Persephone's (Gothic) Insights

As part of my  ongoing Q & A series   on  "Alien: Ore" (2019), this  two-part interview is with Vancouver FX , the company involved with the practical special effects, on-set. This is part one of the interview. "Alien: Ore" Interview, Vancouver FX Nick:  My name is Nicholas van der Waard. I have my MA in English Studies: the Gothic, and run a movie blog centered on Gothic horror,  Nick’s Movie Insights . Joining me for this interview is founder of Vancouver FX Dallas Harvey, who did the practical special effects in " Alien: Ore ." Apart from this movie, he has also created practical makeup effects, custom props and puppets for Season 2 of FOX's The Exorcist and many other horror/sci-fi film productions. The Alien -style Ovomorph eggs, created by Dallas Harvey and Vancouver FX for "Alien: Ore." Introduction (to the Vancouver FX crew): How long has Vancouver FX been around? Have you always been involved in horror movies, in...

This is the  full, unedited  script for my YouTube video analyzing Dan Root’s video, “ How Metroid Fusion Creates Fear .” Throughout the script, approximate timestamps for Dan's video are supplied in parenthesizes. Today’s aim is to analyze Dan Root’s video, “How Metroid Fusion Creates Fear.” The focus of Dan’s video is not animation, but aesthetics and how they’re used to generate atmosphere, in Metroid Fusion (2002). This atmosphere, according to Dan, is fear. Before I begin, I wish to add that “fear” is an imprecise word—more of a placeholder to generally highlight what is actually going on than accurately describe it. fear = X X = potential for many symptoms and events… but which? I can say something is fearsome; what has been communicated amounts to almost nothing. Is it terrifying or horrifying? Does it instill awe, dread, or devotion? Is it uncanny or abject? uncanny = A state of being neither wholly familiar nor alien, but somewhere in betwee...

As part of my  ongoing Q & A series   on  "Alien: Ore," this  two-part interview will be with Steven Stiller, the actor who played Kolton Brown. Here is part two of the interview.  New  interview segments (when available) post on Fridays at 2 p.m., EST. Getting the Role (cont.) Steven and his "Aspen Beer" t-shirt  (courtesy of  Greg Massie ) . Nick:  You and the other miners seem pretty dirty on-screen. How long did it take to get "camera ready" in terms of your costume and make-up? Steven:  The make up took a bit of time—like 20-30 minutes the first day, but after that they shaved it down a bit. Costumes, they dirtied up and they just kept adding to it each day (at least with me). In between takes they would constantly spray us down with fake sweat and condensation, which was ice cold. Not a lot of fun, but it kept us wide awake during these night shoots. Nick:  The actors in  Aliens  were allowed to "des...

As part of my  ongoing Q & A series   on  "Alien: Ore" (2019) this  multi-part interview will be with Steven Stiller, the actor who played Kolton Brown. Here is part one of the interview.  "Alien: Ore" Interview, Steven Stiller Nick:  My name is Nicholas van der Waard. I have my MA in English Studies: the Gothic, and run a movie blog centered on Gothic horror,  Nick’s Movie Insights . Joining me for this interview is Steven Stiller, who played Kolton Brown, in " Alien: Ore ." (to Steven): Apart from being an actor, what else do you do professionally? Steven: I am also a filmmaker, having made a number of short films over the last eight years or so, and recently directed my first feature film . Nick:   How long have you been acting? Can you tell me about some of your past experiences? Steven: I have been acting since the early 1990s. I actually started out acting in children's theatre back in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada. I...