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svalenti-com-323 · 3 years

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Final Blog Post: The Blair Witch Project

Scott Valenti

5/4/21

Final Project Blog

When talking about the independent horror film The Blair Witch Project, most people tend to associate it with being one of the movies that popularized the found footage genre in 1999. Some people believe that The Blair Witch Project is the first found footage film in cinema. Even though this is not true, (as the first found footage film was Cannibal Holocaust in 1980), this film is the first found footage film that was able to not only captivate, but shake-up, audience members (Blanton). The Blair Witch Project is an independent horror film that was released in 1999 and was directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick. The film started out with a budget of only $60,000 and ended up making around $249 million at the box office worldwide.

This made the film the most profitable low budget film of all time, until it was beaten by another low budget horror film, Paranormal Activity, in 2007 (Fertino). There are a few reasons why this film was such a success and continues to be talked about in the horror film and film community in general. The film itself was able to leave a major impact on audience members due to the marketing strategy that was applied leading up to the release of The Blair Witch Project. This film was released in 1999 and climbed to number 10 of the top grossing films of the year (Libby). During this time, there were a few things happening on the worldwide stage that had a major impact on cinema.

The main thing was that everyone thought that the world was going to end in the next year (2000). This led to a lot of people wanting to go to the cinemas more often, and as a ripple effect, there was a higher demand for content to be produced. Therefore, there were a lot more low-budget as well as high-budget films that were being sent to cinemas (Horner). Despite there being other horror films such as The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project managed to stand out and become the second highest grossing film of the year (Turner, 2015, p.8). What made The Blair Witch Project so unique among these films that were released that year, was that it was essentially the first film to really utilize the internet as a marketing strategy. People were so intrigued by The Blair Witch Project because no one could tell if it was a true found footage film, or a more traditional fake fictional film, that people were used to seeing during the time.

When it came to the film itself, the marketing team decided that they would create a website that would make it seem like The Blair Witch Project was an actual real life event. The website consisted of pictures of real-looking crime scenes of the characters when they were found after the events of the film (Revisiting one of the best viral marketing campaigns of all time, 2018). The website also had interviews with each character detailing why they were looking for the Blair Witch and it was set up as if it was a few college students making an actual documentary. Along with the interviews of each character, there were multiple missing college student posters of the characters that were on the website, in order to play into the illusion that the movie was a real life event. On top of this, to enhance the real-life mysterious tone, even after the movie had been in theaters for a good amount of time, all of the not well known actors that were cast within the film, were allowed very little (if any) communication with the outside world during the filming and running of The Blair Witch Project (Revisiting one of the best viral marketing campaigns of all time, 2018).

The way that this marketing strategy was used in 1999, made the audience members and people who heard about the movie have debates and wonder if what they were actually watching were real life murder events from the “found footage” that was used in the film. Or, was it just another fictional horror film that was meant to scare people by claiming that the film was a true series of events, when it really wasn't. The Blair Witch Project was unique in that previous found footage films had tried to leverage not only unique marketing campaigns, but also provide a serious hook for people to go see the movie. In more typical films, during the marketing campaign, creators would encourage prospective viewers that there was “must see” evidence of a real paranormal entity in the film. This was then backed up by various different propaganda that was created on the film's website (Trumbore). Something that would help contribute to the success of this marketing campaign was that in 1999, there were very few people who were able to afford a computer, yet alone the internet itself (Libby).

On top of this the internet was not the same as it is in 2021. To be specific, the internet in 1999 was not as popular or as large as it is today. Therefore, people were less able to spread the information on a large scale concerning a topic, and/or confirm whether something was fake or real over social media, like they can today. Back in 1999, only about 26.2% of the world actually had the internet (Crutsinger). This lack of access to large amounts of real time information, resulted in people being unable to determine what was real or fake. It also led to people only being able to determine what they thought about the film from either hearing it from their friends or another person, or by going to the cinema themselves to watch the film.

Another thing that was not as common during 1999 as it is today, was the concept of “fake news” on the internet, as it was not yet established. There was less skepticism about what was published which made it a lot more difficult for people to be able to determine what was real and fake about the movie. The way that this film was marketed by using the internet has become common practice for how modern-day films are marketed to audience members over social media and the web. Although a lot of films have ended up using the “found footage” techniques that were used in this film to try to mimic what The Blair Witch Project has done, they have not had even close to the same impact that the film did. There are a few films that have managed to come close and be successful using the same technique such as Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, and REC (Garcia).

