2009 - 09/2009 Meeting

Page Created: 09/16/10. Last Updated: 11/01/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 11/04/09.

PAUL CHAU

Video Clips: Scalp

Official Scalp Website: http://www.scalpthemovie.com/.

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: Saturday, September 12, 2009

Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River New Jersey.

Official Attendance: 26.

Meeting Program: Talk by Horror Movie Film Maker.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

During the break, I tested the SCALP DVD on the TV/DVD set up in the basement. It worked fine on that set up. After the break we went downstairs and replayed the clips, this time with sound.

Someone asked that since the campers outnumbered their foe, why didn't they simply rush him? Paul replied that most people in danger either freeze or flee. Unless they have been trained, very few people will actually confront danger. This led to a multi person discussion of personal experiences in stressful situations.

Newsletter Account:

The September 12, 2009 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Saddle River Valley Cultural in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Independent film maker Paul Chau was the guest speaker.

Barry Weinberger led a very animated Ice Nine discussion which ranged from winners of the 2009 Hugo Awards to recent movies and television shows. Greg Roman bravely held the fort at an under attended Animation Associates viewing of episodes of the TV series, DUCKMAN.

The meeting began with a pair of short astronomy videos by club member Lonny Buinis. Lonny produced two "Moon Rock Rock" music videos about rocks taken from the moon by astronauts. The shorts were made almost a decade apart, and the contrast-ing videos show how far animation technology has come in that span. Mr Buinis had had a very long day and left after showing the video.

The spotlight was then turned on film maker Paul Chau. Paul showed about 8 minutes of clips of his horror film, SCALP, THE MOVIE. Unfortunately, technical difficulties did not allow the soundtrack to be heard when we first attempted it, though we had success when we tried it later on the basement TV/DVD setup.

Mr Chau spoke about being an independent film maker. Unlike many indies, he did not go to film school, but taught himself to make films by doing a series of short films as exercises on how to master various aspects of movie making. After working on weekend film projects for close to 6 years, he felt that he was ready to tackle a true commercial film project.

He chose horror because it is a genre where you can sell a movie by its concept instead of by star power. He deliberately went against the grain of modern horror films in two ways: he wanted a movie that was atmospheric instead of gory and he wanted to minimize the use of hand held camerawork.

The secret to a successful low budget movie, in Paul's view, is to prepare as much as possible ahead of time. His advice is to get a good script and to have it read by someone who knows about script writing and doesn't care about your feelings. The second step is to storyboard the work. This is important because shooting a film is a stressful, tiring job. The storyboards can be prepared when one is fresh and wide awake and serves as a guide when one is dead tired from shooting for 14 straight hours. The third step is to cast the right actors and to rehearse the work as much as possible before first scene is shot.

Paul feels that most independent films fail because they are not diligent enough in their preparatory work. "We'll fix in post production" is both the lazy way out and not always doable.

SCALP had a production crew of five: a Director, an Assistant Director, a Sound Producer, a Special Effects Producer, and a Production Assistant. Paul wrote, directed, produced, and financed the film, and composed the music. Unlike most independent films which are shot over a series of weekends, Scalp was shot in compressed 16 days over a course of three weeks. Mr Chau chose this schedule to minimize weather and lighting continuity problems offered by more extended shoots.

Mr Chau's presentation differed from those of independent film makers we have had in the past. Normally, we screen the movie and discuss it afterwards. Paul did not want to go that route, however. Given the technical difficulties we encountered, this proved a fortunate choice. Instead, we got a lot more into the nitty gritty of movie making and movie marketing.

SCALP is now available on DVD through the movie's website, <http://www.scalpthemovie.com>. Our thanks to everyone who helped make this a good meeting.