The Photography in the Witch House - Effects, Part Three: Brown Jenkin at the Violet Window

Since this is being posted following the previous one on Gregg Stockdale, please view the Photography in the Witch House Effects, Part Two: Keziah at the Violet Window for more photomanipulation.

Like Keziah, Gregg composited three different photos together to make Brown Jenkin. The result is truly disgusting.

Now envision this, on a rat, nuzzling you in your sleep.

Yet again, he just put the images together, making the subtle features of the furry little horror appear in the Violet Window.

Before...

EEEK!

We thank Gregg for his valuable contributions to The Dreams in the Witch House concept artwork. We'll definitely be coming back to him for other Red Death Productions films.

The Photography in the Witch House - Effects, Part Two: Keziah at the Violet Window

The Violet Window.

We bring your attention to the photograph above, dubbed by me "the Violet Window," for it is here that the next installment of "The Photography in the Witch House", wherein Keziah lurks into the window.

First off, Gregg took photos of three old women and composited them together. When this was finished, he distorted the horrific image. The result achieved, Gregg ended up with this - 

Ick!

All that was left was to composite one image into another. Subtly, the image of the Arkham witch became visible...

Awesome work! Check out Gregg on DeviantART.

The Photography in the Witch House - Effects, Part One: Curves, Slants, and Violet Tints

Gregg, our latest addition to the Concept Art team, has shown me the images from last time with some more tinting and awesome effects. They aren't done yet, but here is what he has so far.

A long shot of the room, this time with some freakin' awesome effects - angles, sigils, symbols, and violet light. Note the stunning glowing text, too.

The blackness of the window, with violet light glowing around it. Gregg says he will subtly add the shapes of Brown Jenkin and Keziah waiting in the darkness.

You know, these are really cool and I'm glad to have them to promote the film with. Yes!

The Mark Foster Mission, Promotional Photography and a Parody Poster

Part I

 ( ~ THE MARK FOSTER MISSION ~ )
- - -
A Social Media Experiment

I recently posted the poster art by Mark Foster on a fairly well known social media page, and the response was...mixed. Many people adored it! Many people hated it. Some could not decide. The main judgement was that the typography was ridiculous and that the background needed more blurring. We'll be fixing all that AND superimposing planets, stars, and, naturally, abyssal structures into the background. Let us add the fact that the house may be re-done, it depends.

Part II

( ~ PROMOTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY ~ )

- - -

A New Concept Artist

To the concept artist team, we welcome UK photographer and musician Gregg Stockdale! He shot some awesome photographs inside a derelict WWII airbase and added some creepy filters. Soon, he'll be photoshopping his way to Non-Euclidean madness by distorting the image and replacing the window with another image. Says Gregg of the images - 

...this is a rough layout for an idea I had earlier. I'm using the window image as a metaphor for the whole "portal" idea in the story, its like Gilman is looking through a window to another dimension in his dreams. Admittedly it is a subtle, almost tenuous idea, but I think it looks quite cool.

And it does. Here are the photographs, without the final effects set in.

He also offered up some of his music - tracks from a stunning ambient album entitled "Hag of the Tattered Vestments." While we could sadly not use this music in Witch House, we will be using it in another horror film - a short anthology picture entitled Fungi from Yuggoth which will feature adaptations of five Lovecraft stories - 

• The Beast, from The Beast in the Cave
• Dagon
• Nyarlathotep
• The Rats, from The Rats in the Walls
• The Whisperer, from The Whisperer in Darkness

After Fungi, we'll be taking on a very big and very secret Lovecraft film. We will also be making a few shorts based on folklore, and we will use his music there as well.

Thank you, Gregg! We appreciate it, and the photography looks awesome!

Part III.

( ~ A PARODY POSTER ~ )

---

A Geoff Davies Production

On a final sidenote, Geoff Davies, a Lovecraft fan, posted a parody poster in response to the Mark Foster Mission. I especially like the tagline - I find it hilarious.

You've got to love him.

The KingOvRats Abyss - Part III

WOW! KingOvRats uploaded a lot of Abyssal awesomeness tonight, and even a Brown Jenkin skeleton sketch! Now let's dream into the twilight abyss...

A cluster of spider web-like planes.

A surrealistic Cyclopean building.

The movement of the glowing congeries of spheres and bubbles. Michal says that it should move more like a group of spheres rather than a single entity.

This serves as both the movement of the Polyhedron Monster AND a multi-perspective, as the Polyhedron constantly changes.

"I'm such a pretty skeleton!"

The "ophidian animation" of the Arabesque Creature.

The jellyfish-like movement of the small Bubble Congeries.

A sketch showing the Abyssal Centipedes interacting with the Abyss.

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's feature! Please check out Michal's DeviantART page for more Lovecraftian terrors.

Mark Foster's Poster Art

Mark Foster has provided his piece for the Dreams in the Witch House poster art, and I must admit I'm really quite blown away.

Iä Nyarlathotep! Sened Mark Foster! Oosur poster art! Iä! Iä! Iä!

I actually received this back on June 12th but it was just so sudden I could not provide the money immediately. But it really is QUITE an astonishing piece in my opinion. The look, the design, and the detail that Keziah's face is just like Brown Jenkin ("the accursed little face which he at last realised bore such a shocking, mocking resemblance to old Keziah’s") all make this poster one of the most stunning pieces of art ever produced. I couldn't be happier.

