Work on The Secret Door has slowed done quite a bit lately. As autumn blows by I’m trying to enjoy the season as much as possible before the long dark of winter clutches Allentown in its icy grip. That means I’ve not been working on my movie the past few weekends.I did some production work for my friend, Luke Ramer, the first weekend of October which was pretty cool and worth mentioning here on my video-production blog. His main project, Under the Rainbow, has been put on hold for a while due to some equipment and budgetary problems (we micro-budget indie filmmakers know all about that) but Luke is a man with a lot of ideas. To keep busy he started another short horror movie intended for web release entitled (I think) Santas Claws. Roughly speaking it’s about an ex-military guy who plays Santa Claus because it makes him happy – because when he’s not happy (ala the Incredible Hulk) he becomes a werewolf and kills people. Santa has a bunch of enemies that pursue him; witches, a cabal of vampires, and a psychopathic killer called The Hunter all seek to destroy our hero.
My role on Santa’s Claws was as key grip, second (b) camera operator and all-around utility guy with a concentration in lighting and practical effects. I think it went pretty well. Here are some photos I lifted from Scott Cameron’s Facebook page.Speaking of Scott, I’ve mentioned him on my blog before. He and his brothers run a production company nearby in Emmaus, PA, called IO House. He has managed to have been present for nearly all of the shoots I’ve been on recently. In fact, Scott has held a number of important positions on The Secret Door crew, not least of which as visual effects artist. Check out this frame from a special visual effects sequence that he’s working on for the movie.
To say that I’m stoked about his contribution is understatement. It promises to be one of the show-stoppers of the production. More on that and other insights on The Secret Door will be revealed in future posts. I‘ll try and post again this month with more of a Secret Door focus. Work may have slowed but it hasn’t stopped entirely. Editing continues, as does the slow and challenging work of building a buzz for my first real indie film which is just beginning.
