PULLING THE LAST MOLD

FILTH is closing out its festival run in the next few days and it gives me great pride to announce its receiving the Jury Award from the Haunted House FilmFest in London. This makes 10 awards for FILTH.

Also … all the puppets have had their second foam run. Rather than describing the process (again) I thought you might want to see the moment of truth, opening a freshly cured foam rubber puppet mold. FROM HELL HE RIDES – Pulling a foam rubber puppet mold

ARCHITECTURE

 

When the walls start going up the animating is not far behind. FROM HELL HE RIDES will be a set heavy film. There’s a half dozen main locations and they will all need a lot of detail. Once again, I’ve set the film mainly at night to cut down on some of the work. Plus I like moody lighting. This film is closer in tone to an actual horror film than any of my previous work. It’s no more violent then FILTH but because it’s in colour will make it seem much more graphic. I feel like I’m on the verge of some kind of trilogy. Film noir. Spaghetti western. Maybe a giallo will finish it off.

THE RIDE GOES ON

It’s been a few weeks since I last talked about FROM HELL HE RIDES (you know, the film I’m actually working on) so here’s a quick update. Remember that problem with the skeletons which lead to the realization that I was going to have to re-foam all the puppets. Well, all the skeletons have been fixed and the puppets and molds are ready for their second run. I used the carcasses of the stripped skeletons (pictured) to do some paint tests which I’m very pleased with. Most of the voices have been recorded and I now have a completed rough cut of the animatic. With over 400 storyboards I thought the film might run a little long, so it was a great relief when the animatic came in at 15 minutes. Finally, the first set will begin going up just before Halloween so it’s still possible that I will be animating before year’s end. In one other bit of news, I’m happy to report that FILTH has been named an official selection of the Tucson Terrorfest.

BEST OF THE FESTIVAL

This past Tuesday FILTH received the Boomstick Award (aka Best of the Festival) from the Thriller! Chiller! film festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan. FILTH will be screening on Friday October 11 at Thriller! Chiller! as the opening short ahead of the Universal classic Bride of Frankenstein. This pairing, which may seem odd on its face, could not be more appropriate. I owe a huge debt to Bride. It was a major inspiration during the writing of FILTH. The films visuals also greatly influenced FILTH. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to know that someone made the connection and paired them together. As for Boomstick? Director Sam Raimi, actor Bruce Campbell and producer Rob Tapert are all Michigan natives who made the Evil Dead films to which the term refers. A quick search and you’re sure to find the clip from Army of Darkness.

THE FINAL ACT

It’s been over a year since I animated the last shot on FILTH and, believe it or not, the film is nearing the end of its festival run. This was a particularly eventful week so let me list everything off.

Official Selections
Hamilton Film Festival (Hamilton, Ontario)
Terror In The Bay Film Festival (Thunder Bay, Ontario)
Ottawa Spookshow and Fantastic Film Festival (Ottawa, Ontario)
Unrestricted View Film Festival (London, England)

Winner: Best Production Design
Wreck Havoc Horror Film Festival

Nomination: Best Short Film
Terror In The Bay

Working the festival circuit can be exhausting and even with all the success that FILTH has had I can’t say I’m sorry to see it end. I’ll explain why in a future post.