The Perils of Filming Ghost Stories (...Right Before Spending a Long Weekend Alone)

Fresh off the glory of WilliFest, I was feeling extra-inspired to get more filming done. I was particularly inspired by an article I read about how to score a high number of viewings on Vimeo… the article detailed the exact right time to post your film, among other things, to help it get a lot of hits. (See article here.)

So I started to think… what short could I make within the next few weeks that I could post to get a lot of hits? What might be happening this month that would interest people?

HALLOWEEN.

Ok, brilliant – I decided I would interview people with ghost stories and put a segment together for Halloween. Interviewing people on camera, as opposed to orchestrating the filming of a narrative short, is comparatively easy. I would just need to book a room at the DFA, set up some creepy lighting, and rattle off a list of questions to my interviewees about their supernatural experiences.

It went great. I was thrilled with how my lighting turned out. The interviewee I had on my first night of filming was super generous with the details he was willing to discuss… the interview itself was juicy. I went home thinking I had gold.

One problem.

The next morning, I had to head to Pennsylvania to do four overnight stays with a dog. (Yeah, remember when I bought that pet care business back in May?) Said dog’s house is set back from the road, surrounded by woods, and ‘my’ bedroom when I stay there is in the basement.

I stayed there once before over the summer, with no problems whatsoever. But this time was different. This time, every time I had to go to bed, I was faced with absolute terror.

All because my interviewee’s story, about how as a teenager he had seen a demon in the woods near his house, had gotten under my skin… and I kept expecting to see one myself around every corner in this dark, silent mansion. (‘Mansion’ is not an exaggeration.)

It didn’t help that the house’s plumbing routinely made noises that sounded like doors opening and closing in other parts of the house.

And it really, REALLY didn’t help that, on my last night there, by which time I was desperate for sleep, the dog (who never EVER barks) began barking hysterically inside her crate up in the kitchen at exactly midnight, begging to go into the yard where she proceeded to flip out even more, and then taking over an hour to calm herself back down.

I returned to NYC yesterday and was as grateful as I’ve ever been to fall into a deep, peaceful sleep, feeling ‘safe’ in my own apartment and with my husband by my side. Now I just hope that I can manage to edit my footage, alone in my apartment during the day, in time for Halloween… and that the end product is worth it!

Also, of course… I hope I can get through the remaining interviews I still have to film!

WilliFest!

Just over a week ago, the Williamsburg International Film Festival was in full swing, and yours truly was in attendance! It was an amazing event, and more than your typical film festival since it also included a concert series, street fair/block party, and more.

It was the first film festival I ever attended, and I was so honored to be there on the strength of my film. Going made me wish I had attended film festivals long ago, even before I had any movie to show. I feel like I learned more about networking, financing, and actually making a film HAPPEN in four days at the festival than I could have from any book, lecture, or class.

To quickly recap the events, I went to opening night and was automatically thrown into a world of people who love story and film as much as I do. I had worried about meeting others, since I was entourage-less, and making the most out of the opportunity to network.

I didn’t need to worry.

Each person was so excited to talk about both their project and my project that starting conversations was easy. What’s more, everyone was there to network, so making connections was far simpler than I had thought. By the end of opening night, I had watched the first few movies with two new film-maker friends from Minnesota, then went out to dinner with three others who had come all the way from Australia. (Industry Magazine was also present and I’m pictured twice on their website at the opening gala, http://industrym.com/willifest-2012-press-gala/, third one in on the second row and second one in on the bottom row.)

The second day, I hunkered down to watch six straight hours of short films in three two-hour blocks, of which my film was in the second block. As the student film category got under way, I quickly felt my confidence and excitement take a hit. Student films? I couldn’t tell them apart from the regular short films which had screened just before. They were so sleek, so polished and professional… I knew that my short had a strong story and that the actors had delivered amazing performances, but still… by the time mine came on and I heard how rough and ragged the sound was compared to the others, I wanted to melt into the floor.

I had noticed that on other student films, there were long lists of crew members, whereas in my case, there were just three other folks helping me. Also, during the filmmaker Q&As, I quickly realized that every other filmmaker had had a budget ranging from a few hundred dollars up to about ten thousand. When it was time for my own Q&A, I had to report into the microphone that I had spent a grand total of $0 on my film.

Despite being slightly embarrassed by this, it was also an inspiration… what an amazing chance to find out exactly how people went about financing and organizing these teams of people to put together these great films! I used the opportunity over the next few days to find out as much as I could about how to do this myself.

My story has a very happy ending. Two days, two panel discussions, one big party, and countless screenings later, it was time for the awards ceremony. I was thrilled to find out that my short actually took one of the prizes, the Certificate for Achievement in Short Film.

Being accepted into Willifest and then having also received one of the prizes has been so encouraging… while I was starting to stall a bit on the filmmaking side of things, I now have huge incentive (and enthusiasm) for tackling another project!