BACK TO PROJECTS
Status: Completed June 30th 2004
Info:
This short will be a crime-scene-exploration-esque (now there's a mouthful!) examination of the shed at the house where I live during term-time. It looks as if Leatherface lives in there, so I thought it'd make an interesting and atmospheric 'document' style short film.
Being a big fan of the 1974 original of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I was (and am for that matter) greatly inspired by the film�s aesthetic. The remake also inspired me, the use of supposed �document� footage of the crime-scene walkthrough of the Hewitt residence being of particular inspiration to me. The music from both films was fantastic; the original had this twisted, bizarre and atmospheric thing going while the remake�s soundtrack reminded me heavily of that of David Fincher�s Se7en, another film of great, dark inspiration to me.
So being all inspired by the both versions of a great horror yarn, I got the idea of making a crime-scene walkthrough-like video of the dilapidated shed in the back garden of our rented off-campus accommodation. Every student house has a shed, and in these sheds is always a random collection of junk and the odd road sign and/or traffic cone � ours was no exception. The shed itself is falling apart, parts of the walls are kicked in, the window is thick with years worth of cobwebs and grime, shelves are collapsing, a rusted saw hangs creepily from a rusted nail and the whole shed gives off a heavy vibe of �crude slaughter house�. So I got the idea of making up a story to suggest to the viewer.
This story being simply (as in most horror scenarios), some maniac with a keen dislike of us student-folk got all worked up by the loud music streaming from various windows, the pile of rotting garbage bags out back and the constant random noise � in content and frequency; and so decided to go on a killing spree, taking us all into the shed to dismember our bloodied corpses. Then of course, the coppers find out all too late and come to document the grisly scene.
I tried to emulate the grainy black and white 16mm film stock which is all-to reminiscent of such document videos. The end result looking rather grim, warped and nicely over-exposed. During filming of events for Uni Video 5, each time we ventured into the garden to try and tame it�s wild excesses, I hopped into and around the shed capturing obscure snippets of this grotesque terrace landmark of every garden. Finally, considering I had been so inspired by both versions of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I thought it would be a great idea to experiment with the soundtracks from each movie. I recorded various elements of the soundtrack (and DVD menus even � in the case of the remake) and when it came to the final slog of the editing stage (soundtrack), I layered the various audio clips over each other, overlapping each other and at times singled out to capture a certain piece of the score. I achieved a somewhat kinked, jarring sound to the score, playing with the levels of each audio clip to further isolate or emphasise a certain sting or segment.
When watching the final product I�m quite pleased with how it turned out. It�s definitely creepy, the soundtrack fits perfectly with the video and the clip of John Larroquette�s introduction (to the remake) stating just before the crime-scene exploration begins that; �for them � an idyllic summer afternoon, became a nightmare�, which makes the subtle story of the piece just a little bit more clear and a hell of a lot more chilling.