Mark Foster wrote of it on H.P. Lovecraft Art and added some personal thoughts on the story (as always, grammatically edited by yours truly) -

A commission I did for a student film inspired by the Lovecraft story. I had fun working on this one, especially the design of the poster. In reality Dreams in the Witch House is really the only story by Lovecraft that freaking creeped me out to no end; it's this blackly-dismal story of a helpless student who is perpetually harassed by horrendous supernatural forces well beyond his control, and who wish for him to join in their unspeakable horrors. 

I would personally declare that this is Lovecraft's blackest story, with other dark stories, like Cthulhu or Colour actually having a sort of descriptive or conceptual beauty or wonder to them; whereas this story is to me his most horrifically dreary in its systematical destruction of Gilman's sanity, though there is a bit of wonder in the concept of Gilman being physically pulled to a specific point in space—that scene left me genuinely awestruck. 

Thanks, Mark!

Another Fantastic Addition to Our Creative Team

Yeah, we're getting carried away, aren't we?

The cartoonist, filmmaker, and friend of Richard Svensson, Daniel Lenneér (founder of Millroad Film), has joined us as the computer animator for the Abyss. He will be bringing the non-stop-motion designs of KingOvRats to life. As of present, these will be...

• The Arabesque Creature
• The Bubble Congeries and the Polyhedron

We will also ask him to animate other "inorganic" creatures in the Abyss when we have the designs for those.

Mr. Lenneér has worked on many other Lovecraft films (all of them notable), co-directing and co-writing (with Richard Svensson, another collaborator on our project) one of the greatest amateur Lovecraft films ever - The Shadow Out of Time.

His earlier attempts, Eye of Evil (with Richard Svensson) and Earthbound (this being a parody of the formula of an H.P. Lovecraft tale), are also wonderful. Another - the first ever adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness and a sheer masterpiece of entertainment - is Terror from the Abyss, which successfully combines Lovecraftian horror with comedy. Richard Svensson obligingly supplied a stunning stop-motion shoggoth.

We appreciate Daniel's cooperation and cannot wait to see what he will put together!

By the way, I've reviewed BOTH films here.

The KingOvRats Abyss - A Lot of Abyss-ness

Enjoy some Abyssal goodness, brought to you by KingOvRats!

Puppet Movement

Michal (KingOvRats) sent me some rough sketches for the movement of the Hindu Idol and sketches for the front and back of Brown Jenkin a while ago. He didn't want me to post them here because they were very very rough. Then he sent me more composed sketches along with a new one for the Octopoid Creature, but he did not want me to post it here until he posted it there.

This one was actually a nice story-board style sketch.

Michal imagines the movement of the Hindu Idol in a way that almost seems as if it is "unfolding." The entire body is in a ball, then opens up. The fan-like headdress unfolds, the tentacles erupt from the arms, and the tongues roll out from the mouth. It screams.

"Tee hee hee!"

THE BUBBLE CONGERIES AND POLYHEDRON MONSTER

Some downright lovely images of the Bubble Congeries and the Polyhedron Monster. Note that I did not put in the violet text.

Shuddery things, they are!

THE ABYSS

KingOvRats does not think he is great at environments or architecture, but kindly supplied a few sketches for the Abyss itself and the non-organic creatures. Both look fantastic.

The first is a labyrinthine, non-organic monster of the Abyss. The second is a web-like structure in the Abyss itself, where you can see the Octopoid and the Centipede in the darkness. I decided to put these two together as their singular images were much too small.

Thank you, Michal!

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre - "The Dreams in the Witch House" Teaser

The trailer for the AMAZING new Dark Adventure Radio Theatre from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society...The Dreams in the Witch House! I pre-ordered mine. It looks GREAT!

See below for credits - but go here for the full package,.

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre - The Dreams in the Witch House performed live at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon this year at Portland.

CAST

Sean Branney...Frank Elwood

Dan Conroy...Erskine Blackwell, Dombrowski, Polish Neighbor Man, Cook, Dean Bell

Mike Dalager...Brown Jenkin

Chad Fifer...Robertson

Alaine Kashian...Keziah Mason, Mrs. Krupski, Polish Neighbor Woman, Waitress

Andrew Leman...Walter Gilman

Jacob Lyle...Angry Neighbor

Barry Lynch...Mazurewicz, Prof. Armitage

David Pavao...Prof. Upham, Desrochers

Josh Thoemke...Announcer

Time Winters...Fr. Ivanicki, Prof. Ward

David H. Brown, Leigh Carr, Kimmy Hale, Tamara Hembree, Ruth Horne, Tristan Jusola-Sanders, Tobias Nilsson...Neighbors, Diner Patrons, Students, Cultists

Based on the story by H.P. Lovecraft

Radio adaptation by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman

Original music by Troy Sterling Nies

Theme from "The Sleepwalker" by Mike Dalager and Anders Ringman,

from Dreams in the Witch House: A Lovecraftian Rock Opera

"Bub-L-Pep Jingle" written by Andrew Leman

arranged and performed by Harald Lindell and Kathleen Demarest

Additional music cues by Reber Clark

Audio engineering by Chris Horvath

Cover and disc illustrations by Darrell Tutchton

Bonus props by Andrew Leman and Sean Branney

Scenic Miniature by Fred Manchento, Jason Voss, and Andrew Leman

Stone Circle Sketch by Martin Schlierkamp

Produced by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman