Tim Ritter's Carnage Corner

CARNAGE CORNER #1

Column by TIM RITTER
Tim Ritter is an independent filmmaker and heavy metal enthusiast who has gotten notoriety for writing and directing such films as the TRUTH OR DARE trilogy, KILLING SPREE, and CREEP. He recently contributed a segment to THE ALIEN CONSPIRACY sci-fi miniseries and his first novel, THE HAMMER WILL FALL, has just been published.
Welcome aboard, b-movie fans. This is my little corner of Allen’s cyberworld and who knows what issues or events I’ll end up discussing. It should prove to be interesting, and feel free to give us input on things you’d like to have some light shed upon, whether it be from a writing or independent moviemaking point-of-view.
I guess I’d like to start this column off with an inspirational piece. I’d like to keep things positive because these days, things are pretty dark. No reason to do something that focuses on the negative aspects of life, right? We see enough of that in the news every day.
Since you’re reading this, I assume you’re either a fan or an artist. And with the word artist, I mean someone who aspires to be a writer or a moviemaker. You may be working on something now or just thinking about it.
If you’re an indie moviemaker working in digital video, you probably don’t have a lot of money behind you to realize your dream of completing a feature-length movie. Once you rack your credit cards up to their limits with video cameras, computer systems, and other hardware, you’ll find yourself wondering where the budget for your movie is going to come from.
Let me answer your question: you don’t need a budget.
"What?" you might scream, exasperated. "You can’t make a movie with NO MONEY!"
Well, no, but yes. What do I mean? The key is in finding inspiration. If you find yourself passionate enough about an idea or a project, you’ll find a way to do it without money, or at least with very little money. I have done several projects in the past few years for under $400 just because I was inspired. I believed in the ideas so much that having virtually no money in my pocket was not a consideration to stop me from making my "visions" a reality (on video).
Once you are excited about something, it spreads to your partners in crime. By ‘partners in crime,’ I’m referring to friends and family, whom will ultimately serve as actors and production crew. The key is to get out there and do the project once the fire within is burning. There’s no room for pretenders here.
What I’d like to recommend, for inspiration, to any low budget moviemaker (particularly horror moviemakers, but this should excite anyone with creative longings) is a book called Wes Craven’s Last House On The Left: The Making Of A Cult Classic, by David A. Szulkin. First printing is sold out, but the second printing is available directly on the Net from www.fabpress.com.
For $20.00, this book is quite an inspirational treat for the no-budget videomaker. What’s particularly inspiring is that a writer/director like Wes Craven, who is so known and respected in the business these days, started out just like us. The technology may be little different, but other than that, we can clearly see from this book that we all have a shot at making it in the biz if we really work at it. Digital video is the equivalent of 16mm film in the 21st Century, and you don’t have those awful developing expenses to practice.
Szulkin’s book is an oversized softcover with slick pages that smell heavenly. (Yes, I’m a fetishist when it comes to ink, particularly books and magazines! Don’t even talk to me about the future of e-publishing!) There are hundreds of stills that document the making of this classic film, including rare poster art and newspaper ads.
Everyone reading this should be familiar with Last House On The Left, but if you’re not, a little word of warning: there is some strong, graphic content, both in the film and this book. The movie tells the story of group of sadistic killers who kidnap and brutalize two teenage girls, only to end up breaking down in front of their parent’s home and spending the night with them. When mom and dad figure out what they did, let’s just say...they get revenge in the Biblical sense of an eye for an eye.
Szulkin’s book takes you on the exciting, incredible journey of a group of young filmmakers who simply give their first feature film everything they’ve got, not looking behind them. They are doers, not talkers, and each time after I read this book, I find myself ready to do something new and challenging, not caring about anything but the creation of the project. I’ve read this book three times now, and I’m sure I’ll read it again.
The tome is divided up into nine superior chapters, each that expertly document the making of a no-budget movie. Everything that is discussed about creating this film, aside from the 16mm technicalities, is still relevant today. What’s really neat about everything is the total inexperience the movers and shakers had before tackling this project. It was made completely throwing caution to the wind, something we all need to do to fully realize our dreams.
Szulkin is incredibly zealous and caring about his subject matter because he’s a fan and filmmaker himself. Chapter One is an overview of the times (the 1970s) and the filmmakers, showing that they came from all walks of life, just needing to be creative, like you and I.