Something else that led to The Blair Witch Project becoming a success is that even though the movie itself was not something that many consider to be a masterpiece, the way that the movie lacks explanation of what's happening, and doesn't depict what's happening on the screen, leaves the audience members to tap into their internal fear of wondering what's really going on in the scene. The film decides to rather than rely solely on jump scares and special effects, there is horror created from the use of simple practical effects such as the stick figures hanging in the woods in order to add a sense of terror to the film (Ebert, 1999).This practice is commonly used in many different horror films in modern times in order to leave the audience members in suspense and to tap into their innermost fears and paranoia (Garcia). After the film was in theaters for some time, the actors were able to communicate with the outside world again in the form of interviews on ET. During these interviews, the actors were able to explain that The Blair Witch Project was just a fictional piece of cinema that was cleverly marketed in order to give the illusion that it was a real life event, in the form of the website that was built around the film (Garcia). Even though this took some of the terror out of The Blair Witch Project, the film itself is still able to scare people by using techniques such as never showing the actual Blair Witch within the film.

This leaves the audience with the tendency to let their minds think about what is actually happening in the film or what the Blair Witch actually looks like, which creates a sense of terror and suspense. There's a sense of unease and an eerie atmosphere that is created as each of the college students disappear and are killed, with only being able to hear at times, their own screams. Overall, The Blair Witch Project is an eerie low-budget independent horror film that manages to not only tap into an individual’s fears of not knowing what's happening to the characters off screen, but the film has also managed to become one of the most profitable films to this day. This can be attributed to the film employing a very unique marketing style at the time that also managed to hook the audience into wanting to talk about the film, even today. On top of this, The Blair Witch Project popularized the found-footage genre. Although there are many found footage films that mimic the same techniques that were used in the film, very few have been able to reach the same success of The Blair Witch Project, with the exception of a few hidden gems.

References

Blanton, C. (2017, October 19). The Blair witch project (1999) | History of horror. UNF Spinnaker. https://unfspinnaker.com/61672/entertainment/movie-reviews-features/the-blair-witch-project-1999-history-of-horror/

Crutsinger, M. (2006, January 7). Computer Ownership Up in U.S. ABC News.

Ebert, R. (1999, July 16). The Blair witch project movie review (1999). Movie reviews and ratings by Film Critic Roger Ebert | Roger Ebert. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-blair-witch-project-1999

Fertino, A. (2020, August 11). 1999: 10 highest grossing movies (According to box office mojo). ScreenRant. https://screenrant.com/1999-highest-grossing-movies-box-office-mojo/

Garcia, A. (2018, April 11). Why was the original Blair witch project so successful? South Town Official. https://www.southtownproductions.com/post/why-was-the-original-blair-witch-project-so-successful

Horner, A. (2019, August 5). Why 1999 really was the best ever year for film. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/film-history-best-year-1999-star-wars-matrix-fight-club-sixth-sense-a9036911.html

Libby, D. (2018, October 8). 6 reasons the Blair witch project was actually awesome. CINEMABLEND. https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1556360/6-reasons-the-blair-witch-project-was-actually-awesome

Revisiting one of the best viral marketing campaigns of all time. (2018, May 23). Speaking Human. https://thinkmonsters.com/speakinghuman/media/blair-witch-project-viral-marketing-campaign

Trumbore, D. (2016, September 16). The Blair witch project effect: The impact of found footage. Collider. https://collider.com/blair-witch-found-footage-movies/

Turner, P. (2015). The Blair witch project. Columbia University Press.

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svalenti-com-323 · 3 years

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Blog Entry #4 and 5

Scott Valenti

5/2/21

Supernatural independent films and supernatural films in general are typically associated with the horror film genre. For something to be able to fall into this type theme, there needs to be a few things in the film. For starters the film needs to have supernatural elements to the film. This usually means that there is something that exists within the film that seems otherworldly that plays into the overall plot. This can occur in the form of a variety of ways such as a ghost haunting a house or an unknown creature that is stalking the characters in the film and picking them off one by one.

