Cinemagic #19 (1983)

AboVI: The trophies lor I~ 1982 CINEMAGIC/SVA Shan Film Search await the winners Prior to the awards show a1 Xenon's diseotheque In New 'lbrk City last November 1st. Giant blow·ups 01 black & white photos thatllave appeared in past Issues 01 CINEMAGIC and an elght·foot-hlgh blow-up olthl cover 01 CINEMAGIC 116 (the Issue that announced the 1981 wlnllllrs) hang Just bi!Ww the viewing screen Celebrities Maureen Stapleton and Gary Sprln~r were on hand 10 presentlhe awards. Tum 10 page five lor the story on the 1982 CINEMAGIC/SVA awards show

loft,

",,,;t;;;.;;;5i;;;

;;;;o;c;;;;;;:-horror film Ring

wOO'IiIn's corpse that

comes to life,

AIMrII: Entertainment Enterprises' latest release, The 'Itl/Iow Ranger teatures a blind hobo Who Is trans-formed by a magIC rainboW Into a crusader lor peace. Right: Bille Films' latest production, Lord 01 rne ~re­ Jands, Is a medieval adventure.

See

the Producers' Bulletin Board section on page 14

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CONTENTS

Editor's

Bench

_ _

_

4

Awards

Night

5

Meet the winners of this year's CINE· MAGICISVA Short Film Search. By

John Clayton.

Filmmakers'

Forum

8

A regular department devoted to

readers' comments and

correspon-dence about

fanlllsy

filmmaking.

Cobweb

Spinner

10

Spin your own webs with this easy to make cobweb spinner that gives pro· fessional results.

By

Matt Greenfield.

Producers

'

Bulletin

Board

14

Latest

news of

our readers' productions.

High

School

Werewolf

16

-Go behind the scenes on the making of

this yea(s

CINEMAGICISVA

Super·8

First Prize winner: An American WerewoJlin High School. By Joe Carter.

~20

The

life and career of pioneer film· maker Georges Melles is chronicled on

a

cab

le

Tv'

retrospective.

Issue "'19

Grip Kit,,-

__

22

Useful accessories for filmmakers.

Electronic

Special

Effects

24

Build your own simple lighting

gadgets. Three projects for

construc·

ting a dimmer, a chaser and a flasher. By Chris Stevens.

Books

_

_ _

30

Books for filmmakers-valuable sources of information and technique for the filmmaker.

Cinemagic

Market-place

31

Classified advertising and an· nouncements.

Front LighU

Back Light

_

32

AI MagliocheUi reveals the magic lind mystery of front light/back light anima· tion.

Issue "19

Publishers

Norman Jacobs/Kerry O'Quinn

Associate Publisher

Rita Eisenstein

Circulation Director

Richard Browne

Editor

David Hutchison Art Director Steven J. Plunkett

Managing

Editor

John Clayton

Senior Designer

Neal Holmes

Associate

Art

Director

Diane Cook

Editorial Contributors

Joe Carter Matt Greenfield AI Magliochetti Chris Stevens

Designer

Denise Lewis

Production Assistants

Joan Baetz Richard Cebek Eileen Dempsey Norma Garcia Andrea Passes Clara Urrea

Founder

of CINEMAGIC

Don Dohler

Financial Manager

Joan Baetz

Published by

O'QUINN STUDIOS, INC.

475 Park Ave, South New York, NY 10016

... d.ertl.lng Inlo"T>IItion' Rite E""'nsteln

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A_ thl .... : AI ~1lOCMt1I, wrlO!ItG lor IN Grand Pm, In

IN 1981 CINEMAGICIS~A Short fnm s..rtn wt\II hIS 1ilnI,

IJiIQ MIIC.Jlu, II., I 1Ig~ /NCI11Ig 01 ~ $101'"'1"'\1011 5k11101on _iOn ~ lor ~ "onmgllVlwocJ<8g/ll riMIofI sequence

k"'" £IIIIu MIu/JI. Soo p,!;jJt 32 lor Al'l a.toclt on

1I0Il1-~bickIIgIIl nn.tJon Cover PhOtO Dy Ma:. Kalblekl

4

CiI'lEMAG/C "19

Editor's

BENCH

But What Does

it

all Mean

...

?

I

t's now some months past the Fourth Annual ClNEMAGIC/SVA Film Search; the

films have been returned with score cards enclosed and the lucky winners

notified. Now what?

Of course, the winners have gotten what they were supposed to get out of the con· test-some generously donated merchandise prizes, recognition, visibility, a public screening of their film and possible future coverage in the pages ofCINEMAGIC. It's the beginning of a track record. It's a first step towards getting up to bat with the big leagues. For most of the winners that chance at bat is still years off. It will take much more hard work. more filmmaking and good luck. Your chances at bat or getting to show your stuff to the big boys or the big break actually depends mostly on luck. Whether or not you strike out on your ·'big break·' depends mostly on you ... on how good you are ... on how good what you have to show is.

But what about the vast majority who weren't "winners'· this time around. Well, of course, there is always next year. But even more important is the fact that there are dozens of other film festivals and contests held around the United States. You should enter as many of them as possible. I think you·1I find that if you are any good at all, your work will be accepted and win prizes in some contests and not in others.

Why? If it'sa good film, why doesn't everybody think so. Weill have no answer for that one. I am a member of the Stereo Division of the Photographic Society of

America. There are maybe a dozen competitions that I enter with my stereo slides

every year. Sometimes the judges like them and sometimes they don·t. A good friend of mine had the experience of having one of his entries rejected by the judges in one competition, but the very next competition he entered the same stereo slide took first place,

There is no accounting for taste, of course, but there is more to it than that. Some of the things that affect judging are: was your work shown first or last. how good was the work shown just before yours, what are the personal prejudices of the Judges, what are the phySical conditions of the judging environment. was the projector running per· fectly for your film, was your film the 25th version of the same tired plot that the judges had seen that day, .. ? And so on.

All of these things can make the same film a winner one day and a loser the next. Your only defense against this sort of thing is to get your film out as many times as possible. In the long run, the averages will even out some of these variables.

One thing though. Even in the worst of conditions ... even though the judges might have been bored by 7 hours of mediocre or worse films ... films of unusual

talent and originality shine through. rve seen it happen time after time-the most

bleary·eyed judge perks to full attention when anything of unusual quality comes across on the screen. Ifs astounding how a little bit of original creativity can transform an exhausted Judge Into an eager, excited film fan.

