James Kavaz

Went to a funeral yesterday.

Less than two weeks ago, our friend and colleague James Kavaz, who played Harris in KillerKiller and Lesley Meadows in Hellbride, died. He was only in his mid-forties, and had only been diagnosed with cancer about a week beforehand. What can you say about something like that? All the words become obvious and trite.

Having said that, here are my own trite ones for the record. James was a fucking superb actor and a great bloke to have a pint with. I cast him for Hellbride, then watched his audition tape again and offered him KK too without another audition, (despite the characters being vastly different). He had a way of nailing a character down; of bringing them kicking and screaming off the page and onto the screen.

I have no doubt that I would have kept casting James Kavaz in each of my movies from now until retirement, but things don't always work out the way they should. It's strange to be surrounded by his face on everything from the KK poster to the Hellbride footage that I'm still editing; all the while being painfully aware that we're never going to actually see him again.

Words fail.

Sleep well, mate.

And BrainBath joins the party...

Anyone who has visited http://www.jinxmedia.co.uk in the last six months or so might have noticed a mysterious banner for BrainBath which when clicked goes... Dum dum DUUUUUUMMM... Precisely nowhere. Thing is, it's always tricky with things in pre-production to know exactly when to announce them and make them official. One or two of the Jinx Media projects that I mentioned in interviews between the completion of TrashHouse and the commencement of production on KillerKiller and Hellbride have yet to solidify, but it's always difficult to keep your mouth shut when things are at that exciting time when the project is coming together.

So fuck it, I might as well beanspill now and repent at leisure.

The next Jinx Media flick to hit the lens will be BrainBath: a futuristic comedy/horror with far and away our most insane script yet. We're in the process of sorting out finance at the moment, (had a very positive meeting on that very subject yesterday), but it's all looking good for us to get together a significantly higher budget than our movies thus far. The script isn't finished yet, (Jesus, we work hard here, but there are limits... ), but a certain popular character from one of our other flicks makes a return appearance in the current draft. And there are an awful lot of brains in it. Beyond that, we're keeping quiet.

I know it's probably odd to be talking about this, seeing as most readers of this blog are still waiting patiently for KillerKiller and Hellbride. Rest assured, however, we'll have some distribution details on those two bad boys before long, and good things come to those who wait.

Still not sure if I'm going to make it out to Cannes this year, although it's looking altogether more possible than it has done most other years, (I won't be chained to an edit suite in that particular month, at least). Be good to finally meet up with a few international contacts and hopefully make a few new ones; we shall see.

In Love With Hellbride Again

Funny old business, creating stuff.

In order to get something from the starting point to the finish line, you've got to stick with it through the good times and the bad. This is something that I've seen an awful lot of folks fail at; they have a brilliant idea, they start to make it and then when things hit a difficult stretch, (and they will... Of course they will), they abandon it. They never say they're abandoning it, it's just that they've been so busy lately and there just hasn't been time and so on and so on.

Of course, if they were still in that first flush of love for the project they'd make time, but once that's gone you don't often get it back again. And sometimes the bad times can suck, and to stick at it takes real determination. Which is all a way of saying that Hellbride and I have recently found our way out of a really big rocky patch.

Looking back through this blog, I realise that I've sometimes been guilty of treating Hellbride as a bit of an also-ran to KillerKiller. Considering that the two movies were shot back-to-back, it was KillerKiller that got the expensive location. It was KillerKiller that got edited and premiered first, despite being shot second. And KK has probably been the one I've pushed hardest in terms of publicity.

HellBride has always been a bit more fiddly, a bit more awkward, needing a bit more love. KK edited together like a dream, but Hellbride has needed massaging to get it into fighting shape. We've had reshoots, additional scenes added, more special effects. We were due to be at final cut this very week, (sorry for those waiting for screeners), but we're only at mid-cut. Another month of extremely hard work, I reckon.

But here's the thing. I sat an watched the mid-cut through for the first time yesterday and I fucking love it. I haven't felt this 'up' about the flick since we were shooting, and on that run of insanely good luck that we had for the first half of the shoot. It's actually working, and somehow the movie seems more personal to me than KK. I'm not sure why, exactly; maybe because it's got a soft heart where KK's got a little dark lump of coal. It just feels more 'me' somehow.

God knows how that will translate commercially; I always figured that KK was a fearsomely commercial proposition, and didn't really realise how wordy it was until people started pointing it out in reviews. I always thought that Hellbride would be the less commercial of the two, but looking at them both now I'm really not sure.

