Broadening Horizens

With Halloween right around the corner, it has made me realize what a fantastic time of year that it is for filmmakers to shine! I’m not strictly talking about bringing the latest spine-tingling horror film to your theaters, but in many non-traditional ways. A lot of times when the word filmmaker is tossed out, it is in direct relation to the producer or director of a film. While I was in film school, working my fingers hard on no-budget student films, I was taught that if you work on making any aspect of a film, you should consider yourself a filmmaker. If one cog is out of place in a machine, the final product will not be the same. Therefore, the makeup artist should be shown as much gratitude and respect as one would show the director.

And here at Halloween is a fantastic time for all filmmakers to show what they are made of! With the addition of Halloween Horror Nights to both Universal Studio Locations, it gives a lot of extra people an opportunity to show off their talents. Not only does it prove to be a fruitful time for actors, but anyone who has a passion for aspects of the film industry. Here are just some of the ways:

•  Set Builders: construction is a vital part of any film, and when you are building haunted houses, what better construction crew to get than one especially tailored for film? You don’t want it to be able to be a solid, standing structure forever, like you would get with a traditional construction crew, you want it to be able to be solid enough to be used yet have the luxuries of false walls and other film tricks to enable your ghouls and goblins to scare and move about adequately. Then at the end of a month’s time, you want it to be able to come down just as smoothly as it went up.
•  Make-Up and Costume Artists: this seems to be the most obvious job to me that really gets to thrive around this time of year. How scary would that witch be if their make-up looked cheap and unconvincing? If you saw a group of zombies coming at you with mildly tattered clothes, and a few smears of blood here and there, you would probably think that you stumbled into an amateur zombie walk, and not exactly get your fright. Having amazing make-up and costume construction is part of what makes these scares so believable and so worth it!
•  Lighting Crews: those houses need to be lit in just the right spooky way. Even if you’re not in a house, if you’re doing a haunted walk through the woods, there needs to be enough light to where you can see what’s actually scaring you, without revealing too much and keeping the eerie air of mystery. And there needs to be fog, lots and lots of fog! You can never go wrong with a professional lighting crew, simply because lighting is one of the most dangerous aspects of film. You want people who really know how to balance out their power, appropriately attach everything, and keep the equipment (and people) safe in situations like damp spaces or sudden thunderstorms.
•   Directors and Production Managers: yes this is even a perfect time for the top dogs to shine, because amidst all of the creepies and crawlies, you need people to actually keep things in order. No matter what you still need that “above the line” managerial team who can help coordinate where everyone should be and what they should be doing! Even if there isn’t a set script, it’s always nice to have that directorial touch to help actors get into character and give them new ideas for how to portray any lines they do have.

And haunted houses aren’t just for Halloween anymore! With the introduction of Eli Roth’s Goretorium in Las Vegas, Nevada, people get the opportunity to experience the thrills and chills of Halloween all year round! While his is more-horror based and less of a Halloween theme, the same key players are all important. And no one knows that better than someone who has years of film experience under his belt such as Eli Roth. It’s just one more opportunity out there for those in the film industry to stretch their legs.

So remember not to fret if you don’t find yourself immediately bouncing from set-to-set, keep your options open and to always look for those off the beaten path opportunities such as haunted houses, which will allow you to still stretch your legs and display your talents!