Halloween Movie Marathon #8 and a Moth Costume
For years I’ve wanted to be a moth for Halloween but then Martha Stewart put a moth costume on the cover of her Halloween edition so I had to wait the appropriate mourning time to make a moth costume for myself. I wanted to make something that looked somewhat authentic but didn’t involve having massive wings that would bang into things all night. I opted to make a cozy cape that when held up would look like moth wings. I consulted my dear friend Erin for advice on some stunning moths (there are so many to choose from!) and settled on the Cecropia moth. After sewing the wing cape, I painted the design onto the fabric, added some antennae and mothy dark eyes and I was ready to go.
We of course had our traditional Halloween movie marathon. A few friends even drove all the way out from Texas just to be there as the rest of the TX contingent of marathoners were all here in Los Angeles. Our place was packed to the brim and it was a great time. We had many of the treats from previous years (my favorite spinach artichoke dip, caramel corn, cashew mac & cheese and pumpkin spice cake) and also added a taco bar this year. The jackfruit carnitas was of course a hit and to top things off, we had amazing cheese sauce made specially by James and Amy of Spiral Diner.
We ended this year by taking a field trip to a real theater for our last set of movies. I think more people made it through the whole event this year than any other.
1. Earnest Scared Stupid
2. Demons
3. Ginger Snaps
4. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
5. The Descent
6. The Ring
7. 30 Days of Night
8. Sheitan
9. Dead Alive
10. Possession
11. Crimson Peak
12. Goosebumps
White Island
Dear readers I have a favor to ask. A short film I whipped up is in a contest and could really use your vote to get to the finals. This ghostly short is based on the true story of S.A. Andreé’s tragic balloon flight to the Arctic.
**UPDATE** I won the contest! So excited to go check out the Stanley Hotel, the place where Stephen King came up with the idea for The Shining.
You can watch the short below.
White Island from miss alix on Vimeo.
Forgiveness
Forgiveness – short film from miss alix on Vimeo.
It may seem like all I do these day is go hiking and camping but I can assure you that is not entirely the case. I still spend most of my free time writing and developing more film projects. It is the undercurrent in almost everything I do.
I thought it was time I finally shared this short, Forgiveness, that I wrote and directed. It seems like ages ago that we actually shot this and I remember how thrilling it was. I feel very fortunate to have been able to collaborate with some very talented people including the lovely Keriann Kohler who stars in the short and was so great to work with. I am also forever grateful to the whole Moorhead family. Technically Liz should probably get an assistant director credit for knowing all the secrets to getting little Josh to play along. After everything was put together, the amazing Shepherd Stevenson agreed to write original music for me which really set the tone of the piece. And of course I really couldn’t have done it without Shawn, who was totally into my wild idea the whole time and shot and edited it beautifully.
In any case, I’m happy to put this out into the world. I hope you’ll watch it.
Good News
Do you remember at the end of last year I shot a short film? I finished the film in March and now I have some exciting news to share.
Forgiveness has won the award for Best Short Film at the Amsterdam Film Festival. It was such a surprise to find out, particularly since I have never won any kind of award for something I’ve made.
On the heels of that, I found out that Forgiveness will also be playing at the Edinburgh Short Film Festival. I’m thrilled to have the film included in the program. To add another level of excitement, Shawn’s film Ashes of a Cowboy will be playing at the festival as well.
If you happen to be in Edinburgh on June 8th you can see Forgiveness for yourself. Ashes of a Cowboy will be playing on June 14th.
Making films, as with any art, can be a frustrating and isolating endeavor. It feels like such a relief to have some positive news to share about projects. I hope to have more in the future.
Wildfire
WILDFIRE – Glendora, CA January 16th, 2014 from Shawn Bannon on Vimeo.
We’ve entered wildfire season in Southern California. Yesterday this fire broke out in Glendora, just east of Los Angeles. It’s crazy to see the fire planes flying so low to fight the flames. Today the fire is still burning but it’s not entirely out of control.
