches.  That type of thing*  We've got all year for chainsaw wielding psychopaths-  these films should really encompass the holiday.  Yay paganism! 

See you in a couple days! 

*No, I'm not going to be watching Hocus Pocus. (even if it is the most attractive Sarah Jessica Parker has looked.)

The last pictureshow...

Murder Party Dos

Hello internet.  It's been a while. 

Last April, I posted a series of blogs about my experience filming our feature horror film, The Cutting Room Floor.  It covered just about everything there was to say about the movie, and it was a good way to shut the door on it and prepare for future endeavors. 

And what endeavors would those be you ask?  Well, none other than the follow up to one of the short films-within-the film.  The last half of The Cutting Room Floor was comprised of a horror-comedy called Murder Party.  It was a lot of fun, and we filmed it in that intentionally-cheesy style that has become so popular over the last couple years.  I was a huge fan of Tarantino and Rodriguez's double-feature: Grindhouse-  so that's where a lot of the inspiration came from.  Well, that and a slew of other (probably less-intentional but still enjoyable cheesy) horror films from the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

The plan was to take a break from the year-long ordeal of filming our "legitimate" feature film, and follow it up with a fun, breezy sequel to Murder Party, since that was a blast to make, and it didn't require the same attention to detail that the rest of the movie did.  What actually happened, was we got everyone together, and made something even more strenuous than most of what we filmed during The Cutting Room Floor. 

What I didn't really think ahead to, was that Murder Party had, by far, the biggest cast and crew.  Most of the other shorts in The Cutting Room Floor were pretty small scale, involving only a handful of actors.  Murder Party, was mostly filmed in one night, in one location, with about 15-20 actors/crew members.  And, as I always do, I decided if we were going to follow that up, we had to go bigger, so this time, I added a couple more locations, and quite a few more people.  Which meant even more fun trying to organize the shooting around everyone's schedules.  And of course, that's a sarcastic "fun," because if you've ever had to deal with this, you know it fucking sucks.

Anyway, long story short.  Murder Party 2 was supposed to be a fun, quick palate-cleanser.  We'd shoot it quick, edit it, and move on to something bigger.  However, my film-making partner, Paul Kurutsides wasn't setting for anything but the best, and I can say with utmost certainty, he brought his A-game to this shoot.  From the footage I've seen, I can say this is one of the best looking projects we have ever done, and most of that has to do with the labor-intensive set preparation.  Setting up lights, churning out multiple takes, and wheeling around crane cams.  Not the level of production value I was anticipating when I wrote the script, but you know what, the finished product is going to be worth the hassle.

If I sound a little bitter during this blog, it's due to the fact that when we prepare for a shoot, we always go into it with an idealistic naiveté.  The movie you picture in your head is a completely different animal than what you seem to be filming when the camera starts rolling.  It's a little shocking.  Not everything turns out how you expect it to.  In fact, few things do.  I'm sure this is common around all film sets, not just no-budget movies from guys who do this in their spare time.  It just happens.  However, the cool thing is, things start to happen organically on set; actors interact and build off each other in ways you never anticipated.  Serendipitous events happen involving lighting, framing shots, practical effects, and just random things you never could try to plan for or recreate.  You start laughing and losing yourself in the moment, and before you know it, what you've just filmed is better than you hoped it would be when you first envisioned it.

 

I'm gonna wrap this up soon, because I know I tend to lose people when I get too long-winded.  There's a couple things I still wanted to cover though...

The original plan was to update this blog in conjunction with the filming.  However, after the first night of shooting (August 3rd - from 7 pm - 6 am) I was so burned out, and things were going differently than I expected, so I figured I just needed to concentrate of the picture, and cut everything else out of my focus.  I'm like that on set too-  everyone is having a good time, chilling and enjoying the experience, while Paul and I are running around like fucking madmen, planning our next eight moves ahead of us.  I shit you not, there isn't a minute of time to relax when we're shooting.  Especially on the first night we filmed.  We had an ambitious shot list, and I think we got about 40% of it filmed.  Not great results.  I felt bad because a lot of the crew had to stand around waiting while we tried to rush through scene after scene.  By the time I got home that morning, I was exhausted, but too pumped to sleep.  I felt like I still had a mountain to climb in front of me, and what was supposed to just be a fun time with friends became a long, long fucking project. 

