Tuesday, March 30, 2010

DAY 001: MAKING THE THRILLER MOVIE * * * * *




DAY 001 



Welcome to the process of making a full length #extremeindie horror film:

MOVIE TITLE:

*   *   *   *   *

(In the coming months, I will reveal the title of the movie one letter at a time)



 Stay tuned for the next video/blog - as the grind of writing the script - handling other aspects of pre-production - and - others get upset over the time dedicated to pre-production - welcome to the life - #extremeindie friends!
BE  SURE TO SIGN UP AS A MEMBER AND THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!
I’m just sayin’...
O.W. 


15 comments:

  1. WRITTEN BY: 1001Hobbies

    So, that's what it looks like from behind me when I am writing? So true, the blank screen and the flashing cursor. Yup, the program writes in screenplay format, but it doesn't write the screenplay for you. Something I think a lot of people don't completely realize.

    Twenty-eight pages in one sitting? You da man. I think the most I have done is 11, on a good day. People don't know how difficult it is to create every single element in a story and I think this video helps to illustrate that. It's not just what happens, it's how it happens, how it happens and makes sense, every element of every character.....that YOU make up, and much more. Oh, and don't forget, this has to be EXCELLENT.

    I'm on the edge of my seat. So is my cat.

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 09:00 AM

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  2. bahahahaha - That was priceless! While your dancing was really entertaining - I would say don't quit your day job ;)

    You KNOW I'm on the edge of my seat!

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 10:40 AM

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  3. lol - yeah Steve - it's the grind of putting a story together that I think most feel - hey - that's easy enough - my favorite are the one's who go - I could do that - and I'm always the first to tell them - you should - and I mean it - but then... it's crickets lol. Looking forward to posting the next vid and I'll email ya this weekend fellow filmmaker ;-)

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 10:42 AM

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  4. WRITTEN BY: Alana

    Yes, this is exciting...the cats are a little scary. I love your groovy dance moves. This brings back memories of the College of Santa Fe! Good luck with the script writing. I had a one day dream of writing a movie and decided to go eat some pizza instead...keep up the good work!!

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 02:07 PM

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  5. lololol - so glad your are here Alana - I really know no one who is more passionate about movies than you - really look forward to seeing you posting here much more my favorite movie fan!

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 03:13 PM

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  6. WRITTEN BY: Shirl

    Okay......now I don't believe you really wrote 28 pages in one day! Fess up! You already had some type up. Right? And being of the old old school, shouldn't you have an outline or something of the basic story line?

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 03:30 PM

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  7. Nope - outline is in the mind - usually the whole story is worked out in the head before you start typing - it's the physically sitting down and typing that gets most people. Yup - 28 pages - one sitting - not really uncommon for a rough. ;-)

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 03:34 PM

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  8. WRITTEN BY: Shirl

    You know, I've been thinking and wondering about my previous comment. Good scary books (the Haunting), (the Road), and (the Ruins). Excellent scary scary stories. The movies on these books.....never came close to the horror or fear produced by the books. They even made the Haunting twice! That's not to say good scary horror movies haven't been made from books, but it seems to be really hard to transfer that horror to the screen. So, what's the secret? And do you have a story line in mind as you type. Do you imagine fears you have and build your story around those? I know suspense is more frightening to me than blood and gore. Even in movies not in horror genre can be so suspenseful, it is extremely hard for me to watch those particular scenes more than once, even when I know what's going to happen! Anybody else on this.

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 03:39 PM

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  9. WRITTEN BY: Shirl

    I keep thinking of scenes or stories that have frightened me in movies....old, new, bad and good. I think one thing that frightens me deeply is when the character realizes they must physically do something that is so unlikely to suceed that it is almost overpowering. They have to face the foe and defeat it, whether a huge bear, a terrifying alien, a mad killer, a dangerous physical feat, or whatever.... they don't want to do it but its either that or give up and die. The unknown factor is always terrifying too. Our imaginations scare us to death before we even see anything. The tension is almost unbearable, and that makes for a scary movie. Keep typing those pages and make a terrific SCARY MOVIE! Will follow the journey of your journey faithfully!

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 03:50 PM

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  10. Yeah - I agree - it seems to me that there are two specific types of horror movies that work - the slasher horror ( SAW - FRIDAY13(s) -HALLOWEEN(s) ) which I do watch and don't have a problem with/they can be lots of fun to watch with a date lol AND the suspense scary movie
    ( PSHYCO - BLAIR WITCH - PARANORMAL - ROSEMARY'S BABY )

    I tend to feel though - that the suspense movies actually scare me more as in they do let my mind pull up images of what I would find scary vs showing me what they thin I would be scared of - I think Paranormal did this very well - we never see what that thing is - but each of were allowed to imagine what it was in our minds - mine was pretty scary in my head. To tell you the truth - finding good suspense/scary movies anymore are very hard to find - I was trying to think of some very good ones - and the list was few vs a large list for the slasher series - not sure if that's because it's harder to do the suspense scary ones - or the market for the slasher film is just much larger ;-/ I was having a conversation when I came up with idea for my new movie with a young film fan - and they had never even seen PSHYCO and thier scary movies were all the slasher type - and when I asked about just a scary movie without the slash - they were blank. That brought up Paranormal - which they had rented and watched in the afternoon on a Saturday with friends over - and of course - they felt it was boring and with no action - and for me - in the theater at midnight on a Saturday night - it was one hell of a scary time lol - people were screaming and shaking and one girl was actually crying and made her boyfriend take out of the theater. Of course I say all this and I find the TV series I SURVIVED one of the scariest shows on TV - and it's nothing but talking lol. I love that show.

