“Freakwolf Productions is happy to announce that their upcoming short film Myctophobia begins production in February as part of the short film compilation The Collective Volume 4. The theme of all the films on The Collective Volume 4 is emotions. Writer/Director Bryan Wolford was given Fear and while researching different phobias Bryan settled on Myctophobia which is labeled as a Fear of Darkness. He then crafted a story about Kelly who has a fear of the dark and while at home by herself the lights go out. She soon finds herself bombarded by sights and sounds that only strengthen her fear of the dark. Is all of it really happening or only in her head? The Collective Volume 4 is scheduled to premiere at the
Days Of The Dead convention (www.daysofthedead.net) on July 6th -July 8th in Indianapolis, Indiana.

With Myctophobia we want to bring a great atmospheric story to your screen. Sure blood and guts are fun sometimes but we want our viewers to feel Kelly’s dread in their stomachs. We will prove that you don’t need a big budget to produce  big scares. We want to bring that fear of darkness to life in front of your eyes and make you start to worry when you shut your lights off at night that you get a small pit in your stomach and try to convince yourself that the noise you just heard  was only the cat in the living room. Wait . . . do you even have a cat?

The project is currently fund raising through Indie Go Go in the hopes of raising a small amount of money to make sure the cast and crew gets a little pocket change out of the experience and to help pay for some special effects for the film. All of the filming with be done over a weekend in late February thus keeping the costs low. Anyone can donate to the project through the Indie Go Go page and receive incentives like signed copies of The Collective Volume 4, an invite to the cast and crew screening, and a cast and crew exclusive t-shirt. Info for donations can be found at IndieGoGo.Com/Myctophobia.

The main character of Kelly will be played by Kitsie Duncan. Kitsie has gained a dedicated following in the Indiana horror scene as a scream queen in numerous horror films and helps her husband Chris Jay in a producer role for their production company Darkrider Studios (www.darkriderstudios.com) which produces their own films as well as providing multiple media services. She was a producer and actress in the film Lethal Obsession which has made the rounds at
horror film festivals and horror conventions across the country.”

See the full Press Release here.

“The Mat Works Yoga Studio is dedicated to the teaching and practice of Hatha Yoga for health and fitness by offering multi level group classes and private instruction in a safe and supportive environment. The studio located at 201E Hampton Ave in Greenwood, SC offers a serene setting for your yoga practice. The studio is fully equipped with yoga props to assist students in class.”

The website has class schedules as well as special events.

You can hear Debbie talk about Yoga and her instruction here:

Disclaimer: Debbie is my sister and I couldn’t be more proud of the work she has done building up her Yoga practice in Greenwood.

Download the full Press Release in PDF format here.

Drunken Zombie Film Festival Open For Submissions

The guys behind the Drunken Zombie Film Festival are happy to announce that we are currently accepting submissions for our film festival taking place on November 4^th and 5^th at the Peoria Theater in Peoria, IL.  This is the Fourth Annual Drunken Zombie Film Festival and it just keeps getting bigger ever year.

In the past we’ve had the pleasure of hosting world premieres for movies like Zombie Apocalypse, Outpost Doom, and Night Of The Bongface II.  In addition to that we’ve been very happy to show Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated, the Stephen King adaptation Everything’s Eventual, the chilling documentary Feast Of The Assumption: the BTK Killer and the Otero Family Murders, and loads of awesome short films such as the Adrienne Barbeau starring Alice Jacobs Is Dead.

Every year we try to showcase some of the best low/no budget horror feature films that our audience may have not seen outside of our festival.  Luckily many of our screened films end up going on to gain distribution and are seen by people all over the world.

So if you have a horror film/short/documentary/music video that you’d like to get the word out about please feel free to stop by our website at www.drunkenzombiefilmfestival.com and look at how to submit to our film festival.  The thing that makes us stand out is that we don’t charge an entry fee.  Our goal isn’t to make money off this film festival but to spread the word about independent horror films.  You shouldn’t have to pay someone to just go on to hope your film made the cut.  We’re all about giving filmmakers a place to showcase their work not to make a huge profit before the film festival even starts.

We’re hoping you will join us in making this year our biggest year yet.  We have many surprises we’re starting to plan out already and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.  Attached is our film festival poster for this year that hasn’t been publically released yet so you get to be one of the first people to see it! Submissions are open until August 31^st.