So, Now, what does all this mean? Simply put: "If you didn·t ·make if this time, but you·re really turned on by filmmaking, .. then nothing can stop you:·

-David Hutchison

CINEMAGIC lopubllsI>W bl monthly byO·QUINN STUOIOS, 1r1C., 47~ Park ... en..., South. N .... V"..k. NY 10016. Thill. 1.~ .19(Vol,,~4,No. I~ Conlenl i, _ 1983byO·OUINNSTUOIOS.INC. AllllghlSr_'.w Reprln,,,..rq>r<>docllon

al .ny ",."", ... 1 In pen '" In whole wlthoul wrlnen pe.ml .. 1on hom the publ1ohc<s I, .uldly f",bldden. CINEMAGIC ac· cept. no r~.ib!ll'y for u"",Ik:lted ""," .. scripts. photos. art or other ""'Ie.lal, b .. t II free ... nce submilial •• re accom·

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CINEMAGIC. Subscription ,oteo, '9.98 10'/ one yee. (01. Issue.) dell.ere<! III lhe U.s .. Canedo and M,""lco, 1<)<<,llIn oubscrlptlon $12.98 In U.S. fundS only. Ne. Sub.crlptlon.: send direct!)' \(I ONEMAGIC. cloO·Qulnn 5t<><lloo. Inc .. 41~ P.rk "'vell..., Soulh.1'Iew Yo.k. NY 10016. NOII/lcaUon of chanlleofaddre ... or rene •• I • ..,nd toCINEJII ... GIC,

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1982

CINEMAGIC/SVA

AwardsSho

By

JO

HN

CLAYTON

T

hithe S year's screening ClNEMAGIGSVA of winners of Short Film KeInside, Crry O'Quinn greeted the crowd INEMAG1C publisher Search was the most successful and briefly outlined the and exciting in the four years that we've evening's entertainment. The been inviting the public to wotch the work lights went down and the crowd of talented amateur filmmakers on a large fell silent and settled back to en· screen in a major Manhattan theater. This joy the unique one-time public year we decided to hold the screening and showing of this year's winners. i!lwards ceremony in a disco instead of a The first film shown was regular theater so we could push all the Fareed AI Mashafs Davie, 8 folding cbairs aside after the show, open 16mm fantasy about a young up the dance noor and have a big party. boy who builds his own time The show took place atXenon's, one of machine in his bedroom to escape New York City's most ellclusive discos, the present and nee into the ro-and the place was jammed. Xenon's is mantic past. Dauietied for third prize usually a gathering spot for New York's in 16mm.

sodaleliteandthenewspapersusuallyan. Angus Graham's The Subway was

nounce on the society pages what cele· next. A troubled youth boards a New York brities where there the night before and City subway in this Super·S psycho-what the partying was all about. On thriller for a journey into terror. The November first the partying was a celebra· bloody climall caused many an audience tion of up·and·coming filmmaking talent member to moan in disgust. 7h"W>w,

and the celebrities were the winners of the won Third Prize in Super·a.

ClNEMAGICJSVA Short Film Search and

, £ - - - -

- - - '

the show business personalities who were there to present the awards.

Xenon's isn't usually set up for screen· ing films, so we had to bring our own screen and set it up ourselves. We dressed the stage with giant black·and·white blow-ups of photos that have appeared in CINE· MAGIC and an eight-foot high color blow-up of the cover of CINEMAGIC # 16 (the issue that announced last year's winners). Some of the fjlmmakers whose faces ap-peared in the black·and·white blow·ups were in the audience. Our Contest Coor-dinator, Damon Santostefano, drew a moustache on the picture in which he ap-peared so people wouldn't recognize him and beg him for his autograph.

A large crowd gathered outside Xenon'sand patiently waited forthedoors to open. The crowd appeared to be a gao thering of New York's artistic community, many filmmakers were in attendance.

Some of the other filmmakers whose faces we recognized In the audience were: Ed Summer. co-producer of Conan; John Dads. author of many how·to articles for C1NEMAGIC. special effects director on the Deadly Spawn and producerfdirector of several other independent films; make-up artist Arnold Garguilo. who worked with Dods on creating makeup for The

Deadly Spawn; Animators Mike Sullivan and Peter Wallach; Stephen Parady, direc

-tor of last year's winning Super·B film, Asteroid; Ted Bohus, producer of The

Deadly Spawn and many others.

The

Winners

First Prize 16mm . . . Extended Piay, David A. Cascio Palo Alto, CA

Second Prize 16mm . . . Zyzakis King. HughStegman, Los Angeles, CA

Third Prize 16mm(Tie) . . . .. . . Bandits, Joey Ahlbum, Brooklyn, NY

Third Prize 16 mm(Tie) . . . ... Davie, FareedAIMashat.Miami,

Fl

First Prize Super-B ••. AnAmencan Werewol{inHighSchooJ, Joe Carter(Director) North HillsHigh School, Carnegie, PA

Second PrizeSuper·8 ... _ . . . UndeJtow, Bill Knowland,Oakland, CA

Third PrlzeSuper-B . . . The Subway. AngusGrahllm. Brooklyn. NY

The other film tied for Third Prize in 16mm. Joey Ahlbum's BandilS, was nellt on the program. This highly stylized animated cartoon about detectives chas-ing bank·robbing cowboys through the streets of New York City was highly enter· taining and gota very good audience reac· tion. Joey has already struck a deal for

Bandils to appear on a New York cable TV station.

Bill Knowland's Undertow. a Super·8 parody of foreign films was next on the program. Undertow won Second Prize in Super·B.

Zyzak is King, a USC student film by Hugh Stegman, was next on the program.

Zyzilk is a 16mm fantasy film about a

group of California "beautiful people" deeply involved in role· playing computer fantasy games. Zyzak has incredibly high production values and the sets and makeup are as professional looking as most of what Hollywood has to offer. Two former CINEMAGICJSVA winners. Ralph Miller III and Steve Koch, contributed makeup effects to-the film and helped in building the elaborate dungeon set. The superb wolfman makeup that Millercreat· ed for Zyzakcan be seen in the profile on him in CINEMAGIC

"15.

Zyzak won Se· cond Prize in 16mm.

Another wolfman was next. The North Hills High School film class of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, lead by teacher Ralph

CINEMAGIC pul*sher Kerry O'OUlnn greets the Kerry O·OUtnn assISts Maween Stapleton in presenting !he audience allhe 1982 Awards Show 16nm awards after !he SCfe8I'IIng of the WIflI'liln.

O'OUlnn IooIcs on as Maureen StapIeIon gives Joey Ahlbum

a

toogfaIuIaIory hug lor Bandrls

The audience applaUds alter the SCfeening

ot

one

ot

the Winning lilms alUMS year's shOw School ot Visual Arls Aim Oepanmem Chairman Charles Hirsch IS seated WIth his

gorgeous

date In the center Gllhe Iront row C,NEMAGIC As$oCl3te PubliSher RIta Bsensteln Is at lar right In the second row

Langer. entered a Super-S parody of werewolf films entitled An American

Werewolf In High School. directed by stu· dent Joe Carter, The film boasts some im· presive makeup effects and is very funny (see "The Making of An American Were· woI{ in High School" in this issue). The scene in which the lead character trans· forms into a werewolf after being "mooned" by a fellow student in the hallway brought howls of laughter from the audience. An American Werewolf in High School won First Prize in Super·B.

