Nothing as awesome as this picture is going to occur in the next Dead Lantern Pictures film. But damn if I'm not actually excited again to make a movie. Tonight accomplished everything that I feel Dead Lantern should be: a collective group endeavor. For the first time in what seems like ages, everyone got together and pitched in ideas and actually gave great feedback. It didn't feel like it was just Steve and I dragging everyone along with whatever we had come up with.
Over the 4th of July, Steve and I had gotten a decent idea for a film, but had hit a complete roadblock. We didn't know how to end the movie, what the monster would be, or connect the dots character wise. In an hour and a half, 95% of the movie was solved just by the interaction of the rest of the guys (and gals, thanks Tina!). It's kind of strange how months of frustration can be relieved just by a good old fashioned brainstorming session.
And that's all that was ever needed. It's one thing to have a leader telling people what to do when the cameras are rolling, but the entire process before that point needs to be a collective group collaboration. It makes everyone feel as if they are a part of the process and not simply meat to be guilt tripped (coerced?) into following some dumb asses delusional dream to make movies. If you're going to go through the grinder of making a movie (contrary to popular belief, The Grand Horror was a grueling experience) then it's vital that everyone feels like they are contributing something. Maybe you didn't come up with the major story points, but if you can chime in with "Hey, it would be cool if the character did this...", you'll feel just as much a part of the process as anyone else. And that's important. It's not one person saying "We're doing this and that", it's an entire group of people who you'll need every step of the way sharing their own ideas and feeling like they are just as important and vital as everyone else. That's how Dead Lantern should operate and that's how I hope it will operate in the future.
As for the movie, I honestly think the story we've come up with is the coolest thing we've ever done. If we can nail the dialogue down and get the characters spot on, I think we could really make something vastly superior to TGH. I think that by getting back to a single location, we can really get back to making a good movie rather than trying to bite off more than we can chew, which was the downfall of all our other aborted projects.
I think part of the reason I'm really excited about this next film idea is that it really gets to my favorite aspects of the horror genre. I love movies about people trapped in an isolated place. I love movies where you can't figure out who is trustworthy and who isn't. I love monster movies. I love the old EC Comics that had creepy twists in the final panels. I think this film idea has the potential to combine all of those things into a fun horror movie.
I can't wait to begin shooting.
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