“Sins of the Father,” my short horror film about an unintended victim of corporal punishment, is available for your viewing pleasure at YouTube and at the link below.
Why did I make a movie when I’ve got such an soft reviewing job being the Guy who Hates Everything? Couple reasons:
I’m a tech at an alternative high school and one of the true joys I’ve had this fall has been providing hands on technical support for a film-making class. There’s a certified teacher who’s really in charge, but I’ve had the opportunity to do all sorts of magic and mischief. I’ve shown folks how to do storyboards by writing a tale about a lonely inter-galactic dragon; I’ve had a chance to portray an enthusiastic Frenchman and I’ve helped students use green screens to visit Paris and clone themselves. This Christmas break, I decided to treat myself and make my OWN short film.
And the second reason is because Bloody Cuts UK is sponsoring a contest for 3-minute horror films with some KILLER prizes, namely the “Bloody Cuts Who’s There Film Challenge.” I’ve blogged about Bloody Cuts before — in particular reference to “Suckablood” — since I’m rather a fan of short horror films. The panel of judges they’ve assembled is first rate including Drew Daywalt (whose work I gave a shout-out to in my review of the Three Corpse Circus) the Soska Sisters (makers of “American Mary”), some new-comer named Joe Dante and others… but I gave a real fan-boy squee when I heard Ryan Connolly was involved. His “Film Riot” video podcast gives great practical advice about film-making while being entertaining as heck. I’d show it in class… but it’s not boring enough for school.
I’ve watched some of the other entries and frankly, I don’t stand a chance. If you’ve got a few spare HOURS to kill, do a search for “Who’s There Film Challenge” on YouTube. There have been over 50 entries made just today! And the glory of watching them, like watching a festival of short films like Three Corpse Circus, is that even if one entry isn’t your cup of tea, you only have to wait three minutes for another one.
I will likely produce a “Making Of…” video this week where I provide a list of all the mistakes I made along the way, but right now, I feel great to have something I can share.