Sod it, I love 'em both. And I still love that weird older sibling that is TrashHouse, too.

I enjoy doing this job more than anything else I've ever done. All I want to do is tell stories and get them out there, and have some folks love them and some folks hate them. Because it's the folks that hate them that make you appreciate the ones on your wavelength all the more.

Right now, I want to keep doing this until they put me in the ground.

Peace n love,
Pat

Christmas and New Year

Back at work today for the first time in a couple of weeks. Had a rather lovely Christmas off, and am revitalised and refreshed and looking forward to kicking arse in 2007.
The multitalented genius known as Cy Henty has been producing some artwork for Hellbride's new opening sequence, which I should get to see later this week. He's got a great eye for such stuff, and you can see some of his work over at http://www.cyhenty.co.uk/gallery.htm
Speaking of Hellbride, there was also a nice little bit of coverage about it in this month's SFX magazine, (the one with Dr Who on the front, we're on page 27), which was a nice little early Christmas present. While I push the edit towards fine cut, Phil Sheldon (who scored KillerKiller)is also hard at work on the score. It's all coming together very nicely indeed.
Merry Christmas/Happy New Year and all that. Now it's back to work...

Video diary

New Hellbride video diary clip at;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsMnM7mMngY

Second Assembly

After my somewhat vague entry last week about finding solutions for Hellbride's structural problems, I called a member of cast back at the end of last week for some dialogue looping, which has done the job fantastically. Sometimes simple solutions are all that's required; I must admit I'd been panicking that we might need another reshoot. Funny old business.

Still being trying to sort out certain leads on distribution for KK, but it's getting increasingly futile as everything winds down for Christmas, and come Wednesday I'm chucking in the towel for the rest of the year and taking a couple of weeks off.

Hellbride is looking pretty damn good in Second Assembly actually. I'm getting this cut over to our composer over the next couple of days, so that he can start putting together some score for it. Funny how music brings things to life so much. I can't imagine KK without the score and the soundscapes.

Solving problems

Still trying to suss out exactly how my brain works.

Either way, the Hellbride issues are now considered sorted. The solution came to me fully formed yesterday, and I've been babbling about it ever since.

We might even hit our deadline.

Woo, and hoo.

And another...

http://www.horrortalk.com/reviews/KK/KK.html

Been spending my time sorting out various enquiries from sales agents and distribution companies. Hit a bit of a bummer earlier in the week with the news that my 'ideal option' isn't dealing in horror any more. This is not only a pity from a KK angle, but also as a customer; they did some of the best horror releases out there. Won't name the company as they don't seem to have made the change of direction public yet.

Watched the current assembly of Hellbride straight through again this morning, and it needs... Goddammit, I'm not entirely sure what it needs. It's got a whole bunch of brilliant stuff but doesn't quite seem to be heading the way I want it to as a whole. I've been very eager for it to be done and dusted by January so that it stands a chance of getting premiered at a certain festival, but I think hand-on-heart that we're probably going to miss that date because I want to get the sucker perfect. I'm still scratching my head about it, to be honest...

Another good KK review

Can be found over here...

http://www.mjsimpson.co.uk/reviews/killerkiller.html

Good to know that folks are enjoying the flick!

New Forum

Just spent the last few hours tweaking around trying to get a new forum for Jinx Media. I've set one up and there's a link to it at the bottom of http://www.jinxmedia.co.uk

Go, sign up and start talking, otherwise it's just me talking to myself and what fun's that? Well, other than this blog, obviously, which is a whole ton of fun with a slice of lime. As a special incentive, there's a video clip linked to in the TrashHouse thread that was removed from the Behind-The-Scenes documentary due to a very high swear-count. So go and join up, watch the clip and then talk about it. Go on, otherwise I've wasted a whole fucking afternoon when I should have been editing Hellbride.

Screenings, screeners, screaming...

A good few folk have seen KillerKiller now. There's a review over on the IMDB at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848551/ from a chap who was at the HorrorFest screening, and there will be more going up online over the next few days, I should imagine. A couple of other reviewers also now have screener DVDs, and I'm sure they'll be letting the world know their thoughts before too long.

Oh, we had a Fangoria News item go up last week, too. You can find that over at http://fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=3200 if you fancy checking it out.