    I'll tell you one of the best horror movies that the potential to be huge with just a few tweaks was HAUTE' TENSION or the AMerican title I think was HIGH TENSION - but the unrated version was just stupid - but the R version got real close to being a classic - because it was leaving more to us - but I'm pretty sure the US distributors went straight for the slasher version ;-/

    Friday, March 26, 2010 - 04:10 PM

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  11. WRITTEN BY: Shirl

    I have never been into the slasher movies, which I associate with Halloween, Freddie, Saw, etc. but the few I have watched are scary, no doubt. Mayb e I am mixing up horror with suspense. For instance, the move, The Audition, was terrifying in its horror. Suspense was created but the horror of what was done to victims was more than the suspense. On the other hand, suspense can be created in most any situation, whether everyday life, sci fi, horror, or even comedy. The moment of dawning of what you perceive is going to happen or the possibility of that happening, your senses are tensing. Alien had plenty of gore but the suspense was the overpowering theme to me. The searches through those damp, dripping, dark halls between machinery, etc. was terrifying. The search for the alien in the medical room. The small walk the heroine had to make to get in the space suit. By the time she was putting the cat in the travel pod, we were even afraid of what the cat might do or be transferred into. Have to run for now, breakfast is calling......

    Saturday, March 27, 2010 - 07:32 AM

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  12. I agree - the line between suspense and horror is very very thin - Audition for me was both - as was Alien. Whereas Nightmare on Elm and Saw and the sequels to Halloween are more horror that scary to me. I never once in any of those movies felt scared - yet Alien had me on the edge of my seat the moment the movie threw me a curveball (which rarely happens) and the person I thought was the lead - "Dallas/Tom S." was killed right off the bat. Now I think the original Halloween was both as well - the sequels though went a the slasher route and while I watched them - they didn't scare me at all. Maybe one could say - the slasher movies seem to focus on HOW someone gets killed - whereas suspense horror films focus on IF they are going to perish - maybe.... many movies would blow that out of the water - but it does work in many movies - like Jaws - it more seemed suspense - as in - will the person get out of the water before being chomped on - where in Saw - it's - we all know they are going to die - but how. My movie is focused on IF and what - if anything - is around the corner - not the visual of the how.

    Saturday, March 27, 2010 - 07:57 AM

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  13. WRITTEN BY: 1001Hobbies

    Just to throw in my two cents...

    I agree with a distinction between Horror movies and Slasher/Gore movies. Where people are going to bleed as the major theme of the movie, it is easier to write how to cut someone up. In a Horror movie though it is more difficult to write a suspenseful story that keeps people on the edge of their seats, and thus we get more slasher movies, which would seem to be easier to write.

    Alfred Hitchcock said that his movies are about the suspense more than what happens to the people. He said in his movies he lets you know what's going to happen. Now you have to figure out if there is any way to stop it, and wonder WHEN it's going to happen. He said he puts it out there for you to see......and then makes you wait.

    EEEeeeessshhh!! THAT is suspense, like you said Oak, in Jaws and Alien, the wondering who will get it next, and from where, and when!! Aaahhh!!! It's killing me.

    ......and I love it!

    Saturday, March 27, 2010 - 08:11 PM

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  14. I agree Steve - I think The Shining has to be thrown in there as another great example - talk about using the mood to help create the tension - and when we finally see what he has been writing - and we know he's just nuts - that alone is the most horrifying part of the movie for me - and what a great use of the most difficult part of writing a horror film - in my opinion - the answer to what Alien and The Shining nailed - from the screenwriter POV - creating a situation where the setting itself traps the people and the "evil" must be confronted - I think most horror movies fight to find a "new" setting that can realistically create that tension - after Alien and The Shining - it's hard - especially in today's time with cell phones and computers etc - think about it - Alien nailed that concept - in space no one can hear you scream - she is STUCK on that ship - she has no choice but to confront the alien - The Shining - they are stuck out in the middle of nowhere - no one can get to her to help via the storm etc - Friday the 13th did this to some degree with the camp out in the woods - I think a classic example of the writers struggling with this was The Strangers - the writers kept trying to figure out a way to handle the cell phone situation - I could see them during the screenwriting going- ok but why don't they just CALL for help - so they came up with this stupid - IMO - way/ways of handling the cell phone - it's a challenge for screenwriters to find the setting of horror in film via today's current time - I think with technology and the world being so connected - finding a plausible reason for NOT being able to contact help - is getting tougher and tougher.

    Sunday, March 28, 2010 - 07:45 AM

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  15. WRITTEN BY: Robert Glenn Plotner

    I'm not a slasher pic fan either, but I also think much of the genre's appeal is rooted in a very basic human fear of our mortality. By analogy, death itself is like a deranged serial killer lurking behind every corner ready to snuff us out with seemingly cold, random, and inevitable finality. We are forever running away from it, cheating death, tempting fate, until it springs at the moment least expected. So, I think there is something innate built into the psychology of those slasher pics even if the storytelling is too often extracted from the same trite mold.

    The key for me when I have written horror-suspense is to take that sense of foreboding and elevate it out of the slasher pattern into a different paradigm. The protagonist's confrontation with death can take many forms, the supernatural, the alien, the inner demon, the past, the unstoppable force of nature, etc. -- all of which are some form of "the unknown."

    The uncertainty that lies out of the range of common perception forms the basis of suspense as if it belonged to a hyper-reality of which the protagonist were but dimly aware. She never knows that into which she enters. The fun (or the filmmaker's manipulation of suspense) is that we, the audience, belong to both worlds, sometimes within the frame of character's limited perception, sometimes within the hyper-reality. It is the filmmaker who chooses when and why to admit the audience to one side of reality or the other.

    Sunday, March 28, 2010 - 11:54 PM

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