With this said, if I were to set up a film festival that was to include four different films that would have set up in order would be It Follows, V/H/S, Trick’rTreat, and A Nightmare On Elm Street. The first film It Follows came out in 2014 and is related to the theme in the sense that there is an unknown, shape shifting, entity that goes around trying to kill the main character and anyone who has it passed on to them with no way of stopping it. The second film V/H/S, is an anthology horror film that came out in 2012. The film consists of five different segments that are presented as found footage and they all connect to the main plot by the end of the film. The segments have stories that consist of demon possessions, unknown killers in the wood, aliens and few other otherworldly events.

The third film in the line-up, Trick’rTreat, is another anthology film that has several different stories that all occur on one halloween night. These consist of killer werewolves, a creepy unknown pumpkin head shaped creature that kills if it’s not given candy or if a jack o'lantern is blown out too early and a bus massacre that had the thought to be dead riders come and take revenge on the bus driver by the end of the film. The fourth and final film in the line-up, A Nightmare On Elm Street, is about a killer human, who becomes a demon-like creature in death who is able to enter and control people’s dreams and kill them from within them.

It Follows is an independent horror film that came out in 2014. The film revolves around the character Jaime or Jay as she is called in the film, who is a 19- year old college student who after sleeping with someone, is constantly followed by this shapeshifting entity that can turn into anyone that the individual has seen in their life. This entity has no known name but is a curse that if it gets the individual, it kills them. This curse moves at the pace of a human and can’t be stopped despite Jamie and her friends trying to do so. The only way to survive the curse is to pass it onto someone else by sleeping with them.

The curse can’t be seen by anyone who is not infected by it. The film creates terror as it sets in that since the curse can be anyone, there is no way of telling who Jamie and those infected can trust or who is next on the kill list. On top of this there is a sense of impending doom created from knowing that the only hope is for the curse to be passed onto so many people that it won’t reach them in their lifetime or you’d constantly have to be on the run for the rest of their life.

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V/H/S is an independent anthology horror film that came out in 2012. In this film it starts out with a group of punks who go around causing senseless violence until they stumble upon what looks like an abandoned house. In this house there is nothing but a bunch of VHS tapes and a dead looking guy in a chair. The people decide to play the VHS tapes in order to try and figure out what happened. Each tape consists of a different segment in the found footage genre that consist of demons, aliens, invisible killers in the woods, ect..

After each tape is played it shows one of the people inthe gang put the next tape in along with the guy in the chair in a different spot every time. In the end, all of the tapes are played and each other gang members are killed off one by one by the supposedly dead guy that was in the chair from before. According to the New York Times film review Gory Discoveries in a Video Collection, this low budget film manages to tell a variety of five different stories that range from genius to moronic at times and have them all revolve around this dead person’s house. The film manages to continue the found footage craze that was happening at the time and creates stories that for women may seem like chore to watch and potentially appealing to the group of men within the film. This leads to a satisfying ending that has the terrible people be killed (Catsoulis, 2012).

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Trick’rTreat is another anthology independent horror film that has several different stories being told that all revolve around one tragic halloween night. The stories within the film consist of someone being killed by a pumpkin shaped head creature with sack on its head for blowing out a jack o lantern before the night was over, a serial killer teaching his son to carve a pumpkin by using a little kids head, a group of werewolves killing someone to eat during the full moon, and a bus massacre that has the riders survive and take their revenge. The story all comes together by the end of the film after the bus driver from the massacre story was tormented by the pumpkinhead creature for not giving it candy, he is then greeted by the surviving kids from the incident who decide to kill him. This all happens as the pumpkin head like creature sits down looking over the chaos.

According to the film review, How can a film this good be sitting on the shelf for so long?, the film Trick’rTreat is a film that manages to take several tails and intertwine them into one halloween night. The best part of the film is the incredible attention to detail when it comes to continuity. In every story there are some hints that are said that make them connected to the overall plot (Islandclaws, 2008).

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A Nightmare On Elm Street is an independent slasher film that was produced by New Line Cinema in 1984. This film follows main protagonist Nancy being stalked by a dead man named Freddy Krueger, who has the ability to enter and control other people’s dreams. Throughout the film as Nancy fights the urge to stay awake Freddy manages to torment her and other kids who live in her town. After seeing Freddy in their dreams several times, Freddy decides to kill them in their dreams, which kills the kids in real life. Nancy ends up being the last survivor and decides to fight back by setting up a trap for Freddy.