Top honors of the evening went to David A. Casci's Extended Play, a riotous comedy about pinball and video game ar·

6

ClN£MAGIC ., 19

cades. Exlended Play is truly a classic short film could easily gain its own cull following as It gains exposure through cable networks and other rilm festivals. Extended Play looks more professional than most professional films and is far funnier than most comedies being churned by Hollywood. David Casci has what it takes to go "all the way" and everyone who has seen Extended Play is rooting for him. Extended Play won First Prize in 16mm.

After all the films had been shown. the awards were presented by our guest celebrities. Gary Springer. a riSing young actor who has appeared In the feature

films Dog Day Afternoon and Jaws fI and on TV ill t:pi::.oc..lt::. of 1'1./\.5.11. Gild IltlWiJ Days, presented the Super·B awards, Mllureen Stapleton, one of America's most distlngu ished actresses who is a twa-time Tony winner and who recently won a

Best

Supporting Actress Oscar for her per -formance in

Red5.

presented the 16mm awards. For the winners who could make it to the ceremony. it was an exciting honor. The winners who couldn't make it to the show (three of this year's winners are from Calirornia and one is from Florida) received their CINEMAGICISVA trophies and merchandise prizes through the mail. SVA Film Department Chair·

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man Charles Hirsch made the dosing remarks lind the Ooor was cleared of the folding chairs to open the dance floor and make room for the big after-show bash.

Suddenly an incredible array of colored lights i!md mirror baits were lowerd from the ceiling of the famous disco which used to be a legitimate threater and a wild party began where only moments before a quiet audience had been watching movies. Loud rock-and-roll music blared from the

totl:llly awesome sound system. In corners of the dance floor and at tables surroun· ding the slithering mass of dancers, peo-pie congregated and tossed back beer and mixed drinks while they tried to converse above the din. Filmmakers from the au

-dience came forward to l;OI'9,dtulate tIlt: winners. mllkeup artists peddled their portfolios lind independent producers talked lIbout possible movie deals.

We would like to thank the companies that supported the 1982 CINEMAGICI SVA Short Film Search by donating mer·

chandise prizes for helping to make this year's contest such a smashing success. Cinelab'of New York City donated $)00

worth of 16 mm reversal processing. Fer·

co of New York City donated a Sylvania digital footcandle meter. Gepe Broadcast (. EquipmentCo. of Bluff City. Tennessee donated Gepe non-rewind reels for Suo per·B. K(.M Camera of New York City gave a Hahnel motorized Super·B splicer. Eastman Kodak contributed enough ··Ba· sic Filmmakers' Packets" to go around to every winner. Lowell·Ught Manufactur· ing, Inc, of New York donated a Lowell K-5

Kit. MlIgnestripe of Passia<:, NJ gave

500

feet of sound striping for Super·B, Pioneer (. Co, of Westmont, New Jersey con-tributed two EWA Matte Boxes and two EWA Backwinders. Super·8 Sound, Inc,

of Cambridge, Massachusetts donated three Super·B Sound Blimp Kits-one of which was for a Super·B camera with a 200 foot cartridge, And the 3M Co. orSt Paul, Minnesota contributed 15 feet of Scotch· lite front projection material. Again, we deeply appreciate the support of these companies and their generousity to the noble cause of encouraging up-and·

coming filmmaking talent.

Many of the non-winning entries In this

year's CINEMAG1C!SVA Short Film Search also showed a great deal of pro-mising talent. Contests, by their very nature, cannot reward all entrants. We hope that everyone who entered this year's contest will be back with another film next year. Every film you make teaches you more about your chosen craft of filmmaking. The budding semi·fina· lists and also.rans of this year's contest could very easily develop into next year's winners, Don't get discouraged if you didn't win this year's contest. Many films lost a chance of winning th is year's contest by only I) few points on the judges'

scorecards, Show the judges (and most importantly yourself) that you won't let one minor disappointment set you off

you,

choren co",,,,,

See

you

n.>!

Y.'"

(Jf ~

left: Keith PoIlI, who represented NofIh Hills High School 01 Erie Pennsytvanla lor their Super-Slirst Prizl! winning lilm. An Amencan

Werewoff in High SdaJI. walks 011 WIIh the CINE-MAGtC/SVA trophy. Below: SVA F*n Chairman Char1es Hirsch makes tile

,.,,,'"

""'"

lett: O'CUIM (lett. bacI( 10

C<Wnera) ~s the applause as aclor Gary Spfinger (center) presenlS the CINE·

MAGIC/SVA trophy to Angus Graham ICIt' hiS Super·S Third Prize IUm. The Subway

C/1'EI1A':;/C"19

7

Fil

mma

kers'

EORUM

A regular department d",,"oted to readers' comment. about filmmaking, their problems and solutions.

Reader Response

... For any skepticol

CINEMAGIC readers who think thlll! Producers' Bulletin Board merely shows other rellders your latest production. You're wronol Since I fini5h~d my film

St.llfballle 2580 and put it in the Producers' Bulletin Board.l have received letters urging me to enter contests and join organizations.

There is no doubt in my mind that there are people who read Producers' Bulletin Board to find talented, young filmmllkers who someday "go pro" lind create something fantastic!

Phil Longhi L.O.C. Studios 259 Standish Ave. No. Plymouth, MA 02360

Dental Impressions

.. .1 think your magazine is just gfeD!. but in the interests of SlIfe· ty I feel I should respond to your article, "Seerets of Graphic Gore" by John Dads. I'm a professional makeup artist and work for sevel(ll mlljor television stations in New York.

In my work I have OCCllsion to I1llIke dental impressions for the purpose of making corrective caps. fangs, crooked teeth, etc. I was shown by II dentist the proper wily to take Impressions and I feel the Information given in the "Secrets of Graphic Gore" IIrticie Is flOt only Incorrect but it could be dangerous.

The article suggests a card· board contlliner pillced in the mouth is sufficient for taking im· pressions. The proper way is to use II perforated dentlll tray and not thecardbollrd one suggested. These denllli trays are relatively cheap lind can be purchllsed from IIny dental supply house. They lire specificllily designed for this purpose and fit the contours of both the upper and lower ~Iates and prevent the possibility of choking on the Impression material.

Another point I might add is that II good deal of suction is sometimes Incurred upon the removlli of the tray from the mouth lind caution should be us· ed when dealing with people who have capped teeth as it mlly loosen them. As a makeup artist I deal with people's faces lind very often that's how they earn their livings. They are in a sense en·

8

ClNEM

A

G/C "19

trusting you flOt only with their facial appearance, but with their livelihood as well. Therefore, you have the responsibility of taking the utmost care with that trust.

Peter Montagna 2222 East 7th St. Brooklyn, NY 11223

North Jersey

Film Group

• .. I'm II musicianlfilmmaker in

GlIrfield, NJ. I work in Super.8 lind have done mostly lInimated films. I'm looking for other fllmakers in northern New Jersey to collllborate on mak· ing films.

