TheTell-TaleHeart.com Blog

The movie has evolved a lot since the release of trailer a few years back… Now that this movie is nearing completion, it is time to start sharing the new darker and more refined look of the movie. I hope you enjoy.

The video is also available for download to your cell phone at http://www.zedge.net/videos/228314/the-tell-tale-heart-video/

-Michael

Here is a tasty little morsel for you all…

While my favorite horror movies frighten the audience through eerie suspense and anxiety build-up rather than getting the screams through gore, this movie does address the dismemberment of the Old Man. Most of the dismemberment is alluded to except the swing of the Axe…I couldn’t resist.

Teachers, is this too much gore in your classrooms, if included in the Teachers Bundle version? I am considering an optional toned down version on the DVD…Do you foresee a toned down version valuable or necessary?

Without music or ambient sounds, even the scariest scenes can fall flat…Well, we are not going to let you down.

Much work has gone into creating fantastically dark music for Edgar’s evil deeds. Teaming up with the skills of horror musician Virgil Franklin (www.VirgilMusic.net), we have enhanced the mood evermore with chilling music and unsettling ambient sounds.

Sample of The Tell-Tale Heart theme music…(one of my favorites scores).
thememusic_thetell-taleheart_by_virgilmusic

-Michael
Special Thanks to Virgil Music…

The eyes are the portal to the soul…So, it is important to get it right.  Below is a shot of Pabodie (the young police officer in the group) before he gets the rest of his hair. As you can tell from his eyelashes and eyebrows, he is a red head.

This is an update to the post below.  The production is extending into November.  I am aware of the anticipation for some around this release…and I apologize for the extended deadline.  The extra details in the animation and models are taking longer than expected. As you can see in the stills posted the production quality is leaps and bounds above the trailer… I anticipate all will be satisfied with better end product.

While I wish to have this rolled out by Halloween, the rollout is now targeted for  end of late November.

Best Regards,

Michael

——-

Production has been running great, with some fabulously dreary scenes (some below) coming out of the pipeline. However, to get the right motif we have refined and re-worked some key scenes. This extra work has impacted the schedule and thus the release date.  While these delays may push the release out as far as October, I believe getting the best quality production out to the Poe fans/students in lieu of an earlier /lesser movie is the right choice.

Below are some images of the production to further tease you of the movie to come in the Fall…
enjoy.
-Michael

“Over the river and through the woods to Edgar’s house we go… ”

Edgar’s estate “Moldavia”, in The Tell-Tale Heart…It was also his actual house in real life for a little while, minus the heavy dark motif.  Moldavia was John Allan’s (Edgar’s adopted father) estate from 1825 to 1834, at which Edgar stayed in the back bedroom. Of course, in this interpretation of The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar is not such a good boy.

An early 1900’s photograph of the real Moldavia…not sure if it is still around.

Meet Dupin. He is the lead police officer in East Richmond, 1842. He likes reading, parties, and investigating reported screams at 4am in the morning…from Edgar’s house.

Work in progress.

The interesting thing about computer graphics (CG) is that the fantastic often pose less technical and artistic challenge than many of the more common and less notible items we see each day. For instance, if you saw a CG alien bug would you recognize if it moved wrong or if it had too many wrinkles just above its pinchers…probably not. But if you saw, a CG human whose eye lids blinked too slow or at the exact same time…everyone would notice it or at least sense that something felt too mechanical or fake. It is because we have seen people blink hundreds of thousands or millions of times. We have seen it so many times that if we don’t consciously recognize a problem, our subconscious will….for that reason, it often takes a significantly more time and effort to create something that might be less significant.

What a dramatic introduction to my posting on creating skin…don’t you think. Below are the first round of steps for creating skin.

(continue reading…)

In 2005/06 the trailer had over a dozen public screenings (foreign and domestic). As the full version is completed, I will be bring the movie back to film festival and TV showings, as well as, the larger Halloween and additional Poe specialized film festivals. However, it will not be available in its entirety on the internet (e.g. iFilms and others)

Below is a partial list of the previous showings of The Tell-Tale Heart trailer:

• Halloween Horror Picture Show (Tampa, FL) - film festival
• H.P. Love Craft Film Festival ( Portland OR) - film festival
• Rhode Island International Horror Film Fest (Riverside, RI) - film festival
• “A Night With Poe” (Superior, WI) - film festival
• Cackalacky Film Festival ( Charlotte, NC ) - film festival
• Santa Cruz Film Festival (Santa Cruz, CA) - film festival
• Enigma Films - (Tampa, FL) - film festival
• Halloween Film Fest - (London, UK) - film festival
  
• Silicon Valley Siggraph Club (San Jose, CA) - CG trade club
• San Francisco Siggraph Club (Berkeley, CA) - CG trade club
• Thrillville at Parkway Theater (Berkeley, CA) - dinner and a movie Theater
• Weekly Reader (home page) - web
• The DailyReel (Top 10 page) - web
  
• iFIlm (animation home page) - web
• Cinema Insomnia - TV
  

A fan mentioned that they use the fireplace image from the website as a backdrop/screen saver. I’ll be sure to post a few medium and high resolution images as the production is being built for the fans.

Any special requests?

A casting call for voice actors went out today. While Ron Hammond will join us again as Edgar, the parts of the policemen have been expanded and are open to all. The script/storyboard is in final review, allowing us to record in a few weeks.

Ron and I are working on how to bring the most out of Edgar’s voice. I am very excited about a couple of approaches. With Ron’s vocal range and voice talent, we are definitely going to come out with something very dynamic and powerful.  When completed, Ill share a couple of clips on the blog…