'Crazy Man Michael' also posted a nice review of TrashHouse on the British Horror Films boards... You can find that at http://britishhorrorfilms.co.uk/board/index.php?act=ST&f=25&t=7438&s=2104f51d27390b30851fabfa47bea956

I've been having trouble staying focused over the last few days. Trying to juggle screenings, sending out screeners, keep KK's profile high whilst actually working on Hellbride to ensure that we make the delivery date. I wish there was more than one of me; I wish the company was bringing in enough money to have more than just me as an employee! Hey, maybe you can help. Go and buy copies of TrashHouse for everyone you know, seeing as it's under a fiver. Go on... I'll wait. Just click here...

http://tinyurl.com/y24mob

Oh, you're back already? How many did you buy? Really? That many? Maybe you should go back and buy one more for luck. Even if you fucking hate the film, the special features are really good. Honest.

Ok, now that you've helped me on my path to world domination, maybe I'll share a secret with you. I'm probably having the most difficulty focusing because I've got a project rattling around inside my head that's just desperate to be produced. I've been working on the treatment for BrainBath for a little while now, and it's something very very special. But it's going to take money. More than the last three flicks combined, to be honest. But, my God, it's going to be worth it.

I don't want to be in post-production. I want to be back in pre-production on a new one. But I guess that's always the way of things...

KillerKiller is locked

All done and dusted. In the bag. A finished feature film, all shiny and ready for its first ever official screening tomorrow.

The screening at HorrorFest is apparently at around 5pm on Saturday, for anyone who was planning on making the trip just for us. There's loads of other brilliant stuff on that day, mind you, so you might want to turn up for the whole thing regardless, (apparently, that day's screenings now start at 12.30 rather than the advertised 2pm). Going to be great to see it with a horror crowd, and I'm interested as to what they make of it!

A bit torn as to how best to spend my day, to be honest. Cutting KK meant that every day had a structure. I'm torn between badgering more industry types to come to next Thursday's screening and doing a few casual passes at cutting the new Hellbride scenes that we shot last week. Hmm. It's nice not to feel like the clock's ticking away quite so hard!

This week...

KillerKiller leaves the comfort of the Jinx Media office and gets seen by people. Actual, genuine people.
First up, we have a tiny cast & crew screening on Friday, followed by the public premiere in Portsmouth this Saturday at HorrorFest, ( http://www.horrorfest.co.uk ), and then a couple of industry screenings for press, distribution companies and so on next week.
Is it finally finished? Neeeeeeeearly. I need to tweak 12 different things, (mostly sound levels), before I consider it finished. Only a day's work, and by tomorrow the sucker should be locked.
So, has anyone seen it yet? Other than those working very very closely with it, (Phil Sheldon, for example, who has produced a wonderful score to accompany the spectacular soundscapes of Crystal Plumage Musics), the only person to have seen it is M, (who you can find out about at http://www.jinxm.co.uk ), who saw a very nearly final fine cut last week and really dug it. Which is good.
We had reshoots for Hellbride last week, too. One scene was being reshot because the lighting on the original shoot for that particular scene was awful, (my fault entirely; it was a second unit thing and our DP wasn't even there), and another brand new scene with a brand new character was filmed to help expand a section of the film that felt a little rushed in the first assembly. I'm chuffed with how it all went, and it was great to see the cast and crew again. Bless 'em, they all rock.
Now, time to get these 12 things sorted out!

Good couple of weeks

Things have been great, and the lack of updates has been due to... (Drumroll) Me forgetting my Blogger password. And username. I am an idiot.

OK, first things first. The first public screening of KillerKiller is happening on Saturday 18th November at the HorrorFest festival in Portsmouth. The cost of a ticket? Simply a donation to Children In Need. More info is appearing slowly but surely at http://www.horrorfest.co.uk

Other great and groovy stuff; the final sound mix is approaching. The extraordinarily talented Phil Sheldon has been putting together some score elements to compliment the lush soundscapes that we already have in the flick, and we're very much hoping to be able to use a song by the wonderful and mighty Jim Bob, (http://www.jim-bob.co.uk), over the end credits.

We're also hoping to have an industry screening in London for reviewers/potential distributors, so folks fitting that general description can feel free to drop a line to killer@jinxmedia.co.uk for more information.

Had an interview with a rather large and long-running magazine last week, (which I won't name just on the offchance they don't run the article!), which was good fun.

Press

From today's Brentwood Gazette, a nice article about Cy Henty's role in KK.

Mid-Cut

Blazing through post for KK at a million miles an hour. Pip and I sat and watched the Mid-Cut yesterday. Working fantastically in most respects, with only a couple of sound problems, (largely echo related), some edits on the cheerleader sequence and some score elements stopping it from classing as a borderline Fine Cut. In other words, we're on schedule for delivering the Final Cut by the second week of November.