About Us:

Drunken Zombie is a horror podcast and website based out of Peoria, IL.  We are in our fourth year of doing the podcast and actually just won a Splatcademy Awards for Best Horror Podcast from www.deadlantern.com in their yearly awards show.  This is actually the second time we have won in this category.  We started this film festival after we started to receive independent horror films from filmmakers to review on our show.  We saw how much talent was out there that most horror fans didn’t even know about.  We decided to show horror fans these films rather than just tell them about it.

www.drunkenzombie.com

Peoria Theater is an independent theater located in Peoria, IL that offers a unique film going experience.  They have a full bar with usual concession items like popcorn and nachos.  They specialize in showing independent films that otherwise would not be coming to the Peoria area.  Drunken Zombie also hosts a monthly Horror Double Feature at the theater which showcases one independent horror film and one classic horror film.

www.peoriatheater.com

“This November 5-6 Drunken Zombie will be holding its third annual Drunken Zombie Film Festival at the Peoria Theater in Peoria, IL.  The Drunken Zombie Film Festival strives to showcase the best in truly independent horror films.  In years past we have been privileged enough to have such films as Zombie Apocalypse which went on to get world wide distribution, Outpost Doom which has been selling out on DeadLantern.Com, Night Of The Living Dead: Reanimated which has been winning awards all across the film festival market, and Don’t Go Into The Woods which was created by a couple of thirteen year old kids and it blew away a lot of people at last year’s festival.

We have announced tickets for presale on our website drunkenzombiefilmfestival.com.  For the low price of $15 weekend passes can be purchased through our PayPal account.  This is a $5 savings of buying Weekend Passes at the door.  Day passes will also be available at the door for $10 for Friday and $15 for Saturday.  There will be giveaways and Q&As with the filmmakers in attendance.  Internet horror star Lord Blood-Rah will be MCing the weekend’s festivities to really give it a horror host feel.

We’ve already announced an awesome line up of films for the film festival with many more to be announced.

Alice Jacobs Is Dead (short film) – Dr. Ben Jacobs saved the world. The drug he created allowed mankind to fight back against the Z-virus, which nearly destroyed civilization entirely. Now, in the aftermath of the crisis, he’s trying to cure the last victims of the virus. But what will happen when he brings his mysterious work home?

Starring Jon La Zar and Adrienne Barbeau
http://www.strange-case.com/about.html

Death In Charge (short film) – In the tradition of E. C. Comics, this cautionary tale examines life through the eyes of Death who gets derailed when a single Mom carelessly mistakes the scythe-carrying cloaked one for her tardy babysitter and leaves Death to care for her precocious 9-year-old daughter. Whitney teaches Death about life’s many marvels through violent video games, macaroni and cheese, and the magic of Sea Munkees.  But when Whitney reveals some dark tendances of her own, it’s up to Death to lighten things up before returning to the grim duties that lie in wait . . .

Starring Marina Bededict and Kylie Chalfa
http://www.deathincharge.com

Eel Girl (short film) – In a secure Military laboratory a scientist has become obsessed with the half human half eel creature he’s studying.  When she beckons to him to her, it’s the call of a siren.  Eel Girl is a provocative and unsettling science fiction/horror short film that combines stunning visuals with the dark and visceral undertones of H.P. Lovecraft.

Starring Julia Rose and Euan Dempsy
http://www.eelgirl.net

The House Of Black Wings (feature film) – After a tragic act of violence cuts short her music career, Kate Stone is returning to a city full of ex-fans and ex-friends. Taking shelter with her last friend, a struggling artist named Robyn Huck, the two women work to restore the aging courtyard apartment building Robyn has inherited. But a terrible secret infests the venerable structure, and soon Kate will be haunted by horrific dreams, sinister apparitions, and the sounds of something moving in the walls. She will be dragged into a confrontation not only with her own dark past, but the unspeakable nightmare that lurks beyond the walls!

Starring Leah Myette and Katherine Herrera
http://www.swordandcloak.com/blackwings/hobw-main.htm

Night Of The Hell Hamsters (short film) – On a dark and stormy night, a young couple fool around with the occult and find themselves fighting for their lives against demonic possessed hamsters from Hell!

Starring Stephanie Ratcliff and Paul O’Neill
http://www.nightofthehellhamsters.com

Pickman’s Muse (feature film) – Robert Pickman has become obsessed by visions of unworldly horror, revealed to him through an ancient artifact discovered in an abandoned church. His doctor and friend, Ambrose Dexter is soon drawn into the mysteries surrounding Pickman’s newfound obsession, and struggles to combat forces determined to drag Pickman down the inevitable road to madness.  Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s, HAUNTER OF THE DARK.

