On the Lot with Wes Craven: More Blood, Less Sap
On the Lot with Wes Craven: More Blood, Less Sap by Roxanne McDonald
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The seventh installment of “On the Lot” features guest director Wes Craven, who even gets the opportunity to judge a so-called horror film. |
The third group of five filmmakers hoping to win the title show their offerings, but not before one from group two is eliminated. Marty is shown discussing his being insulted by Fisher, how proud he is to have stood up for his work, and what a hard life he has had. Marty and David think they are in danger this week. One of them is right: as Adrianna Costa comments how they were worried that Marty’s egotistical retorts might have left a bad impression on viewers, she
announces that the next one to go home is Marty Martin.
Carrie Fisher, asked for advice, tells Marty he is a really good craftsman and great with style. She makes a suggestion for better story-telling, and then advises he toughen up. If having her criticism caused him trouble, he was going to have a lot more trouble, she says, as there is a lot more out there. She concludes by telling him he needs to find that place between confidence and arrogance.
Then the stuff we care about begins.
Will shows “Glass Eye”, a slow-moving epic of the eye that ends up in the dog’s intestines.
Carrie says that if her dog ever pooped her eye out she would not be waiting around to put it back in. She calls it a sweet film, a silent, and acknowledges that it is a medium, but talkies have come back in. She suggests that maybe next time there could be a little dialogue.
Wes Craven (introduced with such credits as The Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream—though he needs no such introduction to most of us) thinks it was a fun concept with fun twists…very original. He found a couple of misdirections, and names, for example, how the black and white could work differently for the glass eye. Overall, though, he likes the piece.
Gary quips that Will has a good eye, adds the dog was great, and his wife (who worked on production, design, and laying sound track) was great, as well. Gary adds that the only thing he would change would be the character’s dress—and wouldn’t have him in a wife-beater tee shirt next time.
Jason shows “Blood Born”, which I thought was this week’s finest: it is a composition of subtle and generic elements (such as the “sickroom/wellroom” signs) and eery but evocative visuals (such as the shift from grey-blues for the hospital scenes and corrosive yellows for the at home scenes). It is also the most striking with a storyline that ends in irony of the non-humorous sort.
Carrie is screwing up her face in disapproval, and says she likes the film but is a little confused by it. She challenges how Jason says he doesn’t like sex and violence but then there is an immediate cut to violence and drugs. [Actually, then, there is no sex, and drugs do not equal sex and violence, Carrie, and the violence is 1) implied and 2) not immediate.] What bothers Carrie is that she assumes this is a morality tale, and therein is the failure, she says.
Wes agrees that it feels like a morality tale, and the music as well as the character appearing “stoned all the time” is confusing, he says.
Gary starts in his now traditional way, with a quote: “E.B. White once wrote that you should be obscure.” Jason was, he says. He was subtle, when he would have made a better piece had it been uplifting.
Zach shows “Sunshine Girl,” a magical solution to the dark the little girl feels, ala Harry Potter effects.
Carrie calls it a “simple story told simply,” a “nice story.” She could have done without the minstrel music, she says, but other than that she deems it a great success.
Wes thinks Zach is a real filmmaker, based on everything here, the lighting, the music, and all. The only thing he was confused about was the fear of the dark part, and he also advises Jason to be sure he gets good actors.
Gary says that somebody once said that the sun never sets on England because nobody trusts them [in the dark]. He admits he’s afraid of the dark. He then points out that the under-the-bed scene was out of focus and the music was a bit a sappy, but, concludes, “What do I know?”
Mateen shows “Lost”, a true contender for a nighttime (or daytime, even) soap.
Carrie says Mateen can write dialogue and create characters and he is good at what he does. But, she wishes there was a third act. It was, she says, a little like a soap opera what with the close-ups and all, and she hopes he does more next time.
Wes liked it, he says, and tells Mateen good work with the actors and nice to see him taking on a mature subject. However, the woman never indicated what she was doing, which was confusing, Wes notes.
Gary disagrees and says he got that it was the girl’s p o v—she let him know he worked too hard and she wanted to get better attention from him. Gary suggests that if Mateen backs up and goes wide they’ll give him a million dollars to make a movie, whereas if he stays tight, they will give him 35 dollars to make a soap.
Jessica shows “The Orchard”—which she says is a horror story from the trees pov. There are some cool sound effects, but the piece is too cerebral, and again, not enough people are going to get that.
Carrie opens her critique with a comment on how this [anthropomorphization?] is her least favorite thing next to adolescence and being left by a man for another man. She calls it very bad and says the only thing worse would have been had Jessica gone on longer.
Wes is kinder in his introductory comments, saying he likes her spirit and jokes (very quietly, almost hard to get what he is saying) that this will work for people who are into poplars and maples…but, he adds, horror is about blood, not sap.
Gary, responding to Jessica’s sassy retorts, says that is the attitude he was looking for in the tree—the fighting back. He says that for other trees this is scary, but for the human audience something has to happen to the guy…so Jess doesn’t end up selling shoes instead of shows.
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