Nancy falls asleep and grabs Freddy in the dream world before waking up. This causes him to enter the real world, where he is vulnerable. After getting a beatdown by the traps that Nancy set up for Freddy, Nancy figures out that the only way that Freddy can exist is if people fear him. Nancy decides to not be afraid of Feddy anymore as he then disappears.

According to one of the first original film reviews SCREEN: 'NIGHTMARE' in 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street the parents of the main protagonist Nacey are able to play the roles with seriousness. Child killer Freddy Krueger is able to successfully kill the kids in the film. Freddy seems to be a monster who loves to chase and torment Nacey throughout the film (Canby 1984).

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svalenti-com-323 · 3 years

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Blog Post #3

Scott Valenti

4/16/21

Blog Post #3

When it comes to the Arthouse Theaters, there are many different things that make these theaters unique as compared to going to other movie theaters. One of these popular theaters in New England is The Colonial Theater. This theater is located at 2050 Main St. in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. When examining the history of this theater, there are some very interesting aspects that make this location provide a unique viewing experience. The Colonial Theater was built in the summer of 1914 by Karel Abbot and his partner Doc Clark.

During the 1920’s, Bethlehem was one of the most popular places to go during the summer with there being many hotels in the area. Unfortunately, time has not been very kind to the hotels in the area and most have been destroyed. However, one of the key places that is still standing in the area is the Colonial Theater. When the theater first opened, the main mission of the place was to create a venue that would not only attract investors but, would also be able to present people

many different visions from filmmakers to the audience. When it comes to the kind of films that are shown in The Colonial Theater, there have been a wide variety of different foreign and independent films that have been shown throughout the theater’s history. Along with there being a wide variety of films shown, there were many other live performances that were also booked at the Colonial Theater.

While inside the theater it’s extremely important that you are not on your phone or any electronic devices, so the atmosphere is not ruined while in the cinema. If caught using electronic devices, the individual will be asked to leave without a refund. Some of the shows that were played in the theater were a product of The Sundance Film Festival. During this yearly event, there would be seven different short films that were showcased from the Festival and they would be played back to back, and served as starting off points for many independent filmmakers who would then go on to create full length films. The types of short films that were typically played during this event were a variety of films that ranged from comedies to dramas and from romance to horror films.

Some other popular films that would be played in this theater were independent films such as Instructions On Parting. During the screening of this film, the director joins the audience in a question and answering panel before the film. After this intro, the film “takes the audience on an artistic journey that combines the concept of grief and nature with human emotion”.

When it comes to the foreign films that are shown in The Colonial Theater, one of those shown was the film Amarcord. This film is an “Italian autobiography about a guy named Titta who partakes in absurd behavior with his friends in 1930s Fascist Italy”. Overall, The Colonial Theater is a unique arthouse cinema, which has offered audiences the experience of a variety of different filmmakers’ artistic visions for more than one hundred years.

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svalenti-com-323 · 3 years

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Blog Entry #2

Scott Valenti

3/7/21

Blog Post #2

When it comes to a hipster film, there always seems to be similar characteristics with the characters that define the criteria of the genre. This is not typically seen in traditional Hollywood but is very common in low budget independent films. The main thing that is required for a film to fall into this category of films would be, the film needs to focus on a character that seems different from their age in some way. On top of this the film should give the audience some sense of nostalgia when watching the film. Some films that I consider would fit into the category of a hipster film would be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Lost In Translation, Donnie Darko, Stranger Than Fiction, and Rushmore.

Starting off with the film Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, the main character Scott is an awkward 22 year old who seems to be quirky and comes off as having a childish demeanor during the film. He is very insecure and struggles with his self esteem and being able to communicate with others. When he finally decided to grow up a bit and apologize for his past mistakes and self reflect a bit, he is then able to gain self-respect for himself and defeat the main villain. Something that Scott Pilgrim VS The World does that is in hipster films is that there is a sense of childhood nostalgia that is seen with how the film seems to throw away the concept of logic in exchange for an action hero fantasy film. The film almost seems like it comes from the mind of someone who is playing a video game in real life (Rabin).

The second film that I will be talking about is Lost In Translation. The reason why this film falls into the category of being a hipster film would be for a few reasons. For starters, the two main characters Charlotte and Bob are going through different parts of Tokyo Japan while experiencing a part of the city’s culture. On top of this, the two end up falling for each other as a result of being able to communicate with each other. The two seem like an atypical couple, yet the chemistry between the characters make the relationship work. Bob is not only significantly older than Charlotte, the two characters seem opposites in personalities in some cases. Bob seems to be an adult that acts a little bit childish at times throughout the film and this adds to the comedy of the film. Charlotte seems like someone who is head strung and smart. The characters seem relatable an humanistic despite both seeming not like the rest of the characters in the film (Mitchell, 2004).

