A Sad Parting: My Decision to Say Good-Bye to The Walking Dead

Like many of you, I was an avid fan of The Walking Dead. Sunday night was always something to look forward to with the latest episode. Over the past two years, however, I've become increasingly disenchanted with the series. In retrospect, the killing of Glenn was probably the death knell for me.

My decision to give a future pass to The Walking Dead, however, is based on various elements besides the death of one of its most interesting characters. The main difference between a graphic novel and a television series is that the latter has a real opportunity to flesh out characters rather than  rely on the formulaic hero versus villain theme. But in Negan, the latest villain, we see not a flesh-and-blood human being, but a caricature of evil--a bit like a leering bad-guy wrestler playing to script. How many times is it necessary to show someone beaten to death, branded with an iron or, in one case, thrown into a fire? And do we really need to see the main characters, Rick and Daryl, repeatedly emasculated? Granted they are fighting back at the end of Season 7, but for me it's like a wearisome cycle that never ends. Add to this a cast of ineffectual "supporting" characters. Am I the only one who finds Gabriel, Tara, and Rosita, to name a few examples, more annoying than effective? The Walking Dead has the dubious distinction of ending the performance of many strong actors while relying on inferior acting skills to keep the series running.

As reported by Wikipedia, "executive producer David Alpert said in 2014 that the original comics have given them enough ideas for Rick Grimes and company over the next seven years. 'I happen to love working from source material, specifically because we have a pretty good idea of what Season 10 is gonna be', Alpert said. 'We know where seasons 11 and 12 [will be].... [W]e have benchmarks and milestones for those seasons if we're lucky enough to get there.'"

There is a difference between "having material" and maintaining the freshness of that material.

In my mind, what started off as a thoughtful and exciting new series has taken an abrupt right turn.

INNER GHOSTS: Part 2

Here's some additional information on the film we showcased last week:

THE FILMMAKERS

 JOÃO ALVES (Director) is a multi-talented writer, illustrator, designer, animator, and VFX artist. After four years working professionally in animation, he wrote, directed, and pretty much everything else, the short horror/western BATS IN THE BELFRY (2010). The animated short did a worldwide festival run that lasted four years, and won several awards (MOTELx, Fantasporto and others) and was sold to Fearnet.com before getting a theatrical release in 2013. INNER GHOSTS is João

Alves' first feature. However, the director has more upcoming projects.

PAULO LEITE (Writer/Producer) is an EAVE graduate with over 15 years of professional experience. He has worked in Production roles in Film, TV, Commercials and Fashion. Paulo also has experience in Development, having helped many international producers with their projects, either as a writer, consultant, mentor or simply as a friend. Paulo regularly attends all the main film festivals and markets devoted to genre films in Europe, North and Latin America. Paulo has several other horror projects in development, including THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD that was selected to the Frontières Co-Production Market.

MIGUEL SALES LOPES, A.I.P. (Director of Photography/Editor) is one of Portugal's leading cinematographers with almost 40 film and TV projects in the last 15 years. He has worked in some of the most successful Portuguese films in recent memory and is well-known for the quality of his work. For INNER GHOSTS, Miguel went to the extreme of building himself the light equipment demanded by the film’s complex final scene.

 GABRIEL AUGUSTO (Producer) was born in Macao. He is an IPAM graduate with over 10 years of experience in Digital Marketing, Social Media and Branding, having worked with some of the biggest Portuguese companies today. He is one of the leading names in the business and a constant presence in markets and events. He has worked twice with the Portuguese sponsors of Cannes Lions. Gabriel won't miss a horror film. His personal taste goes for Asian horror as he is a connoisseur of

virtually everything ever produced.