Chapter Two is all about planning the movie and how it was put together, including vivid details on writing the script, casting the parts, getting the money, and figuring out all the logistics. It’s most interesting to see how the original script was fully realized and how many of the special effects were accomplished with no money or simply using items that were just lying around in the garage.
Chapter Three covers the making of the film from A-Z, and it’s very moving for the backyard filmmakers like us. Every aspect is so familiar to those who have made movies before and a great eye-opener for those gearing up to do so. Szulkin’s handling of the material here is flawless, and there are interviews with all the key players, including Craven, producer Sean Cunningham, and lead actor David A. Hess. The rest of the cast and crew also get input, and all their views are impressively candid. It was wild to see that director Steve (Lake Placid, H20) Miner started out on this film as well!
What I love most about Chapter Three is the Kentucky Fried Chicken catering, the filming of crazy scenes in state parks with no permission, the entire cast and crew living at Cunningham’s parent’s house (which was also a location), and all the crazy antics that happened (poison ivy, anyone?). Sounding familiar yet? There’s also tips on shortcuts and getting the job done no matter what the circumstances or material. This chapter also explores how to direct a movie, and I was pleased to learn that the way Craven did it (and still does it to this day!) is the way I’ve approached the craft myself. (Not to compare myself with him, just noting the stylistic approach he takes to getting scenes shot, which includes a lot of input from the actors. You’ll see what I mean!)
Chapter Four covers the postproduction period, and this is particularly relevant these days. With computer editing in your own home now, things are much better than even when I started making movies, artistically speaking. In the 1980s, lining up studio time with an hourly fee staring you in the face made for a most negative creative experience. Time equaled money, like your dwindling bank account! Now you have all the time in the world to make sure your cuts work, to shoot insert shots, and to layer your sound tracks with awesome sound effects and music! Trust me, you’ll get tons of ideas and tips from this chapter.
Chapter Five is all about the music (composed by lead actor baddie David A. Hess). It’s interesting to note Hess is an accomplished songwriter and artist, having released many albums and even penning a tune for Elvis! Hess also proves that he was one of the pioneers in "splatter music"---i.e., the "stingers" and crazy electronic killer themes that became a horror movie staple in the 80’s. Let’s not forget using everyone’s talents for multiple tasks as well. Hess helped make the movie with his disturbing performance and was tapped for his musical talent as well. The story on his original, rather psychotic audition is priceless!
Chapters Six and Seven cover the film’s distribution tribulations, and you can still apply many of the marketing strategies (from ad campaigns to slogans) in today’s video and DVD markets, as opposed to the drive-in era this film was released into. Like all of us, Craven and company were striving to get notoriety with their film, and these two chapters explore how important the name of a movie can be, marketing angles, gimmicks (love the barf bag concept---something I’ve been considering doing for a video release for some time now!), and the censorship aspect of graphic material.
The rest of the book covers movies that followed in Last House’s footsteps, final thoughts on the film, and recent interviews with everyone who was involved in making it happen. Of particular interest here is the actress viewpoints. We see quite a bit of questions and concern from filmmakers who want to know how to get actresses to do wild and crazy stuff in their movies and how to handle it, so here’s the ultimate insight: hindsight from actresses directly involved in the material. I can’t think of a better way to learn how to accomplish scenes like this and deal with female thespians professionally.
The Appendixes are most excellent, revealing how the script was written (and the format), how the shooting schedule was designed, and a breakdown on the wardrobe, props, and editing phases. The cool thing about this section is that you can set your own productions up using these methods, right to this day! No need to follow the big "Hollywood standards" or buy some $400.00 computer program to do the job. This book will give you more short cuts than a bulldozer on the rampage.
Technology may have drastically changed in the last thirty years, but the nitty-gritty of realizing your vision is exactly the same. So it’s time to stop talking about doing that pet project and actually get out there into the trenches and do it.
And frankly, I can’t think of better leads to follow than Sean Cunningham and Wes Craven. These guys were most successful in achieving what they wanted to accomplish with limited resources, and so was David Szulkin, in capturing their creative essence in this book. What are you waiting for? Head over to www.fabpress.com and get a copy!

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