Happy Belated Halloween

Hello!

We figured that since we haven't posted in a while we just might throw something together for you to look at. I can tell you that Richard Svensson has started on the sculpt for one of the Hyperspace creatures, and so far it looks amazing. But you'll have to wait and see...

What is this, exactly? A while ago I put together a DeviantART journal of all Witch House-inspired artwork. I think its a fine selection. It took me a while...everytime I found something cool, I found another thing, and I eventually had to stop myself. Yes, there are KingOvRats, Jason McKittrick, and Lone Animator pieces in there, but still.

I also wish you a happy belated Halloween. In celebration, watch this Vinyl Geek Halloween special with Dreams in the Witch House - a Lovecraftian Rock Opera in the foreground. Alaine Kashian (the Witch), Douglas Blair Lucek (himself), and Mike Dalager (Brown Jenkin) appear in it. Its an interactive video where you navigate the Vinyl Geek through the Witch House, so you'll wanna try to watch it on YouTube, but I'll post it here anyhow.

Now, the list of concept artists in-waiting are:

• Jason B. Thompson
• Devon Devereaux
• ...and maybe Kory Merrit. He does the fabulous webcomic Lost Side of Suburbia which features some pretty Lovecraftian beasties (though he has only a passing knowledge of H.P.) but he is currently too busy to help us. He might do so in the future, though.

I am also pleased to announce that Gregg Stockdale will be drawing the scene where Gilman sees Keziah on the witch-cult island (y'know, the one on the Miskatonic River with the standing stones) in the fog.

Some of the actors will come for Christmas and we'll do some shooting. Goodbye for now!

Test Animation from Daniel Lenneér

Daniel Lenneér sent me a message yesterday.

In essence, he wrote that the animation he used for monsters was 2D cutout animation.

An example of 2D cutout animation from Daniel's own work: Cthulhu arrives on Earth to fight against the Elder Things in his Terror from the Abyss, a comedic adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness.

Then he wrote that 2D cutouts were NOT the way to do these creatures. He said this because he had done test animations of the Bubble Congeries (using pictures from the Internet) and the Polyhedron (using a drawing he made based on the design). While they had a slight charm about them, they weren't horrifying. They were good, but they were NOT menacing in the slightest. They were strange, but not scary at all. The Bubble Congeries didn't do much justice to the design (but it was still strange) and the Polyhedron looked "funny" (I disagree: I liked the look of it, but it still isn't right for a horror movie). He said that if the Arabesque was done in his style, it would look AWFUL.

Now I can't show you the actual animations. They're tests. But I can show you some screenshots.

The Bubble Congeries, drifting through outer space/the sky with a rainbow cloud hanging about it like some sort of gas. It does look strange, but it certainly isn't scary and does not do justice to the design.

The Polyhedron, floating in a room which Daniel presumably meant to be a room in the Witch House or whatnot. Daniel says it looks "funny", but I disagree. I really like it, and I like the Bubbles too. But again, it wouldn't work in a horror film.

He used the Bubble Congeries screenshot and put some effects and filters on it. In his opinion, it helps a lot for the mood and feeling of the clip.

Dirty stains are seen below the Bubbles, and there is a black-and-white filter.

Beams (tentacles?) of light emerge from the Bubble Congeries. The black-and-white filter is still present.

I wanted to do my own versions of these screenshots, so I played around in Picasa.

The Bubble Congeries in a bright shade of pinkish-violet. I tinted the picture that color, then added a focal black and white effect. The glowing effect was added afterwards.

I think the Polyhedron turned out much better than my attempt with the Bubble Congeries. I went much darker, and tinted the Polyhedron a dark shade of violet/purple. Then I increased the shadows so only a very subtle violet light and a few vague shapes can be seen in the background.

I went to KingOvRats to see what he thought. He personally agreed with Daniel that they were not right for our project, but preferred the Polyhedron Creature.

I'm going to close off this post with a quote from a message from Daniel. It was some important advice. Grammatical edits by me.

If I were to give any advice; don't put to much focus on the creatures in the project. Lovecraft himself always hide them in fog and smoke and darkness, playing with the fears of the reader. Put focus on the rest, deliver a good story and let the creatures be the topping of the cake.

Behind-the-Scenes of the "No Turning Back" Music Video

The modified HPLHS Motion Pictures logo, made for the music video. Loving that disco ball!

Alright! I just read a fascinating interview on From Beyond which offered some enlightening info on the "No Turning Back" music video in the form of an interview with Andrew Leman of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society.

Andrew Leman in black-and-white. What a MythoScope photo.

A lot of people in the comments (not on the Witch House Rocks channel - the HPLHS channel) were complaining about the inaccurate part of the video where Keziah actually DOES the sacrifice. I find that annoying. But Andrew Leman says...

We used some actual clips from "Häxan" itself, and we also recreated one of the scenes from that classic film so that we could include our Witch and the Black Man. The scenes that play over the intertitle cards, where the witches are flying past the camera and the demons are waving to them, are actually scenes from "Häxan" itself. Because that film is Scandinavian and from the early 1920s, it seemed an absolutely perfect fit for the video. There’s a scene in that movie where a witch sacrifices an infant, and since there’s a similar scene in the story, we thought it would be great to recreate that scene but use the characters from Lovecraft’s tale, played by the actors in our cast.

One of the intertitles from the video, featuring a clip from the silent film Häxan.

There!

We also got some pictures of the distorted Witch House model being built. Turns out it was started back in June, 2013. That's hard work!

It started out like that.

Actual wooden shingles!

The Witch House stands atop a hill. Silhouetted Arkham is in the background, while plastic clouds appear to rain - though it is just a piece of cloth.

When it's put all together, we get a perfect place for Keziah Mason to haunt Walter Gilman!

It turns out Gilman's room was, rather unsurprisingly, inspired by the fantastic Expressionist silent film, The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. The fabulously distorted and tilting angles show it!

Whoever did that set is a bloody genius!

Finally, Mr. Leman was asked about the words "THIS IS NOT THE END" on the closing title card.

They're right at the top, in case you didn't notice.

Mr. Leman cryptically replied...

What I can tell you is that we know that this video will not be the final chapter in the life of Dreams in the Witch House - A Lovecraftian Rock Opera. It may go on to concert performances, a fully-realized stage show, more videos, or any number of other things. Mike and his team are highly talented, and Mike is an ambitious and visionary producer.

Inspiring words.

All credit goes to the amazing From Beyond. Check out the interview for more info (click here for it in English), and check out their site for much more!

The music video is fantastic. Everybody looks like they're having fun.

You've got to give a hand to Alaine Kashian.

Another thing I wanted to tell you about is the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society's new Dark Adventure Radio Theatre! Can you guess what it is? That's right - it's...

Art by Darrell Tutchton. Now he can draw Brown Jenkin!

So, let us close off on this note with the amazing "No Turning Back" music video, which we now know a little more about.

Ohhhhhh yeah.