Filmmaker’s Statement

The catalyst for ‘Of Darkness’ can be traced back to an impromptu pitch session in March of 2005.  During the session, writer Matt Casale tossed out the concept of a horror short that centered on a group of teenagers.  And while the infant stages of the project paralleled those of a straight up horror flick, there were a number of creative elements that immediately appealed to Paul & Gary Irwin, the Producer/Director tandem behind Eventide Productions.  With a triad of creative sensibilities in the mix, Paul, Gary & Matt were able to mold the idea into a film capable of satisfying all of their artistic appetites.

The filmmakers wanted to take the notion of children being untouchable, a mantra utilized in classic films like “Stand by Me” and “The Goonies” as well as horror films like “Lost Boys” and “Silver Bullet”, and turn it on its ear.  The kids in this movie are never safe.  They throw caution to the wind, open a book with a centuries old horrific past, and pretty much compromise their safety from that point forward. In keeping with a ‘less is more’ approach to horror scare tactics, it becomes all about what you can’t see in this film.  Inevitably, the viewer is left with his or her imagination as their only window into the world of the darkness.

One of the most challenging aspects of the project was the task of bringing the ‘Darkness’ to life.  In its earliest drafts, the story called for the evil to exist in the form of a mist or a fog (sound familiar), but the creative team eventually moved away from that decision as to not revisit familiar horror film territory.  They opted, instead, to allow the absence of light to represent the physical ‘presence’ of evil.  This decision brought about a number of logistical challenges, all of which were much more complicated than simply turning out the lights. Especially since Gary was dead set against the use of any GGI or other such post-production trickery.  What resulted from this strict adherence to the ‘old school’ filmmaking methodology was a sense of satisfaction at having every scene truly unfold in front of the lense.

The project certainly had its fair share of logistical complications.  Some were the standard indie production woes (little or no time, even less money), but there were definitely added hurdles thrown into the mix as a result of shooting 3 out of 5 production dates during overnights and dealing with an entire cast of adolescents.  The project, in truth, was an animal or two shy of running the production nightmare gamut.  However, setbacks aside, the project finally completed principal photography in December of 2005.  And while the knee-jerk reaction is to expound upon all of the ‘mini-disasters’ along the way while shedding light on the filmmaking techniques used to bring the scenes to life, some things are just better left as fodder for the filmmaker Q & A’s.