Volumes of Blood: Set Photos

This past weekend, I traveled with my family to Kentucky to shoot "A Little Pick Me Up" for the upcoming Volumes of Blood horror anthology. It was a grueling but awesome weekend, with ten hour drives on each end, and a shooting schedule that lasted till 2:00 am on Saturday. And then, I returned to Charlotte this week for...Jury Duty! And next Wednesday, I have a book deadline.

But damn, it was worth it.  Life is good.

On location, I was greeted by an awesome, helpful and enthusiastic group of collaborators.  

The actors, Alexandra Lauren Hendrick, Jim O'Rear, and LouisaMaria Torres were incredible and gave their all for the project. Alexandra, especially, got put through the ringer and endured some messy special effects, courtesy of the project's brilliant "Rick Baker," Lisa Duvall.

My cinematographer was Daniel Hiatt and he was utterly spectacular, setting up and executing great compositions for each shot. Daniel was my right-hand man, and had a creative and visually-accomplished solution for a every problem. I feel incredibly lucky to have had Daniel at my side throughout the night.

I also want to thank Tom Martin, who wrote "A Little Pick Me Up" and was there on set, every minute, helping out and answering questions about his great story.

Behind the scenes, Eric Huskisson was super resourceful and creative with the story's props, and a true gentleman as well. Kim Childers, Markus Porter, Brian Gaddis, Pablo Gallastegui, Mike Hall, Jack Midkiff, Wesley Johnson and, Brad Reinhart terrific too, and kept me focused and on task to make certain everything went smoothly.

I feel very blessed to have met and worked with all the wonderful talents involved in this project. Being in the company of such a creative group of artists, in front of and behind the camera, I sure wish I lived in Owensboro. It's a testament to producers P.J. and Katrina Starks, and Jim Blanton that people of such dedication and creativity came together for a project like this, and I want to thank them for including me in the fun.

Here are a few pics from the shoot.

The Hallway of Doom

The Front Lobby.

"A Little Pick Me Up" actor Alexandria Lauren Hendrick (Angela) and Jim O'Rear (Lucem) share a scene.

The world's sexiest librarian: LouisaMaria Torres (Lily), gets ready for her next scene.

Alexandria suffered for her art, big time (center), while producer Jim Blanton (left) oversaw the shoot. That's P.J. on the right, peeking in at the location of a bloodbath.

Volumes of Blood Update

I have been working this morning on my shot-list for "A Little Pick Me Up," my vignette in the Volumes of Blood (2014) horror anthology I'm directing in late September. 

So far, I am planning for shots called "The Jacob's Ladder Shot," and "The Scanners Shot."  And that's just for starters.

But as I worked, I thought it might be an appropriate time to post another reminder about the Volumes of Blood Kickstarter, here.  

We are shooting the film, no matter what -- come Hell or high water -- but the Kickstarter will allow us to shoot practical effects on a bigger scale.  

And since I have a Scanners shot in my film, a solid budget will help. A lot.

So, if you're into exploding heads, please consider giving a little to the project. Even five bucks would help.

We have a little less than a month to go on the Kickstarter and we're getting nearer our target every day, but you can help tip us over.  

And one factor, I believe, that helps distinguish our project is the fact that it part of the Unscripted Film School, meaning that Volumes of Blood is not only the bloody, gory, utterly debauched horror film of my dreams, but an opportunity for people in the community to learn about film, and filmmaking.

Finally, I want to thank the readers and friends who have supported the project with their wallets, so far.  It means a lot to me.  

I'll let you know more about the project, as it develops.

Now, back to that shot-list...

Coming Soon: Volumes of Blood

I’m thrilled to announce here on the blog that I have been tagged to direct a segment of the upcoming Verite Cinema feature film Volumes of Blood (2015). 

As is clear from the (awesome...) art-work featured at the top of this post, the project is definitely in the horror genre, and the format is one I absolutely adore: the anthology.

Here’s a synopsis from the press release:

“Five tales of dread are interwoven when a sociology student gathers several of his friends at the local library to help him create a new urban legend with deadly consequences; Lily is in for a late night of researching and needs something to keep her going. It isn't until she's approached by a mysterious stranger that her luck may change... for the worse; a typical night of work for a librarian becomes a classic ghost story with a modern twist. Sometimes you can't keep a bad book down; Sidney is allowed to stay after hours to study for a test. But when she suddenly awakens in the darkened library, she realizes the horrifying truth of what lurks among the stacks of books after midnight. She better pray she doesn't become the prey; finally, Paige faces regrets that she'd do anything to take back. When an ancient and arcane spell book literally falls into her lap, she decides to make a grave decision. Be careful what you wish for, it might just kill you...”

Volumes of Blood is being produced by P.J. Starks and Jim Blanton, who created the short Lucky (2013), and it falls under the rubric of the Unscripted Film School Program.  This means that it is both a feature film and a training ground for new talent looking to explore film production. It pleases me greatly that I will be involved with a film, and with an academic or educational project too.

The upshot of all this is that I’ll be headed out to Kentucky in mid-September to shoot a vignette called “A Little Pick Me-Up,” and I’m pleased as punch about it.  The script is a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to get started.

Here’s a bit more info on the project:

“The production will take place from August through November 2014; where 5 indie horror directors will create their visions of terror in Owensboro, KY with an all local/regional cast and crew. The films are:

That’s A Wrap! – Directed by DP Bonnell (Happy Hooker Bang Bang)

A Little Pick Me Up – Directed by John Kenneth Muir (The House Between)

Ghastly – Directed by P.J. Starks (Hallows Eve: Slaughter on Second Street)

Encyclopedia Satanica – Directed by Nathan Thomas Milliner (A Wish For The Dead)

13 After Midnight – Directed by Jakob Bilinski (Three Tears on Bloodstained Flesh).”

Now, onto the sausage-making:  Volumes of Blood is definitely being made --  no ifs, ands or buts about it (or I wouldn't have signed on...) -- but the producers have also launched a Kickstarter campaign to attempt to expand out visual effects budget.  

I know that you see dozens of Kickstarter come-ons a week at this pont about start-up projects, all asking you to open your wallets.  But seriously, we want the effects to pass muster, and we want our film “students” to have the materials they need to craft something really special in terms of the visuals.

Below, our producer, P.J. Starks, presents a clip about the project, and the importance of the Kickstarter campaign.  (And here is the Kickstarter url: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1024621484/volumes-of-blood)

I’ll be posting more about Volumes of Blood here on the blog in the months ahead, as I go from prepping “A Little Pick Me Up,” to shooting it, to taking it to festivals.  I’ll be uploading photographs from the shoot, and more.  

But in the meantime, check out on the project on Facebook: www.facebook.com/VOBanthology