Making HAUNT - The How's and Whys of a No-Budget Indie Film

By Don Patterson

The time had come for me to make a movie, something I wanted to do since college. Ten years ago I decided to turn that dream into a reality. So in 1993, I started a videography company, Stone-Patterson Productions (www.stonepatterson.com) that let me acquire equipment and hone my skills. A little over two years ago, I wrote Haunt.

Then came the dilemma - how to make a movie without a cast, crew, and money? All I can say is that I am lucky - I found others who shared the dream, believed in the idea, believed in the work, and believed in me and ultimately in each other. Many did not know each other two years ago and to this day may not have met in person, people like Becky Pascal from Indianapolis, Matt Roosevelt from Berkeley, John Morgan from Westerville, Bob Turner from Fremont, Geoff Beck from Cleveland, and Bill Bleschmid from Solon. They helped find other cast members and crew. Friends and relatives from across the entire United States, even my nephews David (from Colorado), Michael (Connecticut), and Ben Brown (Massachusetts) were pulled into the production.

But I digress ...
Once I started, I vowed nothing would stop me from finishing Haunt - not debt (ouch), or a major car accident (ouch ouch), or divorce (relieved to report I am still married), or equipment malfunctions (developed many new four-letter words), or the unfulfilled promises of other's (water under the dam), or persistent nay-sayers (you can't, you won't), or my sanity (or lack thereof). Failure - defined as not finishing the movie - and delay - defined as putting a half-completed movie on the shelf for years while going on to other projects - were never an option.

Once the story was written, I shared it with others but still continued researching for the story. All the while, I read more and more books about filmmaking by filmmakers. My interest in these books was no longer academic. I needed to learn from others successes and failures, incorporating their knowledge and experience into my own. I watched movies, the good, the bad and the ugly (some being extremely ugly). Finally, I developed a plan, which included certain rules that were to guide me throughout: 1) the story is everything (unless necessity demands that it change); 2) incorporate your environment, using the best of what and who is at hand; 3) remember the audience - Haunt is not for everyone; 4) keep my promises to those who helped me; and 5) don't be afraid to make mistakes (this last rule I had no problem remembering and fulfilling!)

My goal was simple: to make a movie with an original and very scary story. Although the goal was simple, making Haunt was not. Over the next two years, Haunt changed (Rule #1), the change often generated by the availability of cast, crew, and site locations (Rules #2). After all, making a movie without money requires flexibility and luck (Rule #5). And I was lucky, receiving more and more unexpected help and support from people I never knew, such as Jeff Glatzer and Jen Kelnhoffer, and the multi-talented musicians and songwriters who wrote much of the musical score, such as John Morgan, Jim Pinel, and Nate Adkins. (Music videos featuring John Morgan and Nevada Smith (Nate Adkins' group) are included on the Haunt DVD rough cut; the John Morgan music video even won two national awards. I am very proud of the music; I think that alone is worth the price of the Haunt rough cut).

I did manage to get almost every scene cast and shot, but rarely as envisioned by the original story. I adopted another rule that has been followed since the beginning of moviedom: if you cannot get the shot you want, love the shot you get!

I soon learned that not all my ideas could be transferred to video (special effects cost money), so the story continued to evolve (Rule #1 again). Once I began editing, I found my editing equipment did not perform as promised; I had to adapt. As the clock ticked, I got a lot grayer, lost sleep and sanity. As the challenges became steeper, I took a deep breath and moved forward.

About every six months a 20-minute trailer was produced. Its purpose was to maintain the cast and crew's interest as well as generate new support. Because many who I worked with (and wanted to work with) did not know me and lived far away, the trailers validated the project and kept them involved. The trailer fulfilled that purpose well. As more people wanted a chance to be in front of the camera, more characters were created for them. Shooting was mainly on weekends but it was never a sure thing. While I made mistakes, I never lied or misrepresented my goals. I promised to try my best, not to make anyone look bad, and not to quit. For some people, this was enough; for others, it was not.

Three top-notch commercial haunts supported Haunt by letting me use their haunts in the movie. Bob Turner's "Haunted Hydro", Larry Kirchner's "The Darkness", and Don John's "The Haunted Schoolhouse" were so impressive that I expanded their part in the movie (Rule #2). (Next Halloween, visit these haunts in Fremont, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, and Akron, Ohio. You will be hooked just liked I was!)

When Haunt began, I knew nothing about the haunt industry. Over the last two years, I learned a lot and learned from the best: great haunt owners like Bob, Larry, and Don; great haunt actors like Geoff Beck, Julie Natole, and Bill Morrison, and great haunt fans like Becky Pascal, Troy Bliss, and Jeff Glatzer. Not only did they encourage me, they gave thousands of suggestions! After all, they want Halloween 365 days a year. They like to have fun. And scaring people with an artistic flare and a sense of humor is their idea of fun. I found that haunt owners, actors, crews, and fans are committed to each other. They are hip to the latest trends, movies, and happenings. Virtually all have a sense of humor and a drive to succeed. Yes, I learned from the best and I am grateful!

This unexpected flare for scare can also produce unintended consequences. As an example, the line between our life and the movie was starting to blur! Two Cleveland actors had committed to a full day of Saturday shooting. To get an early start they left Cleveland in full makeup. At 8:00 AM, the doorbell rang. To my wife's surprise, two monsters were standing at the front door. Soon we all gathered around the dining room table, my 7-year old son Daniel, my wife, two gruesome-looking monsters in dripping and oozing full make-up, and me, eating blueberry pancakes and discussing the day's upcoming shoots as if we always welcomed monsters to our dining room table! What made that day even more bizarre is that we had new neighbors that we had not yet met. They were very surprised and somewhat alarmed to see the horrors across the street! When my wife introduced herself the following week, she explained the strange doings at our house. I still don't know if the neighbors were relieved or even more alarmed!!

