The Next One...

I've been so fortunate with the success that Enter the Dark has had so far: screenings around the world, great reviews and multiple awards.  More importantly, people really seem to respond to it and have encouraged me to keep going.  And therein lies the problem.  That dreaded sophomore slump.  It's time to start writing the next one.

With Enter the Dark, my main goal was simply to finally finish something.  I've been very good at coming up with ideas in my lifetime, and horrible at actually finishing any one of them.  I purposely made this goal embarrassingly easy to accomplish - shooting it in my own house, with my friends, with gear we already owned.  No excuses.  If I couldn't complete a short film under those circumstances, I never would and I should just accept that fact.  Fortunately with the great help of my friends, we did indeed steam forward and not only finished the project, but made a pretty darn good one as well.

 

But now, things are different.  This time, there can be no excuses - no conditions.  It's not enough to say, "Hey, isn't this pretty good considering we did this with no money and it was just me and my buddies?"  No, this time it has to stand on its own.  This short film has to be good enough that it could be shown to anyone and they would assume it was a Hollywood-produced film.  The story, acting, camerawork, lighting, art direction, sound design and everything else all have to be top-notch.  It has to be seamless - no excuses.

And why is that - you may ask.  Well, it's simple - this has to be my calling card.  There's no more goofing around.  If I'm to ever make it in this industry - to actually fulfill my little ol' BA in Cinema from S.F. State University, then the time is now.  This project has to be good enough for someone to look at and say, "Wow, this guy's good - let's give him a couple million and see what he can do with an actual budget.  Let's give him a feature film to direct."

There, I said it - that's what I ultimately want to do.

So, you tell me, how can anyone actually produce good art under those pressures?  You see, I have to play a game with myself - to forget what my goals are and just concentrate on the task at hand - writing a great story.  But it has to be a story that not only speaks to me, but that enables me to showcase my talents as a writer/director.  It has to be small enough so it is do-able (considering I still will have almost no budget), but big enough to explore inventive ideas. 

In short, I need to produce a tiny, perfect gem of a story that will be the seed to my future.  No pressure there…

UGH!!!

I'm stuffing myself with movies, pouring over M.C. Escher prints and reading Borges' Labyrinths to hopefully have all this wash over me so that some of its brilliance may somehow seep into my pores.  But I know I need to find my own true voice - I cannot allow myself to try to write to please others.  Only by making the story personal will it connect with others on a deeper level.  The things that work in Enter the Dark work because they feel authentic.  I must focus on that.

The good news is I think I've found the story - the architecture around which I may be able to create my film.  I still need to flesh out the details, breathe life into the characters, find the heart - but I think I've found the vessel.  Now, if I can just make the damned thing float!

Lovecraft quote of the month

... I felt the strangling tendrils of a cancerous horror  whose roots reached into illimitable pasts and fathomless abysms of the night that broods beyond time.
- The Lurking Fear

C'mon, you gotta love it.  Who else would have the audacity to actually put that to paper.

Priceless...

Top Ten Ghostly Movies of all Time

During the writing phase of Enter the Dark, for more than a year I watched tons of haunted house and ghost movies, along with endless episodes of Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Paranormal State, Destination Truth and countless other copycat paranormal shows on tv.

I was trying to immerse myself into the world of ghosts, demons, EVPs, and apparitions and wanted to precisely examine just how the scariest scenes are set up and how they actually work to elicit the highest levels of terror.  I tracked down every film I hadn't already seen and re-watched those I already loved.

It has always been my belief that preparation and research are essential ingredients to producing successful art.  What comes off as effortless to the viewer inevitably has hours and hours of practice and study behind it. There's no getting around doing the hard work.

Of everything that I've seen, these are my top 10:


The Haunting (the original of course)

The Shining

The Devil's Backbone  El espinazo del diablo

Sixth Sense










The Ring

The Orphanage El orfanato

Poltergeist

Amityville Horror (again, the original, I mean c'mon really...)

The Entity










Paranormal Activity

Honorable mentions:  1408, The Others, The Mothman Prophecies (which I love, but I'm not sure I would categorize as a ghost movie).

Lot's of people loved The Changeling, The Sentinel and Ghost Story but they just didn't do it for me. Also, of the newer indie horror films, Session 9 and Lake Mungo got lots of buzz, but also felt kinda flat.


UPDATE 8_25_10

Ah yes, the beauty of top 10 lists is that everyone has an opinion - as it should be.  My list is just that, my humble opinion, shaped by my own preferences and prejudices.  For instance I'll let you in on a secret - I actually don't find traditional ghost stories to be that scary. 

Movies like The Changeling follow a predictable story arc that is more like a mystery than a horror film.  Something spooky is going on and if the protagonist can just follow the trail of clues and find out what terrible thing previously happened in the house, then the "spirit" can be released and all will be at peace. 

Boring.  And not particularly scary either.

Movies like The Ring (and of course Ringu) interest me because they start off feeling like traditional ghost stories but then twist it at the end to leave you feeling that yes, there is true evil in the world.

Now that's scary.