Also. I'm a fllirly good musi· cian and composer lind can ellsily score II film with either cllIssical or rock music, I'm cer· tain a Joint effort with llnother

talented filmmaker could pro·

duce some rewllrding products. If IInyone is interested, no mat· ter what age, please contllct me by phone or w~ite me at my ad· dress below.

Andy Halasz 34 WessIngton Ave. Garfield, NJ 07026 (201)478·9206

Bleached Laser Beams

... For laser beam or lightning bolt effect scretched onto the film emulsion (I use Kodak G·I60 col· ortsllent). Clorox Liquid bleach can be used to diffuse the hard edges of the beamlbolt and give it the appearance of actual glow· ing energy.

The bleach can be applied to the emulsIon side of the film area, Wait 10·15 seconds and remove with water applied with II Q.tip. Repellt the steps to in·

crease the intensity of the light.

Work on one frame at a tIme lind do not leave the bleach on for more than 20 second!! lit II time or the frame may become ruined.

It will take some prllctice to

mllSter this technique so take

your time lind don't rush. Be careful with the bleach, it can bum eyes and ruin clothes.

David Herfel 3349 PIIrklant. Ave. Columbus, OH 43229

Makeup Artists Wanted

.. .1 am a graduate film student at New York University and I'm cur· rently involved In pre.production

on Open SeasClil, II short 16mm IIctloflfthrilter. I would like to hear from lInyooe in the New

YorkJNew Jersey arell who Is in·

volved In special effects. makeup

who would be interested in work· ing liS a mllkeup artist on my rlIm. Plellse contact me if you're Interested.

Carl Morano 13 Kensington Rd. Madison, NJ 07940

Miniature Trees

... Here's a new technIque for crelltlng cheap minillture trees that lire very realistic looking. All you hllve to do is buy a bunch of grapes and eat them, S/lve the vine. If you look lit the vine, with all of its little extensions going everywhere, it looks like a tree, Now you can use the whole vine as one big tree, or brellk orf the branches to make smaller trees. You paint the vine brown. and it

looks like a bare tree during the

fall or winter seasons. If you want a green tree, you aln lIdd moss or

whllt ever else you can think of. I have only hlld two minor problems with this technique, The first is that the grapes are not for sale 1111 year long lind the se,

cond is thllt the vines tend to

shrivel up and die aher three to

four days. My solution is to freeze all my vines in the freezer until I need them. This way they lire stored up for when I can't buy them, and they're 11150 kept fresh and alive.

Brian Miner 936 W, Myrtle Santa Ana, CA 92703 , . ,See John Dod's article abool

crealing mlnIalure trees In

ONCMAG/C "3.

Omaha

Film

Club

... I'm forming a rlIm club for

the Omllhll, Nebrllskll llrea. If

there are any filmmakers living In the Omahllllrea who would be In·

terested in joining. I'd love to hear from you. Craig Perkins 9604 N. 35th St. Omaha, NE 68112 phone: (402) 455·8241

Blood

Formula

. I was reading a recent issue of

lime magavne and saw an article

on makeup effects. It contained this

formula for blood makeup: I) Karo

Syrup; 2) Yellow Food Dye 15: 3)

Red Food Dye 133. You might

have trouble finding the red dye,

but nothing else.

A.iso,i'm making a Viet Nam War

movie and 1 need people to play the

Viet Cong and Vietnamese. I don't

kflOW anybody with slanted eyes.

Does anybody have a makeup

suggestion? If you live in the Glen·

wood, Maryland area and are in·

terested in being in my mOYie.

please contact me. Tony Scott 3337 Brantly Rd, Glenwood, MD 21738

National Film

Correspondence Club

... Calling all amateur f11m· makers! We are starting a letter writing club to express our ideas and concerns as film, mllkers. If you hllve lIny ideas please write me, lind I shall per· sonally write each member of your concerns. If you wish to

join, plellse respond to the lid·

dress below. Raymy Krumrel 3056W. L·4 Lancaster, CA 93534

... Please send a copy of your /el. letS to F/JmrruJkers' Forum. IJIld

goodltrl!

Norwescon Film

Contest

... Nor.vescon 6, Seattle's own regIonal science fiction conven· tlon (held March 17·20, 1983) is having its first annual amateur rlIm contest. Entries should be 8mm silent, Super·8 silent or one or two track sound, 16mm silent

or sourvl, nr VH$ forl"nlll v;t1ffl_ FIlms should be flO longer than thirty minutes running time. Send entries In reusable carton. mark· ed clearly on box, film am and leader. Please Insure entries for you own protection. All film· makers not attending the conven· tion must pay a $5 entry fee to

cover costs. Norwescon and film

contest personnel lire not respon' sible for lost. damaged or stolen properties. If you woold like Infor· mlltion llbout the contest or would like to enter, send inquiries and entries to:

NWCIFllm Contest P.O. Box 24207 Seattle, WA 98124

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Posterlution

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... laser Ught Productions. a group 01 my filrnffiillking friends. Is currently working on a short science fICtion film. We saw an effect which we 6ked and. with your help. we'd ~ke to incOl"pOnlte it inlo our fdm. We believe the effect is call1ed "poslerization:' We saw the

effect In WoJfen. Please explain the

effecl and how we can duplicate II

without professional equipment.

We are worklng with standard 16mm equipment. If it isn't possible to complete the effect without profe55ional equipment, please give us an alternative effect.

Single Sound Stripe

... Since I phm to enter II Super·a

film in neJCt yellr"s Short film

Search. 1 hllve one importllnt

Question: will there be lIny

changes mllde in your proJec·

tor's sound equipmenO .... fter relldlng the Profile section In

CINEM .... GIC 1116 on .... steroid, t

was disturbed to find that only single track sound WIIS lIudlble at the contest lind no provisions

were mede for the billa nee

treck. I'm sure other fllmmllkers would be interested In your enswer to lIvoid the poin of los· lng half their soundtrllck at next yellr's contest.

, ... ( J.(~, ... ~

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"'k:Mel Barkhausen 218 BisOOp St.

Lego Armatures

... 1 would like to shere some

Informettan with other amllteuf

step-motion animators on how to moke" good stop-motion lIf'

mature for relatively little ex

-pense. Since I lack the resouces

to build ball·and·socket arme·

tures, I hllve devised II method of

rmlking ormatures from the

parts for Lego construction sets.

The diagram shows which

pieces to use. The piece "1\" lind

"B" come In varying lengths, and

they can 0150 be cut very easily. since they life made of pli!lstic. There life some drewb&cks, however. First, the model will havt to be rethO!T large (over 12

Inches). Second, the movement Is limited when compared to

ball·ond·socketjoints. Third, you

have to buy II whole set of lego

parts, which tlfe not chellp com·

pored to using wire armatures. rve had better results with the Lego armatures than with wire, however, be<:ouse the wire tends to break. Good luck. and good

filming]

Horry Robinette 580 I Cogbill Rd.

Richmond. VA 23234

.. Sn fhe lJI1.ide on OO/'l5lru(;fing

II wire animation model in C/NEMAGIC "4 and the article on

cons/rucling a pen set baY·and·

sockel Mmlliure in c/NEMAGIC

"10.