Starring Barrett Walz

Thirsty (short film) – A man’s thirst for a frozen beverage leads to chaos on a lonely desert highway.

Starring Joe Lynch, Michael Bailey Smith, and Tiffany Shepis
http://www.col-jim.com/thirsty/

Trilogy Of Blood (short film) – When a trio of sexy city gals picks up a broken-down hillbilly in the backwoods of Virginia – the three kittens get A LOT more than they bargained for when they accept the drifter’s invitation to a down-home barbecue. What these lovely ladies don’t know just may hurt ‘em – when they find that the menu of this hayseed hoe-down isn’t the standard ‘burgers and dogs’…

Starring Brenna Lee Roth
http://ruckusproductions.com/?tag=trilogy-of-blood

Drunken Zombie is a horror podcast that is going into its third year on the internet.  The hosts are comprised of Wes, Dave, Bryan, and Crazy Uncle Randy.  The four hosts usually drink way to much and then discuss current happenings in the world of horror movies as well as reviewing a specific horror film.  Past notable episodes have included an H.P. Lovecraft retrospective, Alfred Hitchcock Month which looked at his films The Trouble With Harry, Rear Window, Strangers On A Train, Rope, and North By Northwest, Children’s Horror Month where they reviewed Something Wicked This Way Comes, Lady In White, The Gate, and Monster Squad, and they are currently in Psycho September where they are reviewing the movies in the Psycho franchise.
www.drunkenzombie.com

Lord Blood-Rah is and internet horror host that has a well received segment on the Drunken Zombie Podcast called Lord Blood-Rah’s Bent Frame where he reviews classic horror films.  Also he hosts a YouTube show called Lord Blood-Rah’s Tremulous Trailers where he gives classic horror movie trailers the horror host treatment.  As if that is not enough he also hosts live events called Lord Blood-Rah’s Nerve Wrackin’ Theater where he does his horror host thing playing classic horror films in a local theater in the San Francisco area.
http://www.youtube.com/user/lordbloodrah

The Peoria Theater is an independent movie theater in Peoria, IL.  It hosts independent films and events.  It has a full bar making it a fun theater experience, to be able to go and have a drink while enjoying films that other theaters don’t have.  The Peoria Theater also is the host theater for The Drunken Zombie Deadly Double Feature.  Once a month the Drunken Zombie crew some an indie horror film teamed up with a classic public domain horror film.  Past events have included Zombie Apocalypse/Night Of The Living Dead, It’s My Party And I’ll Die If I Want To/House On Haunted Hill, and It Came From Another World/Teenagers From Outer Space.
http://www.peoriatheater.com “

Ingredients:

Bottom

1. 1 Stick Margarine
2. 1 box Pillsbury Plus Cake Mix – or Moist cake mix (one with pudding added)
3. 1 egg

Topping

1. 8 oz. Cream Cheese
2. 2 eggs
3. 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
4. 1 box 10x sugar (powdered)

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Melt margarine – add cake mix and 1 egg
• Mix well
• Pat into the bottom of a 9×15 pan
• Soften cream cheese
• Beat 2 eggs with vanilla and cream cheese
• Add the sugar to the egg/vanilla/cream cheese mixture
• Pour on top of the pan
• Bake at 350 degrees F 30 to 35 minutes

This works best after sitting a day.

Enjoy and I am not responsible for cholesterol, pounds gained, etc. :)

Editing video on your PC is simple. In our last How-To, “How-To: Create Video Using Your Digital Camera“, we started by taking video clips and saving them to our computer.

Sample Movie

Years ago, video editing was costly — if for no other reason than the software (Adobe Premier is still almost $900.). Obviously, our “free” alternatives may not do all that a professional video editing package will do, but I can’t think of any features missing from Microsoft’s Windows Movie Maker, which is already included with Windows XP and Windows ME. (Sorry, Mac users! If pressed, perhaps we’ll review some web-based video editing solutions such as those offered by StashSpace, VideoEgg, Veotag and the like in future posts.)

For the purpose of this exercise, we won’t create a full-length video of a home, but will take a few clips and show you how to put them together. In our next How-To segment, we’ll discuss converting this video into a web-ready product.

Step 1. Open Windows Movie Maker. Click START, then ALL PROGRAMS, then ACCESSORIES, and select Windows Movie Maker. (Again, this is for Windows XP and ME only.)

Let’s familiarize ourselves with Movie Maker before we hit Step 2. There are four sections to the interface:

1. Movie Tasks
2. Collections
3. Preview
4. Storyboard/Timeline

The “Tasks” pane is where you’ll start for each task: importing video, importing audio, etc.