The third film that I want to talk about is Donnie Darko. The character Donnie Darko is someone who is misunderstood and the film focuses on the character trying to find out who he is from the beginning of the film. The film focusses on the psyche of Donnie being able to talk to a giant deformed rabbit that the audience can’t tell if it’s all in Donnie’s head or if it’s an actual sentient being. The imagery of the bunny being in the film seems like something out of someone’s twisted nightmare yet, Donnie thinks of it as a friend of his. Donnie almost seems to have a childlike personality in the sense that he sees something that anyone would usually be afraid of and befriends them instead (Bose).

The Next film that I want to talk about is Stranger Than Fiction. The main Character Harold starts to hear a narrator that only he can hear about his daily life. The character is like a manchild for comedic effect throughout the film. The film decides to take the idea of only one person being self aware of their being someone else who is controlling the individual’s life and this can make Harold seem different to the other characters in the film. The film uses visuals in order to show what the main character is thinking internally that seems like something that is organized in the way that a child thinks. Even though the film is for the most part a serious film, the way that the actor plays up the comedic parts of the character makes the audience think of it much more light hearted (Levy).

The last film that I want to talk about is Zombieland. The main character Columbus is a nerdy kid who ends up being one of the last survivors on the planet by following his strict set of rules that continuously pop up throughout the film. Columbus is someone who does whatever it takes to survive and this can make him have a very cowardly demeanor. The way that the film narrates his internal thinking makes the film seem as if the characters are connecting to the audience. The fact that Columbus constantly follows his strict rules in order to survive can make him seem like a scared child in a grown man’s body. By the end of the film when he decides to ignore his rules in order to help others, is when he seems to be able to get out of his nerdy self and become someone that he is proud to be (Castro, 2012). All of these films are different story wise but are similar with how they are hipster films.

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svalenti-com-323 · 3 years

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Blog Entry #1

Scott Valenti

2/20/21

Blog Entry #1

When it comes to Independent Cinema during 1999, this was considered to be one of the best years for indie films and films in general. There were a few reasons for this being the case, but one of the big reasons was thought to be because it was predicted that the end of the world was going to happen in the year 2000 (”Y2K”). Therefore, this led to a lot of interesting fatalistic content and more people wanted to go to the cinema (Horner). Since there were more people going to the cinemas, there was a higher demand for films and since there was a higher demand for films, money was given to more film studios. This also led to film studios being more likely to want to take risks with their films. As a result, during 1999, there were many independent films that were made. Some of these films include: The Blair Witch Project, Election, Being John Malkovich, Audition, The Virgin Suicides, etc. that were all made in 1999. Among these low budget films, the most successful one is The Blair Witch Project which was the 10th highest grossing film of 1999 (Libbey). With only having a budget of $60,000, the film made a total gross of about $249 million worldwide and became an iconic sleeper film.

The horror movie was also one of the main films that played a huge role in popularizing the “found footage” films for a large amount of audience members. Found footage is a type of filming technique that is used for films that are typically low budget. This requires that the director uses a lot of hand-held shots and shaky imagery to create the illusion that the footage is being filmed by someone within the film (McCarthy). This makes it seem as if the audience members are watching the film that the character within the film recorded, rather than something that was made by a professional film director. The Blair Witch Project doesn’t follow a normal story structure and leaves the audience members on a cliff hanger at the end that adds to the horror of the film. What was also unique about The Blair Witch Project that helped with its success was the way that the film was marketed.

When the film was advertised to the public, the actors were unable to have any contact with the outside world until the film was released.The only way that people could get any information about the actors in the film was on the film’s website that the director used in the film. On this website, there were crime photos and interviews with the characters in the film that made the audience wonder if the Blair Witch Project was a real crime. What was unique about this was that at the time there were not a lot of people who had access to the internet or social media like we do today (Libbey). Not knowing if this was real or fictional created more anxiety around the film and made people have a strong opinion about the movie whether the audience member liked the film or not. The Blair Witch Project was a film that reinvented the film industry that was able to show that low budget films in the horror genre could be extremely profitable.

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