Tuesday, October 18, 2011

6 Horror Film Entries So Far...

As of October 18, 2011, the 2012 Tabloid Witch Awards has received 6 horror film entries: 5 shorts and 1 feature. Entries have come from Brazil, Denmark, Finland, and the United States.

The Tabloid Witch Awards is a No Entry Fee horror film contest and festival. To enter the 2012 awards, your DVD must be in our in-box by August 31, 2012.

Details: TabloidWitch.com.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Sound Recording and Editing Tips for Horror Filmmakers

Since 2005, the Tabloid Witch Awards has honored film sound with a Best Sound Award. This is because sound is an often under appreciated element in filmmaking, and so the Tabloid Witch wishes to highlight those films that put sound to good aesthetic use.

Now there's a book that will teach horror filmmakers just about everything practical and "how to" about how to create, record, mix, and edit great soundtracks. Read our review of David Lewis Yewdall's Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound.

Hey, do don't have to buy the book -- but if you've had trouble in the past with your horror films' soundtracks, you should read the review before deciding if this book's for you.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

5 Horror Film Entries So Far...

As of October 11, 2011, the 2012 Tabloid Witch Awards has received 5 short film entries. These entries have come from the United States, Finland, Denmark and Brazil.

The Tabloid Witch Awards is a No Entry Fee horror film contest and festival. Details at: TabloidWitch.com.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Matthew Daniels on the Making of Happy Happy Halloween

Matthew Daniels won a 2011 Best Horror Music Video Tabloid Award for Happy Happy Halloween. He now offers us a "behind the scenes" look at how he did it.

"The funny thing is," says Daniels, "how little time and money I spent on this. I already had the instrumental song. We had all the props. All I bought for this was the lolly pops and costumes.





"We [Daniels, his wife, and two daughters] just hopped in the van and went looking for locations. Within two hours, including driving time, we had all the footage.

"I found a hill behind the local mall that hadn't been mowed. And, I was shooting uphill, you couldn't see the neighborhood behind them. Conditions were serendipitous, as there was a dark storm cloud behind them and the sun was setting in front of them. That was the opening and closing shot.

"We jumped back in the van looking for another location, before we lost our light, and ended up at a nearby park. That lone tree seemed perfect. We actually went shopping and out to eat -- with the girls still in costume. While shopping, a girl asked Nikki if they were dancers for some band.

"We got home and spent another 15 minutes in the now darkened front hall with some flashlights to light from below. I played the instrumental, so they could get the rhythm and Nikki could get the right notes, but they weren't hearing them when we recorded that bit. It all just worked out and was easily mixed with the instrumental.

"I'd never tried to properly edit a video, before, and whipped it together overnight. (I do go by Midnight Habit for a reason.) Knowing a bit more about editing, I went back and redid it this year, changing some framing, lighting, and timing issues. Plus, I wanted to add two clips of Jazzy that weren't in the original."

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Mike Flanagan's Absentia Wins at Shriekfest 2011

In 2006 Mike Flanagan won a Best Horror Short Film Tabloid Witch Award (among other festivals' awards) for Oculus.

This year, it's Flanagan's horror feature film, Absentia, that's sweeping the festival awards.

On September 20th, Absentia, won several Tabloid Witch Awards, including Best Horror Feature Film. And on October 2nd, Absentia won for Best Horror Feature Film at Shriekfest.


Check out Mike Flanagan (center), with Absentia actress Courtney Bell and producer Joe Wicker, sharing in his victory. That's a Shriekfest Tombstone trophy in Flanagan's hand.

Congrats to an Energizer Bunny of a filmmaker, whose works keep on winning, and winning, and winning...