 THE CAST

CELIA WILLIAMS is a British actress born and brought up in England. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before spending two years living in Brazil, since when she has been living and working in Lisbon. She performs in English and Portuguese, and also, once, in French. Her work has taken her very often to the UK, to London and to Edinburgh, to places all over Portugal from Bragança in the north, to the Algarve in the south, to Madeira in the Atlantic, and also to India. She has performed in a variety of genres including tragedy, drama, mystery, comedy, musicals, opera, radio, television series and feature films. Among many major roles on stage are Jean Cocteau's THE HUMAN VOICE in London's West End, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, DON'T WALK ABOUT WITH NOTHING ON, and BE MY BABY, also in London; Paulina in DEATH & THE MAIDEN, Elizabeth I in MARY STUART, Nora in A DOLL'S HOUSE, Stephanie in DUET FOR ONE, Gertrude in HAMLET and Judith Bliss in HAY FEVER IN LISBON. Celia's work in Portuguese includes various roles in TV soaps and series, for example EQUADOR and UMA FAMÍLIA AÇOREANA, O ÚLTIMO DOS MARIALVAS, APANHADOS NO DIVÃ and AUTO DA BARCA DO INFERNO for the stage, and the films PASSAGEM POR LISBOA and A MORTE DE CARLOS GARDEL. Her first venture into horror was ten years ago when she played the protagonist in MRS. DEVENPORT'S THROAT, a short film, part of a series written and produced by horror icon David McGillivray. She is now excited, and a little afraid, to take on the role of Helen in INNER GHOSTS.

ELIZABETH BOCHMANN was born in Lisbon in 1989 to British parents and was brought up in Portugal. As a result, she is fluent in both English and Portuguese. She has a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London, as well as short courses on Technical Voice Production and the Method. She has worked mostly in theatre, performing in Portugal, England and at the Edinburgh Fringe. Since completing her degree, she has played major roles in PYGMALION, HAY FEVER, THE MOUSETRAP, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, THE PROVOKED WIFE, THE THREE SISTERS and ROMEO AND JULIET. She has appeared on TV in Portuguese soap operas, most recently JARDINS PROIBIDOS for TVI and in short films, including THE HUNCHBACK, written and directed by award-winning director Gabriel Abrantes and Ben Rivers. INNER GHOSTS is her first experience working on a feature film, ironically in a genre that she finds terrifying to watch. Her passion is, and always has been, acting. The feeling of being able to bring another character to life is an extraordinary sensation, and the challenge is to embody that person with as much truth and honesty as possible. Elsa is a tough woman with a complicated life. She has seen ghosts and demons for most of her life - so much that she turned that curse into a profession, designing demonic visuals for games and horror films. One of the demons she sees has become too violent as it demands something from her - something she will be forced to deliver.

IRIS CAYATTE was born in Lisbon in 1986 from a Portuguese/French father and a Finnish mother. She spent her childhood and teenage years moving from place to place (from the vast Finnish forest, to the desert of Alentejo, to Luxembourg and back to Lisbon where she completed the International Bachaleaureat at an international school. She is bilingual and works in Portuguese, English and is fluent in French. At the age of 17 she moved to London where she graduated from The Central School of Speech and Drama in 2008. Since then she has been busy working in major theatre productions. Currently she is preparing two different plays to be presented at the National Theatre in Lisbon. She has performed in major roles in plays by Arthur Miller, Brecht, Shakespeare, Sarah Kane, George Orwell, Paú Miró, Simon Stephens, Dostoyevsky, amongst others. On Film she has worked with directors such as Roberto Faenza in SOSTIENE PEREIRA, the infamous Fanny Ardant in CADENCES OBSTINÉE, Rob Marshal in NINE, Francisco Lobo in ELA and Paulo Furtado (aka The Legendary Tiger Man) in OBLIVION, amongst others. She also participates in television productions such as series and tv movies. On INNER GHOSTS, she plays Rachel, a woman with a keen connection with the other side.

WHO IS OUR AUDIENCE?

We feel INNER GHOSTS is a film for the audience who crave fresher horror concepts and is looking for films that try to give them a fuller emotional experience. With this in mind, we feelINNE R GHOSTS will be closer to the audience who loved THE ORPHANAGE and THE OTHERS (two stories of mothers whose love propels them to do the unthinkable) than the audience who is looking for the average zombie virus flick. Here are some of the films with whom we share creative elements: THE ORPHANAGE, THE OTHERS, POLTERGEIST.

HOW HAVE WE CONNECTED WITH OUR AUDIENCE?

