I have been working this up the past couple of days, but between being sick and trying to get ready for Christmas, it’s been slow going.

I still need a couple of more photos to finish out the design, then I will begin working it more seriously.
Some of my regular watchers may recognize the shot of Alix I did a while back for a Lovecraft themed project I did for her.

wip

So I am getting very excited.  I got my friend Alix to sign on to be in the Cthulhu Key movie.

Alix has been in more than a few horror movies, and was a Tromette of the Month for Troma Films.

and, since it was a very nice lazy holiday weekend around Heath Manor, I was able to get around to posting the first drafts of the movie poster!

Cthulhu Key: Legacy

I got in my the support system for the 35 mm adapter. I went with the indiSYSTEM rails set, and I think it was a
pretty good purchase.  Its a pretty sturdy system that was easy to configure.

the indisystem rails for the camera.

I also broke down and got their follow focus system.

the focus wheel.

Yeah, it’s a very simple design, but it works nice.  The gearing is tight without alot of play.
For the money, it’s a great value, I think.

ready to go.

The camera, ready to go.  I will be posting some sample footage with and without the adapter.
It’s all about where I can smartly put my $ to deliver the best product I can.

Ok, back to writing…

Yeah, that’s the title of the short horror film. A big thanks to Jane for helping sound that out.

It’s your regular coming of age story…coming of the age of DEATH TO ALL HUMANS!!!!

Sorry, couldn’t resist. I have been a fan of horror since I can remember.
But the funny thing is, I don’t like most mainstream horror lately.

It’s become…boring.
No real coherent plots, just one death scene after another.

Now, I have known for 20 years that I would be making horror films one day, and now that day is here,
I want to tell the stories that *I* think are scary.
Not Hollywoods version of scary, where I show you tons of fake limbs spraying blood like some Shogun Assassin episode.

No, the worse horror to me is the horror of the mind.
And few people mastered the atmospheric horror like H.P. Lovecraft did.
This short film is my homage to his body of work.

Let me make you wonder whats about to happen, and let your imagination fill in the blanks.
I want to make you feel uncomfortable.
Maybe make you wonder if we are not at the top of the food chain in the universe.

That maybe we were *planted* here.
Waiting to be harvested…

I bet together, we can scare the daylights out of each other.

And for a teaser, here is a glimpse at some of the concept art.

I will have alot more info and exclusive sneak peeks this weekend, so let me know what you think!

A quick FX test shot for the HorrorHouse Project.

I fired up Maya and rendered out a quick shot of the tentacles,
to see how well they would integrate with the test footage I shot of the bedroom.

The animals are Lewaines…really

Things are moving quickly, and I hope to have the trailer online this weekend (the first weekend in May).
The script is written, and about half the shots have at least a basic storyboard done.
I will post more of that workflow here this week.

So I have been doing alot of writing lately, and I am kinda surprised at how well the book  Tarot for Writers has helped me break some terrible writers block.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that the cards are supernatural or have “powers”.
Yeah, funny, the guy who writes horror and has studied Occult phenomena for over 2 decades doesn’t believe in magic.
But I do like writing about the imagery of the cards and the supernatural.

And it is a very good system for me so far.  I have studied alot of the “Hero’s Journey” and I find the cards fit the archetypes of the HJ very well.
I am able to generate plots, character background, mood and tons of other things using Tarot Cards.

If you find yourself stuck with a nasty case of writers block, I say put your cards on the table and get this book.

Cthulhu!  Come on down…

Ok, so the HorrorHouse Project (thats the project name, not the movie name!) is based on the Cthulhu mythos.
With what I have to work with, my film is going to be psychological horror than say, some zombie/vampire/alien/whatever gore flick is popular at the moment.

I have read most of Lovecrafts work, and while his prose can be hard to deal with, he knows how to set atmosphere.  And that is what I am wanting to see in my movie.

The prop here is the Idol of Cthulhu.  It started out this morning as a 1lb block of Super Sculpey that I have been lugging around for 4 years.  FINALLY, I make something with it.

This guy causes all sorts of fun in the short film.

So I spent Sunday making some props for the HorrorHouse Project.

I decided I wanted to try to make this short using things I already had in the house, to not spend any money on this.

I had came up with a plot, so I had a good idea of the key props I would need.  While I didnt have them exactly on hand, I did have the material to make them.

First up is a time worn journal from a 78 year old Antartic expedition.

This is just an old softcover journal I had gotten a few months back. I textured the cover using a paper towel, lots of white glue and acrylic paints I had on hand. A little bit of an ink wash to shade it, then some light dry brushing to bring out some texture and detail.

The sticker on front is from Propnomicon, a great resource for Lovecraftian horror props.

So I have been doing alot of stuff lately, from shooting video to more graphic design and web work.
Throw in a little Warcraft now and again, and I have been staying pretty busy.

But I felt like I was in a rut.
That I haven’t done anything new in a good while.  And I haven’t done much work on my pet film projects.
Just  felt like I had to get everyone around me pumped and on board about shooting a horror film.
I guess it’s easy for me to see, cause I have it all in my head.

So I wrote a script for a feature length horror flick that I think would be pretty good.  But while the story was simple, and I could do all the fx on my pc, the costuming would be very intensive and I don’t have access to any sewing skills right now, so I shelved that for the time being.

I then had another idea for a WW2 horror film, and that screenplay is being written now.  I think it will be a great story.
But I still want to make something, a horror short.
It will give me practice in the total workflow, from shooting to editing to fx to mastering the final cut.

I wanted to challenge myself, to push my boundaries and shake off my funk I have been feeling,
so I thought ok, lets do it, lets shoot the horror short.
But lets make it more challenging (as if writing and directing a short film isn’t challenging enough!).

So I decided I would film the movie in the house, using only people in the house, with props made from things already here.
And make it a good scary movie, not a cheesy one.

I know, its a big challenge, but I will finish it.
and I will blog all the details here.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, The Horror House Project.

So here is a quick peek at some of the raw footage from the latest video project.

This is from an upcoming project that will be released later in the spring.

I think it will be one of the biggest projects we have done to date. There will be more casting (and crewing) in the next 30 days, so check back here for more details if you want to get involved.

More preproduction stills as well as a teaser trailer will be released soon, as well as the project website.