Post by Tweek on Jun 10, 2003 15:01:35 GMT -6
This is to recap some previous questions:
(EllyKedward)
I thought we could start our questions here for Mr. Mike Monello of Haxan Films, who has kindly agreed to join us here at the forum!
I would like to kindly thank Mike on the behalf of us all for taking the time to kindly answer our questions. Welcome Mike!
My first question would be, how do you feel about The Blair Witch Project now in retrospect after years of it's release? Did you ever while making the film believe it would become as popular as it has?
Thank you!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(The Muggler)
Thanks for inviting me to join in!
This is a really great question. My feelings about the movie itself and the making of it are all positive. Working with Ed, Dan, Gregg and Rob in that office in orlando, trying to keep the lights on and finish the film, Raman Noodles and cheap cuban food from Medina's for lunch (not at the same time), the electrical wires in the walls slowly burning up and smelling like dead animals -- there was a real sense of throwing all caution to the wind -- gambling everything to make the movie and that was exhilirating.
It is hard for me to isolate the movie from the experiences making it and everything that happened during and after its release, so I think it is impossible for me to be objective about it. I am proud of it, and I am really glad there are plenty of people out there (like you guys) who are able to separate the film from the unbelievable hype surrounding it to appreciate it for what it is.
I think if there are any unpleasant feelings about Blair Witch it is that Artisan still doesn't understand what made that film such a success and they don't seem interested in letting Ed and Dan continue the story the way it should be treated. I wish the relationship with Artisan were friendlier, but that ball is really in Artisan's court.
I would love it if Artisan would let us do a Criterion DVD release of Blair Witch, transferred directly from the master hi8 tapes (the current DVD is the hi8 tapes transferred to 35mm film and then transferred back to video which is why the film has that strange letterbox all around it). We have a feature length making of documentary that could be finished very easily and included on the package, and I think there are several interesting new commentaries that could be recorded.
Also, there's lot's of unseen footage in those vaults!
Maybe one day...
As for predicting BWP's popularity, I don't think anyone could have predicted how the mass public took to the movie, but I will say that projects tend to have a "vibe" of their own, and BWP had a momentum and a very special "vibe" around it, from the first time Ed told me the idea so many years ago to the opening of the film.
-Mike
Working on the film was always a blast, even when things got tense (and they sometimes did get very tense) because I was always working with friends and you can't really ask for more than that, ya know?
Personally, I enjoy making indie films. It's rougher in the sense that you have no money and that you have to improvise, but you really do have total creative freedom and I'd rather have less money and make something pure than have some accountant or marketing study tell me what elements I need to put in my movies.
I think Ed can speak to whether he was able to exercise those creative juices on BWP, but I can definitely tell you that Ed and Dan had no interference from money people or studio people on how to cut BWP.
As for the most physically challenging aspect of making the movie, I should tell you all that I was not out in the woods in Maryland during the initial shooting of the film. I helped Dan, Ed, and Gregg early on in packaging the film and putting togetehr the investment tape but didn't really come on to the project in an official capacity until after the film was shot. I can speak much more effectively about the post production process than production, so I'll leave that to Ed.
Personally, however, the most physically difficult part of the filmmaking was durring the reshoots we did on Artisan's request after we sold the film. Artisan asked us to reshoot the end of the film, promising that if we said we wanted the original ending they would go with the original ending. So off we went, back to MD and the house location with Mike Williams and the original crew to shoot some new endings, and during the shoot I cam down with something called "Bell's Palsy" which paralyzed the left side of my face for several weeks. Fortunately I recovered 100% but it was scary for a while.
And the ending on the film is the original ending.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(EllyKedward)
I thought we could start our questions here for Mr. Mike Monello of Haxan Films, who has kindly agreed to join us here at the forum!
I would like to kindly thank Mike on the behalf of us all for taking the time to kindly answer our questions. Welcome Mike!
My first question would be, how do you feel about The Blair Witch Project now in retrospect after years of it's release? Did you ever while making the film believe it would become as popular as it has?
Thank you!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(The Muggler)
Thanks for inviting me to join in!
This is a really great question. My feelings about the movie itself and the making of it are all positive. Working with Ed, Dan, Gregg and Rob in that office in orlando, trying to keep the lights on and finish the film, Raman Noodles and cheap cuban food from Medina's for lunch (not at the same time), the electrical wires in the walls slowly burning up and smelling like dead animals -- there was a real sense of throwing all caution to the wind -- gambling everything to make the movie and that was exhilirating.
It is hard for me to isolate the movie from the experiences making it and everything that happened during and after its release, so I think it is impossible for me to be objective about it. I am proud of it, and I am really glad there are plenty of people out there (like you guys) who are able to separate the film from the unbelievable hype surrounding it to appreciate it for what it is.
I think if there are any unpleasant feelings about Blair Witch it is that Artisan still doesn't understand what made that film such a success and they don't seem interested in letting Ed and Dan continue the story the way it should be treated. I wish the relationship with Artisan were friendlier, but that ball is really in Artisan's court.
I would love it if Artisan would let us do a Criterion DVD release of Blair Witch, transferred directly from the master hi8 tapes (the current DVD is the hi8 tapes transferred to 35mm film and then transferred back to video which is why the film has that strange letterbox all around it). We have a feature length making of documentary that could be finished very easily and included on the package, and I think there are several interesting new commentaries that could be recorded.
Also, there's lot's of unseen footage in those vaults!
Maybe one day...
As for predicting BWP's popularity, I don't think anyone could have predicted how the mass public took to the movie, but I will say that projects tend to have a "vibe" of their own, and BWP had a momentum and a very special "vibe" around it, from the first time Ed told me the idea so many years ago to the opening of the film.
-Mike
Working on the film was always a blast, even when things got tense (and they sometimes did get very tense) because I was always working with friends and you can't really ask for more than that, ya know?
Personally, I enjoy making indie films. It's rougher in the sense that you have no money and that you have to improvise, but you really do have total creative freedom and I'd rather have less money and make something pure than have some accountant or marketing study tell me what elements I need to put in my movies.
I think Ed can speak to whether he was able to exercise those creative juices on BWP, but I can definitely tell you that Ed and Dan had no interference from money people or studio people on how to cut BWP.
As for the most physically challenging aspect of making the movie, I should tell you all that I was not out in the woods in Maryland during the initial shooting of the film. I helped Dan, Ed, and Gregg early on in packaging the film and putting togetehr the investment tape but didn't really come on to the project in an official capacity until after the film was shot. I can speak much more effectively about the post production process than production, so I'll leave that to Ed.
Personally, however, the most physically difficult part of the filmmaking was durring the reshoots we did on Artisan's request after we sold the film. Artisan asked us to reshoot the end of the film, promising that if we said we wanted the original ending they would go with the original ending. So off we went, back to MD and the house location with Mike Williams and the original crew to shoot some new endings, and during the shoot I cam down with something called "Bell's Palsy" which paralyzed the left side of my face for several weeks. Fortunately I recovered 100% but it was scary for a while.
And the ending on the film is the original ending.
------------------------------------------------------------------------