by Christopher on Mar.15, 2013, under Canon 5D Mark III, haunted house commercials, trailers
The Pennhurst Asylum trailer was shot last October one Saturday afternoon before the haunt opened. We basically ran in, told them to get some actors ready and came up with a short commercial right there on the spot. We also were able to go through the haunt with the Canon 5D Mark III and get some great low light video of the attraction in action! Check it out below and let us know what you think of it!
by Christopher on Mar.11, 2013, under Millennium, serial killer movies, trailers, video
We just premiered this video at Transworld in St. Louis and now we’re pleased to finally show it off to everyone! Our 2013 Show Reel features our best video from the last year. It it you’ll find clips from Pennhurst, LA Hayride, The Bates Motel, Killer’s Haunted House along with clips from our short film work.
My favorite part though has to be the Opening piece we shot last November out at the Haunted Trail of Horror in Kenton Ohio. Big thanks to all the participants from the Haunted trail and especially our dead female victim, Wendy Howard, who is trooper for putting up with all the cold disgusting places we’ve made her lay and crawl in over the last few years! The opening shots were of course inspired by the show that set me on my current path way back in 1996, the underated and horrifying, Millennium (1996-1999).
So without further ado here’s our 2013 Show Reel
by Christopher on Jan.30, 2013, under Halloween, haunted house commercials, Haunted Houses, Rant
So there seems to be a growing trend in the Haunted House industry to do silly funny videos in hopes of becoming the next “Gangnam Style” viral sensation. I’ve done videos before in hopes of them becoming viral and I’ve pretty much given up on it. I’ve actually listened to so called “web professionals” offer advice on doing viral style videos to let more people know about your business. In the past I’ve done videos with the intention of creating something funny that might go viral. I can tell you now this is exactly the wrong approach for any video project!
First the most OBVIOUS reason: The chances of your video going viral are astronomical. There’s very little you can personally do to facilitate a video going viral. It all depends on chance. I hear professionals say that all it takes is one person spreading it to some friends to get the ball rolling but that’s a lie. It takes thousands of people finding something funny or interesting enough about YOUR video to take the time to tweet it, facebook it, or email it to a their friends. The chances of that are microscopic so why should you base your entire production on creating something that in all likelihood will languish in Youtube obscurity? Why waste all that creative effort on something that you think might be funny or clever enough to go viral?
The Most important reason however, is your brand. Let’s say you own a haunted house that’s known for being pants-shitting scary. People make the trek from miles away just to see a truly scary haunted attraction. But then you have some actor or web professional convince you that you need to have a viral video. So you get all your scariest actors in make up and have them dancing around and singing Gangnam Style. Boom! There goes the scary from all your featured monsters!
This really really bothers me and I’m seeing so many haunted attractions doing it lately. STOP! Why are you diminishing your brand? The whole point of going to a haunted house is to get scared and have fun. Its not to watch actors in masks frolicking around to the latest pop music sensation! You’re doing it wrong and missing the point. I don’t care how slick and professional your video looks your not selling soda pop your selling fear! So make something that compliments what you do! Make something that’s scary!
Here’s the key: Go into a video project with the intention of making something creative and representative of your attraction. If you think it should be funny because your haunted house is funny then go for it. But if you are doing a serious event that’s seriously scary then make a video that represents that. Don’t ruin your scary characters by having them acting like clowns. There’s nothing wrong with having some comedy in your attraction but that’s not going to be the biggest selling point. People go see horror movies because they want to be scared. You don’t see horror movie trailers promoting the funny bits and one liners that might be in the movie.
Bottom line: Make videos that sell your haunt. Not videos that promote a fad or humor in hopes of internet gold.
by Christopher on Dec.05, 2012, under Canon 5D Mark III, HDSLR Filmmaking, horror movies, Retro Horror Movies, Slasher Movies, video
Arcade is are latest horror short filmed in conjunction with Beyond the Grave Productions under our combined “Beyond Rogue Films”. We shot this starting last spring in an all night film shoot at Bonkers PLayland AKA Saint Lucifer’s Haunted Asylum, in Flint Michigan. Its an amazing location because its an arcade that looks like its right out of the 1980′s! We found a great leading lady that fit the look we wanted perfectly and our friend Jon Shroyer came out to do some amazing blood effects! We set out to make something of a tribute to Italian Giallo films of the 1970′s and 80′s. These films were made by the greats such as Argento, Bava, and Fulci. They were often weird gory films with total breaks in logic and comprehension but they almost always featured a leather gloved killer. So check out this fun little horror short and tell us what you think!
by Christopher on Oct.06, 2012, under Canon 5D Mark II, haunted house commercials, HDSLR Filmmaking, trailers
We recently finished up the trailer for Saint Lucifer’s Scream park in Flint Michigan. We shot this on location last October. Hire us to Shoot your haunt!
Visit MichiganHauntedHouse.com for details.
by Christopher on Sep.21, 2012, under Canon 5D Mark II, Halloween, haunted house commercials, Haunted Houses, trailers
I shot this video in the Spring at Screamworld over the course of one day. I shot on my Canon 5D mark II and a couple work lights. They’re main attraction was a slaughterhouse and its in Houston Texas so it seemed natural to allow a little inspiration from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The sets at Screamworld are pretty realistic and the slaughterhouse sets are really sticky and dirty. Its one of the few haunts where you kind of forget your in a haunted house after awhile. For more info you can visit Screamworld for tickets and directions.
by Christopher on Jul.02, 2012, under Halloween, haunted house commercials, Haunted Houses, trailers
Here it is the 2012 trailer for Blood Manor Haunted Attraction in New York City! Another example of how we can turn your footage into a great exciting Web trailer for your haunted house!
by Christopher on Jun.12, 2012, under Canon 5D Mark II, HDSLR Filmmaking, horror movies, Millennium, serial killer movies, Slasher Movies, video
In May of 2011 Brian Lashchuk of Beyond The Grave Productions came down to my side of town with his beat up serial killer van and we shot a short film called “compulsion”. The story was originally Brian’s idea of a serial killer that finally gets his comeuppance. We expanded the story a bit, Brian volunteered to be the killer and I shot the whole thing, did the sound, and edited it. It was a 2 day whirlwind of a shoot and it was in the 90′s with high humidity the whole time. Now in 2012 a year later there are definetly things I would have done differently and there’s a couple badly lit scenes but overall it turned out pretty well. It’s heavily inspired by “The X-Files” and my favorite show “Millennium”. Check it out and let us know what you think.
On a side note this was the first film Brian and I shot under our new joint logo called Beyond Rogue Films. We shoot so many projects together that it just seemed to make sense to finally come up with a cool name for what we’re doing so Rogues Hollow Productions and Beyond the Grave Productions, combine to form Beyond Rogue Films. We have a Giallo film we hope to release by this fall and yes we’re finally starting to come up with ideas and storylines for a completely new take on the classic “Halloween”. Stay tuned!