But... we kept on going.  We shot again the next week.  And then the next.  And the next.  I think we've filmed about 5 or 6 separate times by now.  A couple 8-9 hour shoots.  A couple 2-5 hour ones.  So much for a quick, fun sequel. 

I complain, but the thing is, I love doing this.  I just discovered with this last film, that I just can't do it anymore.  Full time job.  Wife and kid.  Plus, everyone else has there own things, and I'm sure there's going to be quite a few more families springing up before too long as well.  I love making movies.  I think we all do.  The only problem is the time.  That's the one thing we just don't have enough of.  So, I think it's safe to say, this will be the last big movie out of me.  Kind of sad, but kind of freeing too.  Over the summer I got a nasty case of strep throat, and I remember laying on the floor in a medicine-induced daze just fucking dreading having to make this movie.  Granted, I was doped out of my mind and wasn't moving around much, but I couldn't even begin to fathom the amount of preparation I was going to have to do to get ready for the shoots.  But, we'd been talking it up- we had people committed to coming to Dubuque from out of the state to film again with us- I've had the script written and re-written, and adjusted, and the re-re-written for months.  I had already spent way too much time on this bastard to stop before we even pressed record.  So, I got my shit together, kind of already knowing this was gonna be the last one, and we dove in, head first. 

So shit Dave, it sounds like you had a real fucking blast making this you sun-shiney piece of shit asshole.  Well, it's been fun when it hasn't been a pain in the ass.  It just seems like this shoot has been a lot more stressful than others.  Maybe it's the scale.  This wasn't supposed to be Cutting Room Floor-style scale, but sure enough- I think it managed to be.  Again, the time is the biggest factor.  If we had all the time in the world, it would be nothing.  But unfortunately, we all have other things to do, and I can't write short scripts, so here we are.  Will we ever film anything again?  Oh shit, yeah.  Will I write anything again.  Most definitely.  Will it be another hour and a half epic involving tons of people and locations.  Nope.  I envision a pretty long break after this, and then maybe, down the road, a couple short things, like the Ghost Hunter Dave series.  Fun, easy stuff like that.  Things that don't involve multiple lights and camera operators.  In fact, I have an idea for something, but I'm so not even wanting to go there until I've had a break, so it's just hanging out in the grey matter for now. 

So, there's that.  At the time of writing this, we have one more day of shooting.  And it's going to be a piece of cake.  Maybe that's why I feel confident enough to start talking about the production now.  The worst of it is behind us.  The beast has been slain, gutted, and hung in the trophy room.  One more couple-hour evening of shooting, and then the editing stage begins.  That's when the movie really takes shape.  It's weird. I described above how different the filming is from what you picture when you write the script.  Well, that same feeling extends into the editing, and that's when your final re-write happens.  It's like everything you've written was just a rough draft, and all the footage you filmed, that's your finished thesis- you just have to figure out how to arrange it and clean it up a little.  This is the fun part.  And partly because it involves sitting in front of a computer; the final reward to sweating your ass off in an abandoned warehouse for multiple hours a day.  (I lost 10 pounds from the first day of shooting till the last.  That's insane.  I guess there went the baby weight.)

Alright- that's it for now.  Since I covered all the fun stuff in this one (ie: me bitching and complaining), look forward to the next couple posts, where I go into some detail on the actual filming process, and what to look forward to in the sequel.  I didn't even get a chance to talk about the cast (which is fantastic) and the story.  One thing, I'm exceptionally proud of, is that I feel nothing was held back on this one.  Everything we film, there's always a couple things I was really attached to that don't make it into the finished product.  Sometime its money.  A lot of time, it's time.  Well, all those little things I've wanted to put in a movie... they've found their home in Murder Party 2.  It's essentially a catch all for every fucked up idea I've wanted to film but haven't been able to yet.  So, believe me when I say, you haven't seen anything yet.

And- credit where credit is due-  all the photos in this blog are courtesy of the wonderfully talented, Jasmine Rodgers.  And she even says photographing people isn't her strong suit.  She's been documenting a huge chunk of the shoots- which is something we've always wanted to do- but like I said, when we're filming, we aint got time for anything else- so it's much appreciated.  Check out everything she's snapped here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/96487370@N04/ 

And- last but not least- for more up-to-date coverage on the filmmaking process, and all things PKP- check out Paul's blog and podcast- http://www.wearepkp.com/index.html