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April 22, 2006
Puzzlehead vs. Pyramid Head
I'm about halfway through a brief consideration of James Bai's no budget science fiction gem Puzzlehead, but I keep getting sidetracked by this tangled web of more pressing engagements.
Nonetheless, despite the fact that there are currently several films out by filmmakers I really admire that I have yet to see, I went to see Christophe Gans' Silent Hill this evening. One of these days, a talented director is going to realize that he or she can easily get away with making a horror film that operates purely on nightmare logic - something along the lines of a big budget version of Merhige's The Begotten. Until then, I suppose we'll keep suffering perfunctory plot points and terribly redundant exposition for the sake of the ten or so minutes of genuinely frightening content that films like this manage to offer. I don't know if it's worth it, but I don't imagine I'll ever really learn my lesson. I'll give this film points for intermittent imagination and, conversely, for the score that seems lifted straight from Fulci's masterpiece The Beyond.
And now I've got a semi-frightening tale of my own. I was working on The Outlaw Son this evening when I noticed something which had previously escaped my attention, during a shot in which a character's wireless phone rings. Those of you with digital phones may be familiar with the way certain devices will pick up a signal and buzz with static when a call is coming through, just before the phone itself rings. On the film, we used wireless lavalieres for most of the shoot, and so, right before ringtone sounds in the scene, the microphone picked up this anticipatory buzz. It was nothing that couldn't be removed in post, and I thought nothing of it.
So: I was working on this scene, and as I played it back over and over again, perfecting the cut, I heard that digital interference. Nothing out of the ordinary, until I realized that it wasn't all I was hearing. I turned off my iPod, turned up the speakers on my computer and pressed play on the clip once more; sure enough, there was something else there. Buried in that buzz was what sounded like a recording of a woman's voice. I couldn't tell what she was saying - it sounded like a recording played backwards.
I played it several times, until I was sure that my ears weren't playing tricks on me. Then, sufficiently creeped out, I quit Final Cut Pro. I get scared very easily (James could tell you an amusing story about a late night editing session a few years back in which he scared the hell out of me), and while I know there's a perfectly logical explanation for this particular phenomenon, it's enough to keep me from editing until the sun comes up in the morning. At which point I'll most likely laugh at myself, in much the same way you're probably laughing at me right now.
Posted by David Lowery at April 22, 2006 3:31 AM
Comments
With you, David, not at you, with you.
Posted by: Matt at April 22, 2006 10:15 PM
Yeah...time to give coffee another try...
Posted by: mutinyco at April 22, 2006 10:42 PM
Haven't you heard? I'm back on the coffee, big time!
Posted by: Ghostboy at April 24, 2006 12:34 AM
Well then. Maybe it was your old cranky computer hinting you should upgrade to a new 20" Intel iMac!
Posted by: mutinyco at April 24, 2006 5:23 PM
Hmmm. I like that explanation best! I've had my fun with iMacs, though - I think I'll be upgrading to a Quad G5 sometime next month.
Posted by: Ghostboy at April 24, 2006 6:02 PM
I got the iMac a month or so ago. Fully loaded. It's the most enjoyable computer experience I've had. It's genuinely designed with the user in mind. Quad is the only thing more powerful at the moment. And of course all the existing software fits.
If you really plan to fork for the Quad, wait till the prices drop in anticipation of the Intel towers.
Posted by: mutinyco at April 24, 2006 6:50 PM