Staten Island, NY 10306 .. Virtually any lab /hal handles 16mm op/lcals will poslerize your {11m for you. II is nex possible 10 creale /he effect. Wi/hOllf profes

-sional equipment and /he process

Is relatively e:<penslve. There iso'l

rcally lIny effecf /hal you can

CIc.'Jle on yexsf own /hal will giue

you comparabJe results to posler/·

zalion. bul effects are not encb 10 themselves-they're solely {or creating a dramatic point /hal helps fell your stcwy. If you can'f lIfford 10 haue your films poster· Ized by lI/oca/lab, come up wi/h

II (/OtJJlly) differenl effect /hat you

can afford /hal will enhance your sloty-nexjust /he visuallmpacl

on the screen.

CINEMAGIC BACK ISSUES

Jeff KImble

260 Eaton

Bettie Creek, ",1 490 17 ... Unfortunately, we do nol foresee lilly cfwlges in /he techniclll

re-qu/remenls ~ keepirv:} /he

SCXIIldtrack lImIJ.ed to a ~/e trllck ffX ne.Q

years

show.

01

Address lilt corre.sponckn« 10; ONEMAoGIC-rdtrunakers' Forum. clo O'Quinn Sludi03, Inc., 475 Parle AUI.'. So .• New Y()ri(,

NY 10016

Due to fhe f:I'I()fJ'll()W ooIwne

of

ma/I received. Ihe editor regrets

IndlvidlJlll reFXies lire Impossible.

.'-BaS>(: Cartoon Aruma loon Claym,I!Ion K~

w:opo E~tXT$ Pro~Je

s.uo~ephclno

---

,

I

CINEMAGIC 0(1)' Ct. clo O'OIllnn Studios. Inc.

1I'2-SDaceshlp Model mll~"'II. Bk'lQIl Ma"ellp SmoI<e G9n6<alor L,g.!! Beam ElteCIs Milk",!! an SF LC90

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F'rOOuctlOO maflll9l'l!l low

ButIga1. Etect,OIIIC Speclllj ElIecIs CINEMAGIC SVA ConIes! Ru$es_ Secrets 01 G,i\PhIC Gore F'rotIIe Callitgl'lan and G""~II

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~""AntmlIIG"I~

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C/NEMAGIC

-19

9

Spin Your Own Spider Webs!

Build

your own easy to make and very inexpensive

co

bweb spinne

r

and

get professional looking r

es

ults.

I

recently problem oencountered f designing lhe and chcllenging building 1I

device to spin imitation cobwebs. In

Hollywood, this task

Is accomplished

with large fan·like units thet spew out thin

filiments of the cobweb material (usually

fibergltlss.

latex

or sugar syrup)

which

clings to

the set

.

These devices

clln be rented, but the cost is prohibitive, and this particular project (8 Jaycees haunted

house) required the device to be on hand

for severel nights. As added

complica-tions, the device had to be completed in

the splICe of ill week, end would Nave to be simple enough for enyone to ope rete in tin emergency. My final solution to this dl1ema was II small device that attllChes to

II power drill, took less than an hour to

build. and cost under two dollars because I

already had most

of the

IleCeSSllry

mate-rials on

hand. In spite

of Its simplicity and low cost, it delivers an effect of prafes-SiOMI quality.

To build yourown cobweb spinner, you

will need the following materials: 1) a

small

,

round self·sealing container such as a margarine or Cool· Whip container.

Do not use a container made out of brittle materials, as these tend to shatter; 2) a

"reverse" or "thruster" model airplane propeller. A normal airplane propeller can

be used only if you have a reversible drill;

3) along bolt and matching wlng.nut; 4) a pair of scissors or an X ·acto knife: 5) a con·

tainer of I'lJbber cement; 6)a power drill, if you don't already own one.

Spiderman strikes again!

By

MATT GREENFIELD

Spread the moterlals out on Il ~t of

newspaper and begin. With the point of your scissors, poke a hole just big enough to accommodate the bolt in the center of

the lower half of the container. Poke a similar hole In the center of the lid. Cut

three orfoursmall slit.5(no more than 1116 inch wide or

3/4

inch long) around the rim

of the lid, approxlrMtely 1/4 inch from the

edge.

Slide the propeller onto the bolt and

push the bolt through the hole In the lid

so

that the propeller Is held tightly &gainst the top. Screw the wing· nut onto the bolt

so that it is impossible to swivel either the

prop or the lid.

Fill the lower half of the container with your web meterial until the bottom of the

container is covered with up toe 112 inch of

it. 1 use rubber cement bealuseof its avail·

ability and low cost. By making the holes in the lid smaller, you could also use thin·

ner liquid, such as lalex or Karo SYl'lJP,

which would naturally produ<:e much

finer webs. IRubber cement can be thinned with I'lJbber cement thinner available In art supply houses. EditorJ.

Quickly, push the bolt through the hole

in the bottom of the contlJiner and clamp the lid down tightly. The device is now completed and loaded. Simply mount it on your drill as though It was an ordinary drill bit. To apply webs, press the drill's trigger and it will Instantly begin produc·

ing long fibers of cobweb which will stick to everything.

ImpOrlmll:if you hov<: US<:d a r<:gular propeller, be sure you have switched the drill into reverse or else you will find

yourself covered with webbing. Spider·

man strikes IJgainl

Tips; Try coloring the webs with various

powders by simply blowing them on.

Flour or cornstarch suggest very old, dus·

ty w~s. I plan to use powdered tempra

paints to suggest a "membrane" effect in my next film, Derelk:L Avoid getting the

web on your hlJir or clothing,

because the

I'lJbber cement is very difficult to

remove.

Small objects (cl'lJmpled balls

of

tissue, plastic bugs, etc.) add a finlll touch of

realism.

Rubber cement contains a solvent

simillJr to those

used

In many varnishes. When applying webs to wood furniture,

stand further away than nol1T\lJlly to allow

a

few

extra seconds for the solvents to

evaporate into the air.

Be very careful of the spinning

pro-peller. At the high speed of most power drills, It can be very dangerous.

Finally, experlmentl There are thousands of uses forthisdevice. Remem·

ber the ovlan ClJCOOns in BaWeslar Galac·

lica or the brlJin set in FlUltaslic Voyage?

Your only limit is your imagination.

Hap-py Fllmmakingl (11

Wow left: The llllterllls _eel h' blllldlllC the aIbwtI:I

spinner (noIl1lchlChnc In eItctnc drill). IIeIow: ~nc the webs WIth the aJmpIeted robweb spllI/leI

•

Ript:

StIfIlwo

.

,..

I hole In the oetIter oillie top Apon ITI3IwJ Wlf iii/! lhalllie tdt 01 the web $l'luA matn! contalntl fib the Idt

•

""'-: Sttp rife. Fill the lowe!' half of Ilie eontltlnef.rth)lOll' web maleriJI until the bot· tom IS COI'eI«I .rtll up to • hilt inch of tile web material.