The Haunt DVD currently issued is the director's rough-cut. It is a limited edition DVD encoded with Macrovision and CSS encryption. People ask why put Haunt's rough-cut on DVD? The answers are found in the rules of my plan of attack - always keep my promises (Rule # 4) and remember whom my audience is (Rule # 3).

First, while making Haunt, I promised those who participated that they would be in a movie. Those who worked on Haunt signed a contract in which they would receive a share of any profits earned if Haunt were purchased for acquisition and distribution in proportion to their contribution in the final theatrical version. But more importantly, all anticipated seeing themselves in a movie. As Haunt evolved, I learned I would not be able to fulfill my promise to cast and crew without producing an extended version and still hold true to Rule #1, the story is everything. The Haunt rough cut represents my promise to them. I am still amazed by and remain grateful to those who contributed their time, effort and money to help make Haunt -- some because they believed in the dream, some because they believed in me, and some because they believed in both!

Second, I wanted to make a great scary movie but events were starting to conspire against its completion. With the help of various haunt owners, we intended to market the Haunt DVD during the 2002 haunt season. This would help generate some immediate income for me (my event videography company was put on hold until the completion of the movie) and for the haunt owners, actors, and aficionados.

Equipment deficiencies now began to really take a bite into my final product. The video cameras, Sony DSRs 500, 300, and 150, worked great. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the non-linear editing equipment (not Sony). In editing 200-plus hours of rough footage into a story, I would spend hours editing a scene only to find the editing deck did not properly render the work. Since it could take days to successfully render just a few seconds, these mishaps required that I re-do the work I just spent hours completing, hence the creation of many new four-letter words! Calls to the company rarely produced satisfactory answers. Those very processes that the company promised the deck could perform (which induced the very expensive purchase) I was now told the software had not yet been developed to perform those tasks, any errors were human, or the support staff simply did not believe what I reported. When the hard drive became corrupt, the company exchanged it for a new one but it could not retrieve the work from the old hard drive. So I had to start the project all over again.

As I became further behind schedule, I worked longer and longer hours. For about six months in 2002, I rarely went to bed. I started working around the clock, surviving mainly on catnaps and strong black coffee as I went from one task to another. As the bills piled up and my family grew impatient with my isolation, BAM, a car accident (not my fault). Instead of creating monsters on screen, I now looked and felt like a monster at home - my face misshapen, hands and feet swollen, and the pain (ouch ouch ouch). No matter how hard I tried, weeks passed before my mind could work with the necessary clarity. Of course, I did not see this at the time - being distracted by pain does not help the decision-making process.

With these setbacks came a new realization, working in isolation has its drawbacks. What is missing is feedback. Yet I still had a story to tell and promises to fulfill, so the Haunt 'limited edition' rough-cut was produced. It represents all the story lines and includes virtually all the cast.

Producing the rough cut might sound like putting "the cart before the horse", but it serves another purpose as well. It is my version of Hollywood's test market. Think about it - Hollywood regularly puts its productions before neutral audiences to get their ideas about plot lines, alternative endings, character development, etc. But tests groups were not a realistic option for me. By the time I had the time and money to complete a "test group" phase, ten more years would past. So the Haunt 'limited edition' rough-cut was made, and the people who buy and view Haunt will become my test audience. I wanted to benefit from the originality, diversity, and creativity of my audience, mainly composed of fans of independent film, scary movies, the haunt industry and 'America's second favorite holiday' Halloween.

This idea is working! By producing the rough cut, the talents of all sorts of people are now available to me. Currently, the Haunt website is under construction (although it may be done by the time this article appears). But with the help of cast, crew, and word of mouth, the Haunt 'limited edition' rough cut is being sold and seen by people who are giving just the help Haunt needs - from film students to film fans to scary movie aficionados. Hundreds are watching this movie and getting involved, from the west coast to the east coast, from Michigan to Louisiana. More and more people want to be a part of the final theatrical cut by offering ideas, time or talents. Within the next 45 days, we will start back into production and finish the theatrical version of Haunt.

The information coming to me is being shared with those most intimate with Haunt, such as John Morgan, Becky Pascal, and the Brown brothers. Plus new people are stepping forward with their ideas and new resources. As Haunt is reaching its final metamorphosis, the energy level and creative juices of those working with me are high or higher than they have ever been. Once the website is completed, I hope to get the input of those who read this article and see Haunt as well. Through an interactive website, people can learn more about the Bocan, the story, the DVD and make suggestions about the direction they think Haunt should go. Over the coming weeks, final decisions will be made on plot lines to create or eliminate, and scenes and characters to strengthen, cut and add.

So enjoy Haunt. The rough cut, 'limited edition' is available for sale on the website at a very low price. These DVD sales do not generate profit but merely cover some of the costs of making the DVD and (hopefully) will add some funds for needed special effects into the final theatrical version. The Haunt DVD is not perfect, but it can be appreciated for its novelty, its innocence, and its ambition. It is a testament to strangers uniting to help fulfill a dream and make it their own. It is a tribute to the extraordinarily talented people who comprise the haunt industry - the actors, the artisans, the storytellers.

If this movie shines - others will follow. Stay tuned. The best is yet to be...

Don Patterson can be contacted at www.hauntedmovie.com or stonepatterson@aol.com, please refer to Haunt in the heading when E-mailing him. Thank you.