Exclusive Film Blog – Week 1 with Spirit World Films’ Creature Feature
Steve Barton
|
With regard to Spirit World Films’ Creature Feature, Dread Central will be bringing you exclusive on-the-set coverage from Atlanta. This is SWF’s fifth feature in less than three years, their last two films, Realm of Souls and Buried Cain, having both been picked up for global distribution.
Spirit World is the brainchild of three talented indie trendsetters: Chase Smith, Lance Paul and Edward Boss. These Southerners are turning the game upside down on what the true meaning of indie global films are.
With films budgeted at less than 20k, their combined multi “hat-wearing” skills are proving that you don’t need a giant budget nor a Hollywood soundstage to create cult classics.
Over the next four weeks Spirit World will be giving us a glimpse of what goes into making movies on the fly, including exclusive first looks at the monsters soon to be taking over your theaters. Creature Feature is comprised of four short vignettes and one overall story that connects them all, similar to classics such as Creepshow and Trick ‘r Treat.
Do clowns scare you? Have you ever looked at a scarecrow and wondered, “What if?” Are zombies or naked witches your thing? Or what about a good ole classic such as a werewolf? Have you ever heard of Gentleman “Springed Heel” Jack? If not, you will come October 2015!
The Creation of the Creature Feature
Coming out of their last drama, Buried Cain, the boys were wanting to get back to their roots and film another horror film. When they approach a new story they always pull from what scares them or what moves them to theaters for their favorite genre, Horror. Creature Feature is the love child of Lance and Chase after wetting themselves in The Conjuring last October and the three of them watching Trick ‘r Treat only about 100 times. They wanted to create something that paid respect to not only the vignette way of telling a creepy story but also to the monster movies of there drive-in past. They also wanted to leave their own mark on the monsters living in our imaginations. That’s why when you see the zombie or the werewolf he won’t be your usual walking dead or howl at the moon regular.
“Having such a great reverence and nostalgia for old monster movies and slasher films that I grew up on, I wanted to create something that would not only bring back those great memories for myself but also conjure up those same feelings inside the viewer of how it felt to watch those movies for the first time -without your parents knowing of course -while also taking it in a new direction for the younger generation…” Chase Smith (Writer, Director, Creator)
Once they had their idea planned they then went about the approach of figuring out how to make their creation stand alone and set a milestone. One thing about indie film making is that no matter the size of your crew you will always end up wearing many hats. Luckily for Spirit World, Partner Lance Paul had worked as a comic book/storyboard artist when he first came out to Hollywood. Adding this to the feature in their eyes just seemed like it should have always been there. I mean even the best horror movies have their roots in the Penny Dreadfuls of the early 1920’s and Marvel/DC’s Creep and Monster comics of the 50’s. Using the comic approach during editing and through scenes also added something to the feel of their budget (which all indie film makers want) but also allowed them to create amazing effects and save money.
“Everyone has seen a monster change…. But have they seen him start as live action human then change over the page of a comic and then freeze-frame back as the live action monster…” Lance Paul (Monster concept designer, Actor, Creator)
It also allowed them to add to the Creature Feature brand. By combining the same art panels and comic book covers from the movie, this allowed them to create a tag along graphic novel coming out later next year also. Which is something else your usual indie horror movie doesn’t consider.
The Clown
Adding the killer clown to their vignettes was a given from day one. Growing up in the 80’s and early 90’s as child horror fans meant being introduced to such horror (and maybe a bit cheesy) classics like puppeteer turned director Stephen Chiodo’s Killer Clowns from Outer Space or Stephen Kings’ Penny Wise in IT. Both Chase and Lance wanted to take that same effect those clowns had on them as children but bring a more realistic and terrifying approach to modern filmgoers.
No one knows this more than the poor babysitter in the start of Creature Feature just trying to make a few dollars and hook up with her boyfriend one fateful Halloween night. Unfortunately for her, she takes the wrong job watching some kids with clown issues. Through out the night she is dealing with two little girls, horror movie fans themselves, crying about creepy clown nightmares. Of course the babysitter chalks it down to their father’s weird obsession with clown statues, but is that all it is?
Early in the process of development Chase and Lance got together to take a little from all of their favorite clowns and then add their own take on it. While researching clown makeup for the initial concept designs, Lance used a lot of the early clown designs from the 50’s. Especially an old black and white cereal commercial that featured a creepy clown promoting sugary cereal, just what should be selling it. Using the concepts and then meeting with their talented SFX makeup artist/Fabricator Alex-Michael Petty (“The Walking Dead”) they were really able to bring their demented clown to life. Through this short vignette you will be able to see two forms of the clown, one as the sad “lifelike” clown statue and as he turns into full Creature Clown.
Playing the role took some casting effort on their part. Finding an actor willing to go through two different makeup visual effect processes plus find one with the talent to really pull off the role was daunting for them.
“Some of the best acting you will see, are the actors that convey through facial emotions not words…” Lance Paul
Luckily Atlanta is full of a wealth of talent and they were able to find a convincing actor in the form of Michael Steigler. Once Creature Feature is released I’m sure Michael’s clown will be added to some of the creepiest Clowns to scare on the silver screen. Enjoy these first glimpses of the talent coming out of Atlanta with Spirit World Films. Stay tuned for next week as we get a glimpse into the Zombie and more in-depth expo on behind the camera true indie horror style!
For behind-the-scenes pictures by Producer and Creator Lance Paul, visit Lance Paul on Instagram, also “like” Creature Feature on Facebook, and follow Spirit World Films on Twitter.
Chase Smith directs. Libby Blanton, Tenille Houston, Stacia Hitt, Lance Paul, Stephanie Davis, and Jason Vail star.
Synopsis:
Creature Feature is comprised of five interwoven tales of terror that occur one foggy Halloween night in Georgia. A babysitter learns a new appreciation for fine art and a hard lesson about the consequences of being irresponsible… and naughty! A group of college kids stumble on the mother of all scarecrows. Two teenagers are forced to steal from the wrong cantankerous old hermit who has been known to occasionally howl at the moon. A murdered father comes back for vengeance against his gold-digging wife and traitorous children. All of this Halloween fun is made possible by a London gentleman known only as… “Jack.”
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Subscribe to the Dread Central YouTube Channel!
Feature creatures in our comments section below!
Categorized:News
