Often our existing content critiques are written with a specific goal in mind. The articles in this series were written specifically to aid in the development of specific aspects of our upcoming short film “Night of the Snow Monster.” Though these were written specifically for that film, the concepts in these articles should remain relevant for a wide variety of applications.
The 1982 horror movie, Creepshow, is an anthology film inspired by 1950s horror comic books. Directed by George A. Romero and written by Stephen King, the movie begins with a frame story about a little boy, Billy (King’s son, horror writer Joe Hill), who is disciplined by his father (Tom Atkins) for reading a horror comic called “Creepshow.”
Continue reading Creepshow and the use of Colored Lighting in Horror
In Dario Argento’s 1977 Italian horror classic, Suspiria, Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American ballet student who travels abroad to study at a prestigious German academy. Almost immediately, Suzy finds herself the target of a terrifying supernatural conspiracy after witnessing the frantic departure of another student, whose suspicion of a dark secret in the school may have led to her untimely demise. Continue reading Post Production Sound and the Surreal World of Suspiria
The darkly comic neo-noir thriller, Fargo (1996), chronicles the parallel stories of sleazy Minneapolis car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) and pragmatic small town Police Chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand). In a desperate attempt to swindle money out of his wealthy father-in-law, Jerry travels to Fargo, North Dakota, to hire a pair of thugs to kidnap his wife and ask for a ransom. Continue reading Fargo and Cinematography in the Snow
In the bleak 2007 horror Western 30 Days of Night, Josh Hartnett stars as Eben Oleson, a small town sheriff who takes a stand against a bloodthirsty gang of vampires. The story is set in a fictionalized version of the actual town of Barrow (Utqiaġvik), Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States, which experiences an annual polar night, during which the sun does not rise above the horizon for much of the winter, including the entire month of December. Continue reading 30 Days of Night and Shooting in the Snow
On the 25th of January, we undertook a photography session to test some ideas for lighting and makeup for our upcoming film Night of the Snow Monster. With this shot we were testing out a wide variety of elements that we believe will be important to get a grip on before we enter into principal photography for the film, namely:
She grabs the axe from the woodpile and holds it over her shoulder, ready to strike. She reaches behind her and presses the garage door opener on the wall.
The garage door opens slowly. Frankie readies herself for the attack.
He tugs at the bottom of her sweater. She raises shaking arms to help him.
joe
There you go.
He reaches for the blanket on the floor. His eyes snag on her icy torso. Joe looks up into her frost covered face.
frankie
Richard! Richard! Where are you?
She rounds the corner of the house and enters the
back yard
and stops. A SECOND SNOWMAN stands alone on the snow covered lawn. It has no arms, clothes or facial features – just three blank balls of snow.
In the 1993 action thriller, Cliffhanger, star and co-writer Sylvester Stallone plays Gabe Walker, a member of a band of mountain rescue rangers with special expertise in climbing and mountaineering. In the aftermath of a tragic accident that splinters the ranger team, the ensuing interpersonal drama is rendered insignificant when a gang of stranded criminals threatens their lives in a ruthless mountaintop hunt for stolen cash. Although the story is set in the Rocky Mountains, much of the movie was shot on location in the snowy Italian Alps. We watched the film primarily to observe director Renny Harlin and cinematographer Alex Thompson’s approach to filming in the snow. Sylvester Stallone was an added bonus. Continue reading Cliffhanger and Cinematography in the Snow
