Pre-production vs Mother Nature

My current round of pre-production is based almost entirely in a cabin in the woods. Thick forest, next to a lake, a waterfall nearby, it is picture perfect. On the other hand I get eaten by dreadful swarms of Mosquitos everyday while dripping sweat in the muggy 90 degree weather. This month is most certainly going to end up feeling like summer camp all over again. The intermingled scents of bugspray and sunscreen, arts and crafts, hiking through the woods, battling poison ivy and no running water. Shoots like this make you grateful for the simple comforts of home and air conditioning. But it is going to be totally worth it, this cabin is spectacular! It's going to make for one grand looking horror film :-)

Five senses of fear now on the Chiller channel

My project from last October is now up on the Chiller Channel. 5 Senses of Fear was a horror anthology story. 5 different stories linked together by some crazy characters and sinister props. Each short directed by a young up-and-coming director.

http://www.chillertv.com/movies/five_senses/

http://www.chillertv.com/

It was a very different experience filming this one, compared to my experiences on a traditional feature. We shot 4 day weeks with a new director every week. We had company moves at least once a day and, as usual, a baller crew. There were so many fun and bizarre locations that we got to visit during this project, but my favorite was definitely Wild Bill's nostalgia store in Cromwell, CT. Weirdest place ever. The image below was taken inside their tower-sized jack-in-box, whose counterweight the owners loving call the "ball of death". It's made up of old animal bones, tortoise shells,chains, and who knows what else. It was incredibly impressive to say the least.

http://www.chillertv.com/movies/5-senses-of-fear-0

Wild Bill's is this bizarre store jam-packed full of everything you can imagine, from bobbleheads to records, to one of the actual bikes from PeeWee's Big Adventure. One of my friends recently called it "more ADD than any human can take in at once." And yes, he meant it as a compliment. Apart from the Jack-o-tower my favorite bizarre feature is the classically constructed haunted house they're building in back:

They mill their own lumber and then custom build wonky floors and slanted walls all over. It's an impressive display of carpentry. I can't wait to see how it looks when they finish it. 

If you want to take a peek at 5 Senses- check it out on the Chiller channel: http://www.chillertv.com 

Or, if you're  like me and don't have cable, don't worry, it'll be out on DVD by early next year. And I'll totally let you know when it happens. ;-)