The last time I wrote of the use of light and shadow, it was specifically about Carl Dreyer's "Vampyr". In that film, shadows act of their own accord - sometime independently of the objects casting them, and sometimes with no original objects at all! It just seemed like such a great idea to me... Anyway, I got to thinking about the other ways old B&W directors had to use light and shadow to create effects. They had no computers, of course, but they also could not simply ...
I almost went with yet another post about Lon Chaney Sr. this week, but thought instead I'd switch it up and focus on a fascinating sequence using light and shadow from Carl Theodore Dreyer's 1932 horror movie Vampyr. http://youtu.be/GZDCurPnFyg The two parts I think are most effective are the man climbing the ladder (0:22) and then sitting on guard duty (1:14). It's also pretty cool the way the same shadow apparently climbs through the window (0:11). ...
Alrighty, it's time once again to plan the haunt. This year's theme is Vampyr Reign which may be familiar to you. This was also the theme for 2009. We have three rotating themes to cut down on the work of designing and building. Hopefully 3 years is enough time for the ToTs to completely forget what it was like. But, that doesn't mean everything is exactly the same. In fact, starting to think that I might as well make a new name for the haunt because there are so many new things this year. ...
"I want to know about your haunted house." "What exactly would you like to know?" "Is it really haunted?" "Yes it is, but not like a Hollywood horror movie and the incidents don't happen here all the time, you could take the tour here 30 times and never have a supernatural experience." "Do you live in that house?" "Yes we do, ever since I got it now 25 years ago." "I would be very nervous living ...
I seem to be writing about masters of SFX in reverse chronological order this month! Before John Chambers, before Jack Pierce, one man literally made his reputation for his ability to create "1,000 faces" - and not on 1,000 actors, but on himself! That man, of Course, was Lon Chaney Sr. - "The Man of 1,000 Faces". Lon Chaney was an out of work stage actor who could not get a job in Hollywood. At least, not before he brought his makeup kit to the casting calls. ...
