Seven dead bodies and no murder weapon! Yup, my start date is approaching like a freight train and I have no rubber axe. How can I have an axe murderer without an axe?
No problem, a phone call to a qualified, professional prop builder should yield positive results. Right?
“Yeah, yeah, no problem, we’ll get that built next week.”
Next week comes and goes and still no axe. Another phone call, another “Yeah, yeah, no problem...” Pretty soon a few weeks have turned into a month and still no implement of death.
I’ll be eligible for Social Security by the time this guy comes through, so the only rational option I have is to build it myself. Of course I know nothing of the process, but I’m sure I’ll be an expert by the time it’s all over with. A little plaster, a little foam rubber... how hard can it be?
Well, lets just say the first attempt was a learning process. No worries, that’s what life’s about. Struggling, learning, overcoming. I head into the weekend with that experience, and will hopefully emerge with a creepy foam rubber weapon of movie destruction.
And what would a slasher film psycho be without a mask? Much to my dismay, there are no “off the shelf” halloween masks that fit my character needs. In particular, I’m looking for a “female” mask. I’m not going to go into the psychology of masks, or make deep symbolic connections about the “faces” we wear, and draw parallels between the “masks” the pretentious cheerleaders wear, and the “mask” of the killer. I’m not going to blather on, suggesting my little slasher flick has such lofty goals of making social commentary... no, not me, I’m just trying to make a good B movie with a little T’n A. But, I digress...
So, in search of the mask I scoured the web, and low and behold, I find exactly the type of mask that I need. It’s perfect... custom made by a small, independent mask maker. But guess what... he won’t sell it to me. See, I stumbled upon this little subculture of men who like dress as women and wear female masks... and, apparently, that subculture has been trying to live down Silence of the Lambs ever since Buffalo Bill made his first “girl suit.”
Okay, fine. I respect the fact that he doesn’t want to perpetuate certain stereotypes in media. I respect that choice of lifestyle. Freedom to express oneself in the manner they see fit is a fundamental right that this county is based on. In the long run, it’s good he didn’t sell the mask to me. At least that’s how I have to look at these minor defeats. The mask used in “Scream” was bought off the shelf. It has since sold millions of copies and continues to do so every halloween. On the off chance that “Spirit Camp” takes off to be a hit, that mask maker just passed up the merchandising rights... but if I make the mask myself... yup, you guessed it, the merchandising is all mine.
I spent the first part of the week sculpting the face for the mask out of clay. I’ll make the mold and cast the mask this weekend along with the axe. I’ll post pics soon. I’m coming to realize that filmmaking is about turning defeats into victories... again, much like life.
"But guess what... he won’t sell it to me. See, I stumbled upon this little subculture of men who like dress as women and wear female masks... and, apparently, that subculture has been trying to live down Silence of the Lambs ever since Buffalo Bill made his first “girl suit.”
ReplyDeleteOMG, that is just too priceless! ;-)