The Worlds of Speculative Fiction Through the Eyes of Independent Filmmakers.
John Carpenter at the Fright Night Film Fest 2011.
I never realized how much of an influence John Carpenter was on my worldview growing up. He was responsible for so many of my favorite childhood movies – Big Trouble In Little China, Escape From New York, Starman and so many more. It wasn’t until I became a dedicated horrorphile that I realized John Carpenter was responsible for those movies and oh so many more of my favorites in the horror genre. Halloween, The Fog, Christine, The Prince of Darkness, In The Mouth of Madness and so many other undeniable horror classics came from his directorial hand.
As a fan and certified horror geek – I knew that Carpenter’s movies shone with greatness but it wasn’t until we started Mutantville Productions in the winter of 2003 – that I began to look at horror films with a more critical eye. I suddenly realized that Carpenter’s works were not only the work of a true auteur – but the work of inspired genius.
(Continue reading the article and watch the interview after the leap!)
Continue Reading…
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago at 8:23 am. 2 comments
John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Author:jrnyfanraleigh
In 1978, John Carpenter brought us his film “Halloween.” This movie sticks out in my mind because it’s the first movie Streebo watched with me when we started preproduction on our film “C for Chaos.” We watched lighting, camera movement, pacing and story telling.
This film is about Michael Myers a psychotic killer that has been in an institution since he was a kid. His doctor, played by Donald Pleasance, searches the streets for him to find him before he hurts someone. Obviously he doesn’t find him before he hurts anyone or it wouldn’t be a horror movie…and it would be a short movie.
This movie also stars Jamie Lee Curtis. I believe this was her first feature film. She did some television work prior. The film also stars Nancy Kyes (credited as Nancy Loomis). She was also in “Assault on Precinct 13″ and “The Fog” which were directed by John Carpenter as well. Continue Reading…
Posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago at 4:13 pm. Add a comment
Hello Mutantville! I want to discuss something that helped us out immensely when embarking on our first feature film “C for Chaos.” A few of us had gone to art school to develop our eyes, since of composition, etc… But we hadn’t gone to “Official” film school. We were lucky that Streebo had been studying storytelling since he was young and I had been behind a camera since I was young. Brento had been making and editing movies since he was young. So now that we’ve established that at one point we were all young, we’re ready to move on.
When preparing for “C for Chaos,” we all studied feverishly. We read all the books we could find but another thing was watching movies. I know this sounds like a “Duh” type thing but…we watched them from as if we were making them. Streebo and I would get together and point out camera movement, lighting, pacing, screen directions, composition, coverage, etc… If you really watch and dissect films in this way you can see how different directors can cover similar situations. Some may use more wide angles, some may go in for close ups, etc… Commentary tracks are another great resource. Of course not all commentary tracks are created equal. If you’re a low budget filmmaker then I recommend lower budget movies. Robert Rodriguez has great commentary tracks. Some of his you need a note book and the pause button to keep up. Be sure you keep an open mind when listening to the commentary. You may only get one or two gems, But if it saves you a night of shooting or makes something easier, I’d say that was worth 2 hours of your time. For example, on the commentary for Ronin, he talks about the scene when they’re buying the weapons. They purposefully wet the entire area since they were filming outside, that way if it rained, it wouldn’t mess up their shooting schedule. Either write this stuff down in a journal or file it away in your brain somewhere.
Streebo is a big believer in only watching what you’re filming. So when we shot “C for Chaos” for about 3 years, that’s pretty much all Streebo watched. Thanks to places like Netflix he showed me horror films from all over the world. This can give you a lot of insight into the genre.
So before, while and after making your film, study as many films as possible. Notice I said study and Not watch. Watch is passive. Study is active.
Below Please leave comments about films with good commentaries for other filmmakers to go and study! Thanks!
Posted 2 years, 5 months ago at 9:08 am. 4 comments
Mutantville Productions is proud to announce that our lengthy casting process for G.H.O.S.T. has come to an end. We are extremely pleased to introduce you to our amazing and talented cast for G.H.O.S.T.
Kathy Sandvoss has officially signed on for the role of Maya. The star of C for Chaos returns as Scott Thomas accepts the role of the ghost – Johnny Reb. Kayli Tolleson has signed to play the role of Young Maya. Clint Jones has agreed to play the part of Seth the resident skeptic. Dave Tunik has signed to play the horror fan prankster – G.B. Jack Stecher has signed on to play the role of the caretaker – Maximilian. John Sexton has accepted the part of Maya’s Grandfather. Returning from his challenging stint on Devil Comes Down – Jason Wheeley has signed to play the part of Byron the producer.
MVP is proud to welcome you all into the Mutantville fold. Next stop – horror movie history.
Posted 2 years, 8 months ago at 1:52 pm. 4 comments
Stay tuned to Mutantville.com as we will announce the location for our upcoming auditions this week. Thank you all for your many questions about our projects as we are just as excited as you. We are not purposely withholding information about our casting – we’re just ironing out all of the details. Please bear with us. The casting will either be inside Charlotte city limits – or a mere half hour outside it.
In the meantime – take a minute to familiarize yourself with the new MVP Blog. Check out our extensive behind the scenes videos for Devil Comes Down. Watch the exclusive preview scene for C for Chaos. Pop over to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Youtube and add MVP to your friends list! If you’re our one millionth friend – you are eligible to enter a drawing to win a free MVP toaster.
***Streebo
Posted 2 years, 9 months ago at 9:59 pm. Add a comment
Mutantville.com is proud to announce the signing of North Carolina’s own Todd A. Britt as the chief make-up FX designer for G.H.O.S.T.. Todd A. Britt provided memorable make-up FX for Mutantville’s Devil Comes Down – which went on to be a finalist in George A. Romero’s American Zombie Film Contest as well as the 1st place winner of the first ever IMDb Horror Board Short Film Contest 2008. Todd A. Britt has worked on past MVP projects such as Zombie Killers, Zombie Hunter, as well as the epic horror film C for Chaos. The Mutantville Players are proud to welcome Todd A. Britt aboard the Mutantville mothership.
Posted 2 years, 9 months ago at 12:19 am. Add a comment