Hellbride is taking a little longer. I've enlisted another fine editor, Mike Borland, to do some additional work on it to stop it from falling behind schedule whilst I busy myself with KillerKiller, and we've got a couple of days of reshoots and additional scenes scheduled for next month just to get it perfect.

I'm hoping to be able to announce the first KK public screening within the next few weeks, which will certainly be one for your calendar.

We rock fairly often

Had a 'we rock' day yesterday, where I felt unstoppable. KK was cutting like a dream and all was well with the world. I've been playing around with some of the soundscapes which have been kindly provided for the movie by a chap called Patrick who works with a team calling themselves Crystal Plumage Musics. You can hear some of Patrick's work on the trailers, and its fitting the KK vibe very nicely indeed. Scenes that were merely 'working' are suddenly 'rocking' and it's a pretty damn good feeling.

Been putting together a press release for the local papers this afternoon. They were always nice to us last time around, so hopefully they'll run a little something for these flicks too. Oh, and that reminds me... If any folks out there happen to run websites or magazines and want to interview any of us Jinxy folks... You only have to ask!

How far is too far?

See, I'm presented with interesting choices when cutting these movies. I can't explain many of these situations without blowing scenes from the movies, which I have no desire whatsoever to do, but every day I'm faced with the question of how far is too far.

That's not to imply that these flicks are ground-breakingly horrible, or anything like that. It's just a matter of keeping the mood at the right pitch. It's a really fine line, especially when dealing with violence in a horror-comedy, because nothing can make a laugh die quicker than hoding a shot of someone suffering for too long. Unless, strangely enough, you hold it for MUCH too long, after which it starts to become funny again.

I recut the opening scene of KK today, substantially changing it from the first assembly. In the course of these alterations, it lost one extremely nasty shot but gained another that seems edgier somehow even though it involves no actual violence.. Ah, it's tough to explain this stuff without actual examples. Maybe in a few months time I'll get to waffle on about it at length in a director's commentary.

I'm still getting that impatient feeling in my gut where I want these movies to be finished so that I can watch them with other people. Ridiculous, considering we only finished shooting last month, but I've been licving with them for a lot longer than that now and I kind of want them to be done. The fun stuff is pretty much over, and the post schedule is, actually, bloody hard work. You get a few good bits each day; making something flow that didn't previously, getting just the right sound sting on something, but it's all a bit of a grind compared to shooting.

Ah, pay no attention to me. When I'm shooting I usually claim that editing's my favourite bit.

Trailers

They're officially out. You can find them via the links on http://www.jinxmedia.co.uk or via the news page of http://www.horrortalk.com and I very much hope that you like them.

Sat and watched the first assembly of Hellbride last Friday, and it's the funniest of the three movies that we've shot so far. Hands down. KK might have the nastier gore and the cooler location, but Hellbride has the laughs covered. I sat throughout the screening frantically scribbling down ideas to tighten it; things that need to be done, things that could be done, just so the final product is as tight as we can possibly get it. I'm hoping to gather folks for a couple of days of pick-ups in the not-too-distant future, but it might prove tricky, and I might have to swap my plans around a little depending on who is available and who isn't. We'll see.

Every now and again, an old project and forgotten project starts calling to me. The WitchPit script, which had been sitting on my hard-drive for about four years, started calling to me earlier in the year and we've plonked it firmly into our development slate. Suddenly, last week, however, a treatment that I had for a film called BrainBath also started calling. The call is getting louder and louder...

On that too, we'll see. Always fun to find out how things turn out...

Leaking

Gonna be honest here, because it's what you folks expect. I've been leaking. Just a bit, just a little. Just enough to get people interested.

Christ, that sounded disgusting. I'd really best clarify. The last thing in the world that any independent producer wants is for folks to be bored of hearing about the product by the time the product hits the market. Similarly, the other last thing would be for nobody to have heard of the thing at all. So it's a balance.

It's probably a bit early in the day to be releasing too much stuff from these flicks, but sitting on brilliant trailers and cool promo artwork gets to be difficult. So occasionally, I leak. Somewhere on the internet, on a message board or forum, I leaked the URL for the trailers for both movies. And now, of course I've just leaked the KK promo poster. All over this blog.

I'm sure at some point I'll stop finding the word 'leak' amusing, but it hasn't happened yet.

Oh, and the wrap party was great. It was terrific seeing so many folks again, and I was a very drunk bunny indeed by the time I crashed into bed.

Back to the edit suite. I might as well save that as my automatic signature from now on...



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