September 17, 2024

The Scary House Is The Point

This is Finish Your Monsters, a weekly blog/newsletter/blogletter about the creative process. I'm sharing adventures in art and life as well as setting CLIFFHANGER goals for myself, so--

DID I MAKE MY GOAL?

Last week, I committed to writing the script for a short sizzle reel!

And I absolutely completed this goal! But I almost didn’t.

I already wrote, shot, edited, scored, and shared a sizzle reel to promote the horror feature film I’m producing. I made it as it’s own little short film with a beginning, a middle, and an end. And frankly, I love it. Several people I’ve shared it with have loved it, too, and it’s helped with investors.

But I need something a little different for some potential investors because we’re all different. So I’m pulling together a shorter, sharper, more open-ended sizzle reel.

Writing the script for this second sizzle reel was, in theory, very easy. Because it was a page and a half remixing and reframing stuff I already wrote.

But on the Sunday morning I had set aside for this task, my old friend STRESS decided to sit on my shoulder and criticize every little choice I made from my posture to my font choice.

I accepted that I was too stressed to write this very simple thing. Then I said to myself, “But I should at least write a little outline.” So I started the outline. Then I said to myself, “Oh, I should flesh out the beginning of the outline with actual dialogue.” So I did. Then I stepped back and realized I wrote the page and a half sizzle reel in about 20 minutes.

Sometimes writing is like flying in Douglas Adams’ books. The only way to do it is convince yourself you’re not doing it. Then, suddenly you’re doing it!

ADVENTURES OF THE WEEK--

I had some nice fun times this week—a trip to the Hollywood Bowl, dinner with some friends we haven’t seen in-person since pre-pandemic times, and we bought tickets to see Spanish Dracula (filmed at the same time as the Bela Lugosi classic on the same sets) with a live orchestra the weekend before Halloween.

But the all-consuming task this week has been prepping for a trip back home to Minnesota. I’m leaving for Minneapolis later today to get started on pre-production work for the movie with the aim of filming in November. I’m visiting the locations, doing some casting work, shooting the new sizzle, building some set pieces, and more.

I’m so thrilled to be working on this project. I believe in it, I love it, I want to get it made.

But making a film is just a bonkers amount of work and stress. There are constant pressures of time, money, schedule, resources, etc. I’m getting a lot done every day, but ending each day feeling like it’s not enough.

The logical solution to these problems is, of course, simply don’t make a movie. Problem solved, you clown!

Anyway, this feeling stirred memories from a strange place: Playing the tabletop roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu. I’ve played this game with good friends in Minneapolis on and off for years.

In Call of Cthulhu, you play investigators who get caught up in horrible cosmic terror. You usually discover that some truly horrific abomination—cultists, monsters, living severed heads, etc—are wreaking havoc on this mortal plane and it’s up to you to stop them. Fun, right?

Unlike other games, in Call of Cthulhu, just LOOKING at the monsters will sometimes drive your character out of their mind. You’ll curl into a ball or jump out of a window to escape. It’s less heroic and a bit more aware of the fragile nature of humanity.

Now, my friends and I tend to be thoughtful, cautious players. Sometimes, we just barge right into a situation. But there have been games where we know we have to go into the creepy old mansion. We know there are sanity-blasting horrors in there. We know there is no way around it.

And yet.

And yet.

There have been times where we spend hours trying to peek through the windows of the house. Looking up ownership records to figure out the exact layout of the house. Traveling to another town to make sure the problem isn’t actually in a different creepy house. Sometimes, we even try to talk non-player characters into going in there first. Yes, we try to trick NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS into playing the game for us.

And at certain point, you have to face the truth:

THE REASON WE’RE PLAYING THE GAME IS TO GO INTO THE SCARY HOUSE. THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT. THERE IS NOTHING LOGICAL ABOUT THIS. IT’S A BAD IDEA FROM THE START AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES IT FUN.

Now making a film (or creating any other art or dream project) is not a bad idea. But it is scary. I think most of the deeply valuable stuff we do in life is scary. Falling in love. Starting a new career. Having children. Taking a big trip. Making art.

You can research all of those things. You can and should collect advice, wisdom, floor plans when possible, etc.

But at some point you have to embrace the fear, embrace the adventure, embrace the unknown, and just go into the scary house. Or risk becoming a non-player character in your own life.

I’m very excited to go into the scary house of this movie and I wish you all the best of luck with your scary house adventures.

LIGHT PLUGS—

If you want to help with my scary house, here’s how!

I’ve set-up a fiscal sponsorship with the great Twin Cites org, Film North. They can accept one-time, tax deductible donations that will go directly toward funding the film!

So if you’re interested in making this film happen, please check out the page for the upcoming horror film, DEAD MEDIA!

MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK--

By this time next week, I will have completed a flurry of work for the film on cast, location, etc. But as always, I want to make sure I set a goal of something I can control. The new sizzle reel is vital for the next big round of investor pitches so by next week I’m committing to getting a rough cut of the new sizzle reel started! Let’s get into that house!

YOUR GOAL FOR THE WEEK--

I would absolutely LOVE to hear what you're working on this week in the comments below. What's your goal? Do you need to fight actual monsters? How can I help you finish your monsters?

A LITTLE SKETCH--

This week’s sketch is a little house you should NOT go into. And yet. And yet. It’s got a nice fixer-upper appeal. Thanks for reading and, again, best of luck with all your houses!