UtI: Step one. I'oI!e I hole 1ft tile centee' of the wer hili

of tile web material conlall1t1 wittl a pall of scissors. Ma'" tile 00Ie lUst bit tn(iu&h to accommodate tile bolt.

Uft Stefl Three. Cut J 01 • smalI1Iits (no more than II 16"

_ 01 J/4"1q) IIlI1ie lid

~ Step Sil. Qudly pusIi tile bolt

throu&h

the hall! In

tile bottom 01 tile con!)11ief and damp the hd down Il&fItIy

TIlt IXIbwetI SjlInlief 1$ /lOW completed by attachllll the bolt

101111 electrIC dnll.lIft.: The compitt«l cobweb spinner iI· Iat/I«IIO a dntl and rod, for lISt.

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CAN YOU

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The Game of Time

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'---SPECIAL

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STARlOG's special effects wiz·

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"'

-Producers'

BULLETIN BOARD

PleJJM. (OIWard aAAOW'Icemcnts of {Um projects in current

produdlorl or flelY completion 10 ONEMAGIC, c/o

O'Quinn Studios, Inc .. 475 pllft Avenue Sou.th, New York, ffY J 00 16. PfeMe include /I photogr~ 0{ some phlJSe 0(

lhe produdion 1/ possibk.

The Game. A common, insignificant lind mindless pawn in 1I simple game of chess bears II symbolic resemblance

to a common, insignificant and not-so-mindless soldier of

the future. Both lire puppets to be mimipulated in

conflicts. ProducerlDirectorlWriter: Bryan Hughes.

Co-producer: Mark Riegner. Cast: Paul Embrey as the

soldier. FX include: fades, litho titles, energy and flash

opticals. energy impact pyrotechnics and sound effects. Super-e. color, sound. Running time: 2 minutes, 26 se<:onds. (Bryan Hughes, MOO 3058, Camp Lejeune, NC

28542.)

Cosmic Wa-ewolf. A crew aboard an exploration vessel runs

into trouble when external damage to the vessel forces a crew member to go outside of the ship during an unusual alignment of the planets of the solar system which they are exploring. The alignment of the planets has a mysterious effect on the man

and he returns to the ship and murders the rest of the crew, but nol before they can radio for help. When the rescue party

arrives - too late to save the crew -the fun begins. Producerl Director/ Writer: Robert Wilson. FX include: transformation

scene, pyrotechnics, miniature spacecraft, blood and stop-motion animation. Super·S, color, sound (Impact Films,

'%

Robert Wilson, 11737 Amherst Ct., Plymouth. Ml48170.)

Ring. Horror. A strange old woman·s ring has a curse on a young girl. Surprise ending. Producer: Shock Productions. Directors: Shawn Sheridan and Jim Mcloughlin, Writer: Shawn Sheridan. FX: Jim Mcloughlin. FX include: a living corpse. Super-8, color, silent with music soundtrack. Run· ning time: 10 minutes. (Shock Productions,

do

Shawn

Sheridan, 3827 Tilden Ave., Culver City, CA 90230.)

14

ClNEMAG/CII/9

Blood, Guts and Gore. A parody of coming attractions

for horror movies. Producer: Blue Stripe Films. Direc

-tors/Writers: Jim Wedda and Brian Newal. Cast: Arron Wyne, John C<!Impanella, Julie Roe, Dan Gastelum, Tina Wedda and Roger Decker. FX include: murders commit· ted by chainsaw, hammer, axe, rifle, dynamite, flame thrower, bow and arrow, and a car ·'accident". Super·8,

color, musical soundtrack. Running time: 6 minutes.

(Jim Wedda, 690 Veteran Apt. -Ill. Los Angeles, CA

90024.)

The Crystal Chalice. A group of five adventurers quest for the famed crystal chalice of Arindel. Can they find it? Producer:

Vanguard Productions. Director!Writer/FX: David Cavalier. FX

include: bloody makeup effects and slop-motion <!Inimation.

Super-B. color. Running time: 14-15 minutes. (David Cavalier,

161 West 54th St., New York. NY 10019.)

The Yellow Ranger_ Because God is

busy creating another world, He sends to Earth a magic rainbow aimed for a man of the cloth.

Accidentally, it strikes and transforms a blind hobo Into the Yellow RlInger, with mission to

maintain peace on Earth. For seven days the Yellow Ranger bumbles along In this movie made as a tribute to the old, silent movies of thrills and

laughter! Produced and directed by: Entertainment Enterprises.

Cast: Frazier, Jenny Ash!ock. Jon Teboe, Dan

Grazier, Rene Teboe and Dlno the Dinosaur. Super·a, color, with old·time music and sound effects. Running time: 15 minutes. (Entertainment Enterprises,

do

Jon Teboe, 11-05 S.W. 102 Ave., Miami, Fl33176.)

Starshlp: 18. Satire of Balllestar Galaclica. Commander

Roddey leads the remnants of mankind in search of a mystic planet until everyone gets tired of the empty script. Producers!

Directorsl Writers: Jimmy Wright and Mike Clark. Cast: Jimmy Wright. Mike Oark, Jeff Guinnes.s and Matthew Wright. FX

include: blasters, pyrotechnics, mattes, multiple exposures,

target computers, computerized end credits and a whole ragtag fleet

of

miniatures. Video with FX transferred from Super-B. Running time: 20-30 minutes. (Jimmy Wright and Mike Clark, 743 Myrtle Dr. Rock Hill, SC 29730.)

Starwarps 3, A comedy? Yes, thllt's tigltt-thi:;; third chapter of the Slarwarps trilogy is making headwayl See the evil Dark Elevator give Princess Layawi!lY the shaft and admit he's her mother! See Aunt Jemlnll

•

-•

and Uncle Ben make rice pancakes •

for Luke Warmwater! See Luke flee from the dinner table! See Eat·Three-Cheerios stumble on secret plans and his dialog! See Governor Tarbaby

""Blow·up·' photogrllphs of Chewing Tobacco and Layaway on their honeymoon! See the infamous Count Balderdash be "de-lighted" as R·U Dumb·2 destroys the

•

•

•

climactic dogfight between the poodles end the collies!

See

the ending credits take as long as the film itself! See e psychietristl That's right-it's all here, end going all there in

Slarwarps.

Written, directed, starring, edited,

financed and ruined by: Jeff Menz of Millvile. Unspeclal

effects: Richard A. Kilroy. Super·B, color, sound. Running

time: 10 minutes. (KM Productions, 1245 Nonh Orange

Dr.

1116

,

Los Angeles. CA 9OO3B.)

Guardian. Only one man can prevent the Agrons from conquering the galaxy. He is Dartan. Dartan must endure

dogfights, planet·destroying speceships, asteroid fields. e

fleet of star cl'\Jisers and e friend tumed traitor. Producer/DirectorlWriter/FX: Chris Alexopoulos .