The “Collections” pane is where your movie clips, transitions (effects that “stitch” together your clips), and video effects are displayed.

The “Preview” pane is self-explanatory; here, you can monitor the progress of your video.

Finally, the “Storyboard” and “Timeline” pane provides two views of the video clips:

In “Storyboard” mode, your video clips are displayed as a picture with a transition box between each clip. This mode is easy to use and allows for quick editing, but you’ll likely need to enter the timeline mode in order to add audio and adjust your overlays (we’ll explain these later).

In “Timeline” mode, your video clips are displayed as a bar which represents their playlength on a time scale. The timeline has a number of layers: Video, Transition, Audio, Audio/Music, and Title Overlay. These layers allow you to adjust the start and stop times for your clips, and align the text and audio/music which will accompany the video.

Don’t be discouraged by these panes, modes, and layers — once you begin using the software, you’ll get the hang of it. Let’s proceed.

Step 2. Import your video. In the “Task” pane, ensure that the “Capture Video” option is expanded by clicking the down-arrow that’s just to the right of the text. (If there’s an up-arrow here it’s already expanded. Click it a few times to see how it expands and contracts the menu.)

Under “Capture Video” you’ll find a link titled “Import video”. Click this link. In the window that opens, you’ll find and select (single-click) one of your video clips. But, before clicking the “Import” button, make sure that “Create clips for video files” is UNCHECKED. Once that’s done, click the “Import” button.

You’ll notice that the “Collections” pane now shows your video clip. Before we do anything with it, however, repeat this step until all of your video clips are in the “Collections” pane.

Step 3. Storyboard your video. Remembering that consistency improves efficiency and quality-control, let’s start by writing down the order in which we’ll display most of our homes’ interiors and exteriors in this and subsequent videos. You may choose to storyboard your video like so:

• Start by panning front of home and front yard
• Pan rear of home and back yard
• Pan major exterior amenities: swimming pool, golf course, etc.
• Kitchen
• Dining Room
• Living Room
• Master Bedroom
• Master Bathroom
• Remaining Bedroom(s) and Bathroom(s)
• End with front of home

Of course, this is just an example, but if you set a standard for how you create these videos, you’ll find that not only will the process of videoing the homes get easier, but also the editing process will always be same — including the narration you’ll provide for each home.

In Movie Maker, make sure that the “Storyboard” pane is selected. Just under the “Movie Tasks” and “Collections” panes are a number of small icons followed by an icon labelled “Show Timeline” or “Show Storyboard”. )You can also change this by clicking “View” at the very top of the screen.)

Now, using your written order from above, drag the first video clip into the first storyboard slot. Drag each subsequent clip into it’s slot on the storyboard. If you mess up, you can right-click on any storyboard item and select “Delete” to remove it from the storyboard. (Don’t worry — this won’t delete it from your Collection.) If you have a clip that you want in the video twice, simply drag it to another slot.

*** CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF THIS STEP BEING PERFORMED.

When done, let’s pause for the next steb by saving our progress. ALWAYS save your work: Click “File” on the top menu, click “Save Project As…”, select a location, and enter a description of this project (I’d recommend a filename that includes the street address.).

…and everyone likes to take a peek at things before they’re done. On the top menu, select “Play” and click “Play Storyboard”. (This storyboard play button is also a small icon right above the storyboard, itself.) This will show you a preview of your storyboard, without any transitions or the final audio.

CONTINUE READING:

Step 4. Apply transitions. Now that we have our video in place, it’s time to make seamless transitions from clip-to-clip by adding effects such as fades on our storyboard.

Expand the “Edit Movie” menu under the “Movie Tasks” pane and select “View video transitions”. You’ll notice the list of transitions are now displayed, just like your video clips were, in the “Collections” pane. For the sake of simplicity, let’s scroll down in the transitions list until we come to the transition titled “Fade”. Drag this transition onto each small slot that exists between two video clip slots. When done, preview your storyboard again by clicking “Play Storyboard” under the “Play” menu up top.

If you like, you can use different transitions between clips — but remember that a professional-looking video will only have one or two types (and they’ll typically just fade between clips). In my opinion, some of the transitions are tacky, and many of them are designed for fun, personal videos…

(Don’t forget to save, again!)

At this point, your video is lacking overlays and a narration. Overlays are simply a text flourish that, in our case, will show the house address and price. Since I prefer to add narration to finished video, we’ll add this text now.

