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Monday, August 29, 2011

Practical Effects or CGI?

I prefer practical effects but also recognize how a combination of practical and CGI can add to the magnitude. Here's my take on Mahalo.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N4o7vCdXG4&feature=player_embedded

What's your opinion of the use of CGI for special effects?

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Making Low Budget Horror Films: What is your favorite BLOOD recipe?

Making Low Budget Horror Films: What is your favorite BLOOD recipe?: Blood is a common makeup component in horror films. Stage blood works well enough, but independent filmmakers usually prefer to make their o...

Tag Your Terror!

Products and services of a particular brand are often promoted with the use of images, slogans, or logos, so that the image, slogan, or logo becomes associated in a consumer’s mind with the brand. For example, when we think of Nike, we think of the slogan, “Just Do It.” Companies consistently repeat slogans, logos, and imagery to reinforce the association in our memories and tap into our emotions so we will immediately associate such identifiers with the brand. Similarly, images, slogans, and logos can be effective tools for filmmakers and can form the foundation for the design of the rest of a promotional campaign.
Most movies have taglines or slogans, which are catchy short phrases that capture the tone of the film and peak our interest. The tagline is repeated in posters, on Web sites, and in other promotional materials, so that, as with an image or slogan for a company, we start associating it with the film.
"What happens when you sleep?"

MEMORABLE TAGLINES
Psycho (1960)   “Check in. Relax. Take a shower.”
Jaws (1975)   “Don’t go in the water.”
Halloween (1978)   “The night HE came home.”
Alien (1979)   “In space no one can hear you scream.”
Poltergeist (1982)   “They’re here.”
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)   “They’re back.”
Seven (1985)   “Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die.”
The Cable Guy (1996)   “There’s no such thing as free cable.”
The Blair Witch Project (1999)   “Everything you’ve heard is true.”
Saw (2004)   “Every puzzle has its pieces.”
Paranormal Activity (2007)   “What happens when you sleep?”

What’s your favorite horror film tagline to add to this list?

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Scream Queen

An advantage of making low-budgt horror films is that they do not require a high-powered Hollywood star to find a market. However, horror films do have a star brand of their own that legions of fans appreciate - the "scream queen." This term has been used for decades - some will remember Fay Wray in the original King Kong. Back then, heroines were typically portrayed as victims who needed rescuing by strong male leads. Although endowed with the same set of lungs, today's scream queen is strong clever, and independently able to handle danger. A scream queen can be a lead or a victim, so she doesn't always survive.

What has not changed over time is the love for this archetype, and it is a worthy consideration for low-budget horror films. Some memorable scream queens include:


Janet Leigh - Psycho
Marilyn Burns - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Heather O'Rourke - Poltergeist
Jamie Leigh Curtis - Halloween
Drew Barrymore - Scream
 
Who would you add to this list?
 

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Suspense vs Gore

Many new filmmakers believe that writing scenes with extreme violence and blood will evoke fear and shock and thus make a project more commercially successful. While it's true that splatter films sell fairly well in low budget DVD markets, they rarely leave a lasting impression. It is not so much the horrific acts that frighten us, rather the suspense leading up to those actions - the girl trapped alone in a dark basement making that fateful turn, the student filmmakers stuck yet another night in a tent waiting for the inevitable besieging, the babysitter staring out the window as the boogie man appears down the street. As Alfred Hitchcock once said, "There is no terror in the bang, only the anticipation of it."

"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."

This is not to say that bloody massacres should be avoided, as there is fun, campy self-awareness in sla sher films that many fans love. For example, Piranha 3D took blood (and boobs) to the limit in a very campy way. But a bombardment of gore, like too much bad news, has a numbing effect that detaches us from the action.

Are you a suspense or gore fan?

Women as Victims and Heroines

The role of women in horror films has been the subject of much critical debate, as in the past they were usually portrayed as victims of psychotic killers and crazed monsters who subjected them to horrifically violent danger or death. What is still true today is that it is often while they are engaged in sex or drugs that young female victims are slaughtered, suggesting that they should be punished for the sin . Only the "good girl," the one who generally resists sexual advances, manages to survive, as if survival is a reward for her chastity. The good girl is one of the most common characters used in horror, pitting a strong, resourceful heroine who finds the will to survive against an evil being without a conscience (e.g., A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Scream). While this "beauty and the beast" model has had its share of successes, the archetype is reaching a point of saturation, and the predictability of this type of heroine is killing the suspense.
Some of the most memorable characters of all time do not conform to the usual archetypes; they are not simply helpless victims, or heroic goody-two-shoes. In Rosemary's Baby, for example, the heroine did not manage to save her baby from Satan's evil-doers, despite all her efforts, leaving us with a troubling view that evil can reign. Her character had very human vulnerabilities, insecurities, anxieties, and growing paranoia about events too large and improbably to grasp. Had Rosemary beaten or outwitted Satan, the movie would have had a much different and undoubtedly less powerful tone. Her ultimate powerlessness against the devil made the movie that much more credible and engaging.

What's your take on the role of women in horror?

Creating Memorable Villains

Many horror villains are characters of pure evil, with no dimension to their personalities outside of their bent for violence and carnage. These villains have been highly successful in films like Halloween and 28 Days Later. In these cases, the protagonist must be that much more dimensional to balance the film and win our support for her survival. Jamie Lee Curtis as gutsy babysitter Laurie Strode was certainly someone worth rooting for.

Villains have also been protrayed in more dimensional ways with success. For example, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer did not rely so much on graphic depictions of violence but rather on the unpredictable, random motivations of a serial killer. Our forced intimacy with the killer is a jarring, disturbing ride into a psychotic mind that shows enough traces of humanity to make us question his horrendous actions. The popularity of Silence of the Lambs was in large part due to the infamous cinematic villain Hannibal Lector, with his idiosyncratic personality and complex relationship with FBI trainer Clarice Starling.

Whether pure evil or milti-dimensional, villains must be as well-developed as their hero or heroine counterparts. They have very powerfulmotivations that have their origin somewhere in the past. Creating character histories that help explain these motivations will make their actions that much more credible to audiences.

Who is your favorite villain of horror and what makes them so frightening?

What is your favorite BLOOD recipe?

Blood is a common makeup component in horror films. Stage blood works well enough, but independent filmmakers usually prefer to make their own concoctions, not only to save money, but also for the fun of it. To look real, blood needs good color and consistency. If it is too light or runny, it won't pass for the real thing. In the days of black and white film, a much larger array of substances was availale, as the color was inconsequential. Hitchcock, for example, used Bosco chocolate syrup for blood in Psycho.

These days, some red dye or other form of red coloring is essential, and the darker and gloppier the better. Homemade concoctions aiding color and texture have included ingredients like corn syrup, chocolate mixes, peanut butter, flour, laundry detergent, condensed milk, arrowroot, coffee granules, Kool-Aid mix, strawberry jelly, gelatin, and more.

Do you have a favorite tried and tested blood recipe?