Cast:Jefr Showalter, Scott Loranjo. Paul Alexopoulos end Steve Alexopoulos. Super·B, silent. Running time: 40

minutes. (Chris Alexopoulos. lSO·Sixth Ave., Troy, NY

121SO.)

The Dlilthium Crisis. A Star Trek story in which Kirk end Spack are protecting a shipment of dilithium crystals. The Klingons. using their new ettack fighters. pose quite a problem for the Enterprise to overcome. Produer! Director/

Writer: Gerald Shea. Explosions FX: Mike Shanu. Cast: Mike McAuliffe, Roger WelJer and others. FX include: double exposures. animated laser blasts and explosions. Super·B. color. sound. Running time: 30 minutes. (Gerald Shea. 569 W Crockett Lake Dr .. Coupeville. WA 98239.)

Terror House. Three kids are stalked by their mad friend. who was injured in a football accident Producersl Directors: Mark Poionia. Greg Leis. and John Polonia. Writer: Mark Polonia. FX: Greg Leis and John Poionia. Cast: Mark Polonia. FX include: electric bolt FX, make-up and gore. Super-8, color, sound. Running time: 20 minutes. (John Polonia. RD2 Box 424. Wellsboro. PA 1690 1.)

Sauced In Space. The last survivor of an attack that destroyed the starship. Conrad, flees to Earth. There. warrant officer Elise enlists four D(..D wargamers, a mad sdentist. and an

adventurer and gardener help in fighting the attack of the killer spaghetti! An irreverent sendup of recent sdence fiction movies. UnClisl Writers: Andrew Tuttle and Bartholomew Brown. Producer: Karen Comstock. Director: Andrew Tuttle. FX include: blood. mattes, ~xplosions. miniatures, multiple exposures, stop-motion animation, rotoscoping. forced perspective. Super-B. color, sound. Running time: 90 minutes.

(T

AC.E.

Enterprises, % Karen Comstock, 572 f.o\agna Vista, Santa Barbara. Calir.).

Lord of the Wastelands. Ogres, knights and nomads confront the young Brock on his quest for a valuable gold piece. After crossing the desert, the mighty swordsman finds the treasure while encountering an evil lord inside a medif'val castle.

&. Producer/DirectorlWriter: Robert

Hampton. Cast: John Morgan. Jill Hampton and David

Kelly. FX include: stop-motion animation, miniature sets. perspective shots. Filmed on the dunes of Cape Cod . Super·B, color, sound. Running time: 15 minutes. (Blue Films, Box 583 Hyannis. MA 02601.)

Video Re\lenge. A teen dies while playing e video game. His younger brother sets out to find out why he died. His discovery will rock the entire world ... jf the Information gets out. You never know when it will strike, end when it does. there is no e5ClIpe from VIDEO REVENGEI A new ex· perience in Horror. ProducerlDirectorlWtiter: Charlie Vee. Videotaped. VHS format. Color. sound. Running time: 25 minutes. Now in Pre·productlon. (Fentasy Films limited, c/o Charlie Vee. Coral Springs, FL33065.)

Somewhere in lime After lime. A psychopath becomes obsessed with the photograph of a 19th century actress and travels back in time to kill her. Producer: Wombat Productions. Directorl Writer: Bill Hawk. FX: Catherine Searle. Cast: Bill Hawk. Eden Brandy. Janny and Vicki O·f.\elveny. FX include: matte paintings. hanging miniatures, and some rear-prOiected opticais, Super-B, color. sound. (Wombat Productions. % Bill

Hawk. 2579 Center Rd. Novato. CA 94947.)

Voyage. The authorities of an alien planet send a robot emissary to explore a nearby desert planet Producerl Director!

Writer! FX: Keith Phillips. Assistant Kit 't/atson. FX include: models and miniatures, hyperspace flight sequences. stop motion animation and tilles. Super-B, color. silent (Keith Phillips, 3679. Holly PI .• Macon. GA 31206.)

Growth. aay. animated fantasy in which a life-and-death struggle is waged (in comic overtones) between a hungry little creature and a wily planl Producer: The Phillips Company in association with David Hucke Studios. Directorl Writer/

Animator: David Hucke. Technical Consultant: Peter Loft. 16mm. color. sync sound. Running time: 6 minutes. (David Hucke Studios. N48 W263888 Bayberry Ct .. Peaukee. WI 53072.)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Based on the book by Douglas Adams, about what happened on the worst Thursday that ever happened on the happy-go-lucky days that follow, Producer: Galaxy Productions. Director/FX: David L Kern. Cast: Ford Prefect and David L Kern. All other parts still uncasl In preproduction. Super-B. color. sound. (Galaxy Productions. c/o David L Kern. J 733 Huy Rd .. Columbus, OH 43224.)

The V1sltor. A stranger who drops in on Dr. Richard

Matthews--developer of the ultimate weapon---influences him to about-face his research. To be filmed for the 1983 CINEMAGIC/SVA Short Film Search, Producer. Alternate Images Productions. Director: Eric Tolle. Writers: Eric Tolle and Geoff Nicks. Based on a story by Fredric Brown. Camera: Ralph Stuart.. Production Design: Leah Battle. Cast: Eric Tolle, John Wardlaw, Juli Lyon. FX include: mattes, dissolves, electronic special effects. working props, supered titles and miniatures.

16mm, color. sync sound, Running time: 12 minutes. (Eric Tolle.

cia

111B Las OIas Ave .. Santa Barbara. CA 93109.)

A Voice from the Past. Twilight Zone adventure. A

teenager hears a pilot's last words over an old World War II vintage radio. Tracing the pilot's last heading, the teenager finds the plane. but the federal government is determined to cover up the plane's long lost secrets. Twist ending. Producer: Illinois Studios. DirectorlWriter:

Kenneth McConnell. Cinematographer: Dave Mahlman. Continuity/Clapper: Jenny Laypins. Cast: Lynn Miller and Kenneth McConnell. Super·8, color, sound, Running time: 20 minutes. (HMH Productions. Illinois Studios. 205 N. Green St" Carpentersville, IL 60110.) ('N

Iwasa

High School Werewolf

By JOE CARTER

A

behind the

scenes

look

at

the making

of

this

year's ClNEMAGIC

/

SVA Super·B First Prize winner,

'

;A.n American Werewolf

in

High

School.

"

H

igh school student Matt Jack· son sits in the school planeta·

rium watching the sky show. A full moon rises. Matt breaks out in a sweat as his neck glows ominous-ly. The show continues. Matt feels a strange sensation. He begins to grow course black hair on his hands and face.

His fingernails grow two inches and his

teeth become fangs. Hisface isno longer human-it is wolf·like. Within 30 seconds Matt has become a werewolf!

This is just one of the scenes in North Hills High School film class production, An American Werewolfln High School.

It is a production that took nine months

to complete-nine months efhard work.

The first thing our film class, taught by

Ralph Langer. had to do back in Septem-ber, 1981 was to come up with an Idea. Our class struggled back and forth for three weeks until an idea was settled on and eventually scripted. We decided to do a version of a high school werewolf -something that we had never done in Super

8.