Step 5. Add accompanying text. There are a lot of neat “titles and credits” options that you can add to your video. For our example, we’re going to stick with a simple professional-looking banner for our text. You can play with others and find one that suits you.

Although text can’t be inserted into a slot on the storyboard, you can easily place it where you like without having to switch to the timeline view. (In the timeline view you can place text at any time-location that you want, for as long as you want.)

To add a simple text banner that displays during the first clip (e.g. the front of the house), let’s start by highlighting (left-click) the first clip in the storyboard. Now, select “Make titles or credits” from the “Edit Movie” menu under the “Movie Tasks” pane.

Here you’re presented with the options to add your text to the beginning or end of the movie, in front of or after the selected clip, or on the selected clip. In our case, we’ll select “Add title on the selected clip on the storyboard.”

Next, let’s choose the actual type of “title” by selecting “Change the title animation”. In this list, scroll to, and select “News Banner — Banner fades in and out (overlay)” near the top of the list. The preview will show what the banner looks like over an example picture.

Finally, we’ll edit the text. Click “Edit the title text”, and you’ll see a blank box with a flashing cursor. For our home, we’ll enter:

123 Brook Ln – $1,300,000

(There are character limitations with some of the title types! Make sure you check the preview to see if yours fits. If it doesn’t, shorten your text or choose another title animation, such as a two-line animation.)

If you want, select “Change the text font and color” to customize it a bit.

Save and preview; we’re almost done!

*** CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF THIS STEP BEING PERFORMED.

Step 6. Narrate. Before you actually narrate the video, grab a pen and paper and, using your storyboard notes from Step 3, write and speak your intended message while watching the video several times. This will prepare you for the length of the message you’ll be able to speak in the given time for each clip/transition so that you’re not fumbling about while recording.

A single-take recording will save you a heck-of-a-lot of time! It’s not necessary, however. You can have multiple audio “clips” inside of Movie Maker, but it will require that you record and align them in timeline view.
Once you’re sure that your speach will fit with the video transitions and overall length, let’s finalize this video! (Oh, we’re assuming you have a microphone and know where to plug it in and set the volume. Movie Maker has a few options to assit with the volume settings, but nothing fancy. If you have a laptop, its almost guaranteed to have a built-in, hidden microphone.)

Since its best to narrate the video and not use audio that may have been recorded by our camera, we’ll first tell Movie Maker to only use audio from our narration by clicking “Tools” on the top menu and choosing “Audio Levels”. A small pop-up window with a slider is displayed; drag this to the far right, “Audio/Music”, and our audio source will only be the narration. (Click the small “x” in the top-right corner of this popup for it to go away.)

Click “Tools” on the top menu, again, and choose “Narrate Timeline…”. (Both of these audio options are also displayed as small icons right above the storyboard window.) Expect to see an alert pop-up that tells us that the view has been switched to “Timeline” from “Storyboard”. Click OK.

You will see a “Input Level” meter that should fluctuate if you speak into your microphone. If it doesn’t, you likely have sound-setting issues with your computer and will need to resolve this before starting. Look under “Show more options” to be sure that your “Audio input source” is “Microphone”. While you’re here, check “Mute speakers” so we don’t get feedback.

After a sip of water and a relaxed breath, you can click the “Start Narration” button. The system records you and simultaneously plays the video, enabling you to make sure you’re on cue.

When you’re done, click “Stop Narration”. Movie Maker will want to save your audio — name it a similar filename to the video project and hit “Save”.

Your audio is saved and placed on the Audio/Music layer of the Timeline view.

Preview and save your project. You’re done!

Step 7. Save your movie. There are two types of files created by Movie Maker: Project Files, and Video Files. All along, we’ve been saving our project file, which contains all of the video clips, audio, and narration. This file is useful because it’s the “raw data” of the final product; we can always go back to it and modify a piece of our video without re-creating the entire thing. (Such as changing the price, for example.) Now that your project is complete, however, we need to save the video in a format that’s readable by other computers’ Windows Media Player program. To do this, simply click “File” from the top menu and select “Save Movie File…”. Select “My computer “. Enter a filename and select the folder you wish to save to, then click “Next”.
Now, click “Show more choices…”. Select the radio button beside “Other settings”. Where is this movie going? The destination will determine what size/compression you want to pick. For videos destined for your web site, I’d start with the “Video for LAN (768kbps)” setting, which is 640×480. For videos destined for a CD, choose “High-quality video (NTSC)” which is 720×480.

Did I miss anything? Drop me a comment, if so… I hope this helps!