We started tweeting about the film in 2015 as the film got financed and we started writing the script. We told very little about the film (nothing was spoiled) because we did not want to spoil the great twists that take place towards the end of the story. However, we wanted everybody to know that INNER GHOSTS is actually a horror film about love and the crazy things some people can do for it and because of it. So we started tweeting about the film’s theme, about the horror genre in general, about passion for it and some small creative tips we felt were relevant to those who wish to develop their horror stories. We managed to maintain an engaging relationship with our audience and as of March 2017 we reached some 25K organic followers on Twitter. We tweet to them every day. Find us here: https://twitter.com/InnerGhosts

CENTRAL CREATIVE ELEMENT

INNER GHOSTS explores themes and creative elements we are further developing into more horror films. We love writing horror stories and we will not stop.

For more information on INNER GHOSTS, please click here.

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL OF YOU IN YOUR KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN. THIS LOOKS LIKE A VERY INTERESTING FILM.

INNER GHOSTS

Behind the Walls of Nightmare is pleased to announce the Kickstarter campaign for the film INNER GHOSTS, which was selected to the Work in Progress section of the 2016 Frontieres Co-Production Market at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.

Here's the synopsis, production details, and information on why a Kickstarter campaign was chosen.


SHORT SYNOPSIS

HELEN is a brain researcher trying to develop a revolutionary

therapy to treat degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. To

prove her theories, she needs to run cognitive tests on ghosts:

beings who apparently can act and remember without the need of

a physical brain suggesting that unresponsive patients whose

brains are too damaged to function can be accessed, somehow,

through their living souls. After the death of her mentor, Helen

finds an apartment inhabited by benign ghosts who agree to be

tested. The problem is Helen renounced her gift 15 years ago after

the loss of her daughter when she made a vow never to contact

the other side again. Things change when an artist called ELSA

begs Helen for some spiritual training hoping to get rid of a demon

who has been haunting her for many years. Helen reluctantly

accepts it unaware of the demon's true goal: finding her. Helen’s

tests with the ghosts are a success. The entities offer her the

design of a device that can communicate with the dead (and

possibly living patients), triggering a set of events that will bring

Helen face to face with the demon she has known all along. After

so many years, two enemies are about to meet for the last time,

showing us that revenge is a dish that’s still boiling hot.

Oh, but there’s so much more happening!

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Title: INNER GHOSTS

Producing Countries: PORTUGAL / BRAZIL

Genre: SUPERNATURAL HORROR / DRAMA

Length: 90 MINUTES

Language: ENGLISH

Locations: LISBON / CASCAIS

Cast: CELIA WILLIAMS, ELIZABETH BOCHMANN

IRIS CAYATTE, NORMAN MACCALLUM, AMANDA BOOTH

ANA SOFIA LEITE, PATRÍCIA GODINHO, JOÃO BLÜMEL

Director of Photography: MIGUEL SALES LOPES A.I.P.

Digital VFX: ANIBRAIN (INDIA)

Written by PAULO LEITE

Produced by PAULO LEITE and GABRIEL AUGUSTO

Directed by JOÃO ALVES

PICTURE SPECS

Shot with: RED DRAGON 5K RAW

Lenses: ARRI / ZEISS

ULTRA PRIME

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

© 2017 BAD BEHAVIOR ONE LDA

WHY A KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN?

We wrote, developed and produced INNER GHOSTS because we love horror and we love the people who love horror films. Film is an expensive medium. It is much less expensive than it was 20 years ago, but still quite expensive if you really want to do it right. We are now in sound post and from the development until now, we were able to make every euro count. We took the project as far as we could go with what we had. Now we are thrilled to bring the project to the best community in the world: horror fans! You are the reason why we are doing all this, and Kickstarter has some of the best horror fans in the world! That’s why we are asking for your support. That’s why we are opening our film and ourselves to you.

Sound matters! The film turned out too good. We need a sound post that will do it justice. We will need real music. Real ADR. Real foley. Real sound mix. Real deliverables. So you will get not just the best horror story, you will experience the best film. We want you to experience INNER GHOSTS as true horror fans should!

Our Kickstarter campaign starts in April. Please check out the amazing rewards you can receive by supporting us. http://innerghosts.launchrock.com/.

In next week's post, Behind the Walls of Nightmare will look at the production crew, cast, and intended audience of INNER GHOSTS.