Shriekfest, Part 2

After the interesting conversation with Micah Levin of “Opus” Cubby and I wandered on through the party. We didn’t make it for before running into a coworker of hers on the stairway. Turns out Mr. Morgan Peter Brown also produced and acted in the closing night film. In “Absentia” a woman struggles with being haunted by the memories of her missing husband. There’s a law, “death in absentia,” that says when someone goes missing they can only be declared dead after 7 years. Absentia is a latin word for “without”; in this case it means “without a body.”

Yes, this movie is sad. “Absentia” is not gory, but rather emotionally heavy- character driven. Brown says their theory at Fallback Plan Productions is that you really have to care about the character in order to be scared for them.

Brown’s expectations for distribution have already been blown out of the water. “Absentia” has received domestic and international distribution via DVD and video on demand. They raised their first $20,000 on Kickstarter and the rest from private investment. They just found out they’ll be on Showtime next summer, as well as Netflix streaming at the same time. “Theatrical release doesn’t look like it’s going to happen,” said Brown.

An actor most of the time, Brown decided to produce after being in LA six years and having frustrations with the limitations of the city as an institution. “There are all these walls and gatekeepers, like almost the opposite of a meritocracy.” Then he began to hear stories of people who had made it happen for themselves. Having worked as a waiter, he knew plenty of people who “weren’t doing what they were most talented at,” so “As a producer I knew I could fill those roles easily,” said Brown. That’s when he decided to go for it. What he realized is that “Because of all the roadblocks, this town is a huge fan of the self starter.”

I asked Brown to comment on horror as a genre. “There are an insatiable large amount of fans and what they are fed on most of the time is almost exploitable in that way… and there’s the irony and symbolism of dealing with harder issues [via horror].” “It’s a sweeter pill to swallow by pushing it through that horror/scifi filter.” Brown talked about the racism symbolism in Dawn of the Dead, for example. “At the same time I love a good scare,” he said.



Two interesting conversations and one drink in, at this point in the night I am starting to understand this genre better. It seems people do it for two reasons: definitely do it for fun: who doesn’t love a good scare? There’s also something deeper at play.

“Horror films are definitely a great way to live through something horrible, without having to experience it,” says Tammi Sutton, who’s been working in horror for 20 years as a director/producer and writer. “Its very therapeutic for a lot of people… people are curious. Everyone has the same question on their minds: When am I going to die?” Shriekfest is the US Premiere of her film “Isle of Dogs” – what Sutton describes as a “British crime thriller.”

I wanted one more perspective on horror before the night was over. Indie filmmaker Kenneth Hall sat on a plush couch in the corner of the room, smoking a cigar, amicably socializing.

I asked Hall about the misconception that horror is all gore and camp. Hall thinks too many horror filmmakers today base their films in reality. “Unfortunately when that happens there are a ton of knockoffs,” he said. When in the 80s a lot of horror films had a sense of humor to them, now what happens is “the filmmaker is underestimating the audience.” Hall hopes we are moving away from that. The best horror films are stuff where “there’s levity and it’s more of a fun ride,” he said.

Even though horror sometimes seems like it’s dying, it only takes one indie film to re-spawn it. “Every single year I hear horror is dead. It never dies. It just needs to be re-invented every now and then,” Hall says.

“Absentia” plays Sunday at 8pm.

“Isle of Dogs” is playing tonight at 7:30.

"Opus" Opens Shriekfest

I'm unfamiliar with the genre of "horror." I loved "Scream," and "I Know what you did Last Summer," in high-school when they came out, but somewhere along the way my interest piqued and hasn't come back again. I don't know, I like happy things.

So last night I was excited to see inside an unfamiliar world at the Shriekfest opening night party. I talked to filmmakers about their work, horror as a genre, and the state of indie filmmaking. My wingman Cubby and I ordered Heinekens and eyed the busy party. "Jameson on the rocks," I heard to my right. I turned and introduced myself to mostly editor / new director Micah Levin, who's first feature "Opus" opens Shriekfest at 7pm tonight. Levin and crew have been working together since their college days at Emerson (Levin couldn't have been much older than me- 25). "We didn't have that lag of trying to figure out how to work together... It's so much more enjoyable when there's a shorthand. I never had to worry about anything besides what was going on in the frame." The friends made this film with an interesting approach -lots of improv. They worked loosely from a 3 act structure and a 25 page shooting script, and they found many of the actors via Craigslist ads that simply offered the chance to be in a horror movie.

"Opus" is filmed from a killer's perspective, and is more of an art film-- emphasis on style-- than anything: texture, visual motifs, HOW it was filmed as opposed to being character or plot driven. The idea is that the audience experiences the film visually. Some entire scenes were filmed in one shot. Levin was inspired by shows like "Dexter" that "play with the aesthetic beauty of death." Levin directed and edited it. "I wanted the editing itself to be a character," said Levin. His approach was to get extra footage and then go into the editing room with too much to work with (I know from my own experience that's the best scenario an editor can be in).

An improv approach creates a space for the film to feel closer to reality. Since the actors from Craigslist had little if any rehearsal and preparation time, things on set were unpredictable (and more realistic ie. actually being scared rather than figuring out how to act the perfect fear). Levin says that was his biggest concern with production: that the improv would make it tricky to achieve the high cinematic look they wanted. But he knew he trusted his Director of Photography, Elie Smolkin. Smolkin said the improv approach meant the "lighting of a space rather than a person...then letting them walk through the light." And overall it was a lesson in letting go of control.

Improv meant letting go for "Opus" actor Brian Norris too. "It's fun not knowing. You don't get the opportunity to think about what you want to do. Sometimes that's more pressure, sometimes it's less...All I could do is prepare myself by watching 100 horror movies."

As far as I'm concerned, preparedness + an easy going attitude (letting go, rolling with it) can be the the key to success. Maybe that's why "Opus" has already won awards. Now Levin is hoping now for some sort of theatrical distribution. But "the reality is that we'll probably make most of our money on Video on Demand," he said. Beyond that? As a director Levin's goals from this are to get more work, and to be taken seriously as a director. And "ultimately just getting it out there, having people see it."

Levin says what they were able to do with the amount of money they had was great. "Opus" was made on "lots of favors" but the crew was all paid. I asked him how he felt about the recent lawsuit filed by unpaid interns on Black Swan who feel they were taken advantage of by not being given enough learning opportunities on set. Levin has interned a lot, some of which have been more fruitful than others, but thinks overall they are what you make of them, and it's largely about your attitude. "I think it [the lawsuit] is just gonna take away opportunities from people. Because studios will say OK, we can't do unpaid interns anymore."

Opus opens Shriekfest tonight at 7pm.

Check out the trailer.

OPUS TRAILER from MMM on Vimeo.