This movie would take more time and would require more special ef· fects than we had ever attempted.

We decided to elect special crews to do certain jobs. I was elected director. and Keith Pohl was elected director of photo· graphy. The rest of the class was divided

._: : : : :--: into the following jobs: special effects , crew, title crew, editing, filming crew and

• various other crews. Each day location crews filmed while special effects crews created props and masks.

LATEX

ARMS

We wanted a shot showing Mall

metamorphosing as claws grew directly

from the Ups of his fingers. We took a two· part plaster mold of his arm. After at· tempting to pour latex rubber coating

into a mold we found that the seams would not match and there was trouble drying the latex. After two weeks of hard work the idea was scrapped!

leI!: Actor Man Jackson in tile loam rubbef werewoll

mask Cfeated lor An AmeflCJn WereWOlf In High SchoiN, a parody 01 werewoll iilms produced by the film claSs of NOOh Hills High School in Carneg;e, Pennsylvania. The film won Arst Pnze In Super·Bln this year's CINEMAGIC/SVA Short Film Search.

•

•

•

•

WEREWOLF MASKS

In our estimation the foam rubber werewolf mask was the most Important

priority. Our special effe<:ts crew made a

plaster positive of Matt's face from a

moulage negative mold. Then we

sculpted day on the plaster armature positive to make a werewolf face. After molding a negative wolf face in plaster. foam rubber was poured and baked twice

in the mold. The result-two f02lm

rub-ber wolf masks to be used on Matt. This

whole process took about a month.

These two masks had to work becausewe

found that during the last foam rubber baking the mold cracked in the Home Fronomicsoven. By this timl'! it was late

December or early January. We had

many outdoor night scenes to shoot. I assembled a make·shih crew with an XL camera and filmed for two hours in 28

degree temperatures only to find. a week later. that the camera was not working properly. Alii got back was three and a

half minutes of unexposed film.

We shot the night scenes again. All of

our night filming was done under street

lights or in front of store lights. Occa· sionally. we pointed car headlights toward the 8Ctors and since we used an XL camera and Ektachrome 160 movie film. our exposures were very well lit.

During the second filming of the outdoor scenes it was colder than before, and the

camera kept stopping from the cold. We had to keep the camera in a heated car.

like a bundled up baby. until the shot was

ready to be filmed. Needless to say. we were lucky to escape the evening without a severe case of frostbite. Technical

pro-blems hounded us throughout the pro·

duction. Most of our filming was

com-pleted by January-but the film class

had by then unfortunately come to an end. Matt. Keith and I took an indepen

-dent study to complete the movie.

BEAM SPLITTER EFFECT

Before the transformation scene, the

bite mark on Matt's neck glows a bright red and pulsates. To accomplish this ef·

fee-I

we used a beam splitter. We put a highly reflective piece of glass at a

45

degree angle in front of the camera lense. Matt faced straight ahead and we put ill piece of bl8Ck paper with ill hole cut into our make·shift Schuftan box. Red cello·

phane was taped behind the hole. This red hole was reflected onto the gless end

into the camera viewfinder. It was

superimposed onto the bite merk on Matt's neck when it was lined up proper·

Iy. By moving a light back end forth

behind this hole the illusion was of the bile mark glowing dull to bright red.

WEREWOLF

TRANSFORMATION

The hard part was yet to camel A make·shift crew Including Matt. Keith. teacher Ralph Langer. myself and a few

other students stayed after school to film

,

.

_•

"

_,

The secood hall 01 Man's arm Is readied lor a coal 01

plaster to make the latex arms ror the werewo~. We

couldn't

get

tile seams to match so we

scrapped tile

Idea 01 using latex arms

set up

cameras, each capable of dissolves. In

the movie Matt had to change Into the wolf twice but in two different places. in the hallway and the planetarium. Instead

of moving him constantly we sat him up

against some lockers. This provided the

..

,

I

The second eml 01 ptas181" Is apptled to Matt's arm 10

make the latex hand

tor

the transioonalion shOts.

Because

tile

seams

wouldn',

match.

we

just appHed crepe hair 10 Man's arms

; scenes. For the audience it appears as

though Matt had changed twice, when in reality he had only changed once. We had to be efficient because the process

took five hours to film. Our actor, Matt, had to endure having foam rubber, spirit

•

\.

~

~

(jJ

.----

-c.a

Above: The plaster !XJSltlve of Man Jackson's face is cleaned up and readied to feteMllhe day Ilia! will form the sculpture of lhe werewolf's face. Below: The plaster positive of Man's face serves as the base anlo whICh the clay sculplUreof Ihe Wflfewtllt'S face is applied. A plaster negative mold was then made ol\he clay $Culplureand two

foam rubber masks were produced 10 be usee In the IiIm.

18

ClNEMAGIC •

I 9

gum and smalllumpsof wig hair glued to his face.

We used five makeups on Matt from normal face to final werewolf makeup, using dissolves between each makeup.

Later, we used the same disso

l

ve

pro-cedure to make Matt's hands transform into hairy claws. That evening we filmed all of the dose-up and medium shot in -serts for the entire transformation se·

quence.

All

the other werewolf long shots were done with a sluch molded latex rub·

ber mask that we made from the mask mold.

The slush molded mask and foam rub· ber masks were duplicates. The werewolf wig was made by painting latex rubber

over a styrofoam wig head and attaching hair from an old Illig starting from the back to the front of the "bald wig" using latex rubber as glue.

The whole evening was very tedious, but this was just one of the many nights we put in overtime.

We got back most of the film and were ready to edit. It was about the beginning of April when ~ith and I spent one Sun·

day editing for nine hours with just a lunch break. Our ultimate goal was to have the movie completed with sound by May

23

for our school"s annual art show.

By the se<:ond week of April we still weren't done .

KODALITH TITLES

We still had to film the titles-we used black·on·white titles on acetate. We then made Kodalith titles as described in CINEMAGIC

"8.

We taped the Kodalith titles on a sheet of glass so they appeared in reverse. We backlit the titles so they would be

reflected positively into a black photo developing tray filled with water. The

camera was aimed at the image of the titles reflected in the water. When we rip· pled the water the titles would disinte· grate. We filmed the titles with the dissolve camera. The titles rippled and dissolved from credit tocredit. We had to

carefully set our lights and manually set the proper exposure.

DEADLINE

It was the beginning of May and we still

had some shots to film. We were running out of time! We had less than a month before aUf premiere shOlliing on M<:IY 23.

The sound editing was very time can· sumlng. We filmed three sync sound scenes using Ektachrome 160 single sys· tem sound on film. The sound is 18

frames or three inches before the picture, so we had to fjlm our scenes with this in mind. We filmed for two seconds before

the actors spoke. We tried to arrange

pauses in speech to match planned cuts in the film. This helped in later editing the sound footage. When filming synch sound we tied the microphoneon a boom pole to keep it above the frame line and as close to the actors' mouths as