It’s the ten year anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, which was released in the UK to coincide with Halloween a decade ago. On Thursday, i looked at the impact it’s release had at the time in The Blair Witch Project: Ten Years On – Part 1, and yesterday reviewed the movie itself in Did you ever see… The Blair Witch Project. Now, on Halloween night, we’ll see how Blair Witch still impacts the movie industry even now.

 Blair Witch immediately set small independent filmmakers off attempting to recreate/replicate the success of the movie. Indeed, a sequel, Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows was also produced. Inevitably, no success was found in any of these endeavours. Blair Witch had come at the end of the nineties low budget independent film boom. Perhaps more surprisingly, Hollywood executives wisely resisted the temptation to commission a raft of imitations. Common sense dictated that to pull off the same kind of marketing campaign artificially would be an exercise in futility.

 The seeds of change had been planted however. For the first time, it had been shown that handheld camera work had a place in film other than just a cost saving technique. It could be used to create atmosphere. The most successful applications of the ‘shaky cam’ style over the last ten years have remained in the supernatural/horror genre.

In 2003, Open Water used the same idea, but the other way around. The movie is based on true events, and the film is shot on handheld cameras. But the finished movie is a fictionalised account of the events, and not purported to have been shot by the protagonists.

 In 2007, the Spanish Zombie film REC, it’s 2008 American remake Quarantine, and Romero’s own Diary of the Dead again in 2007, all made use of the handheld, documentary style technique. Whilst not purported to be ‘real footage’ like Blair Witch, within their respective movies it was shown as documentary footage shot by the movies’ characters.

 Last year’s Cloverfield also used the same idea, with the whole movie as the ‘footage’ recorded on a camcorder during a Godzilla-style monster attack on New York. A group of friends are at a birthday party when the attack starts, and film their journey across town to find the lead character’s girlfriend. Again, this wasn’t marketed as real, but it did involve a huge viral marketing campaign bigger in size than Blair Witch, and there was a similar frenzy of interest when the film was finally released.

 Then this year, almost ten years to the day after Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity echoed the style, budget and marketing campaign to great effect. Supposedly ‘real’ video of events in a haunted house, and filmed using cameras positioned around the residence, Paranormal Activity is an internet frenzy and as i write this, tops the US box office chart. And just last week, rumours began of a potential third film in the Blair Witch franchise.

 Whilst Blair’s distinctive camerawork has had influence over many films, it’s the movies’ breakthrough marketing campaign that now affects nearly every movie released. Blair Witch was the advent of viral marketing for the Hollywood film industry. Since then, internet promotion and advertising of the latest movies has gone from being advantageous to necessary. Every blockbusting film now has at the very least it’s own website, with back stories and clips released in the run up to the films opening to create as much buzz as possible.

 Now, even just an on set photo or promotional publicity still released to select websites can generate literally thousands of hits. In the last few months, pictures from forthcoming movies like Twilight, the A-Team and The Expendables have accounted for a bigger number of hits than full reviews and features.

District 9 was the surprise hit of the summer and internet buzz had been building on it for months. Everywhere you looked, you could see the Warning – No Aliens posters publicising the film. It had gotten to the point that by the time the movie was released, i didn’t need to see it, i already knew everything about it.

 So, whilst people now may curl their lip at the very mention of the Blair Witch, there’s no denying the huge impact it had, changing the face of the movie industry, and altering the very foundations of Hollywood marketing. The Blair Witch Project deserves it’s chapter in Silver Screen history. Just don’t go back and re-watch it knowing the truth, you’ll destroy a golden cinematic memory.

Bazmann

It’s been ten years since The Blair Witch Project hit movie theatres. Yesterday i looked at it’s production and the impact it had at the box office and on the industry in general in The Blair Witch Project: Ten Years On – Part 1. Today i’m looking at the film itself, and tomorrow i’m going to discuss how the Blair Witch phenomena still influences Hollywood today in The Blair Witch Project: Ten Years On – Part 2 .

Due to one of the biggest marketing campaigns in history, there was a tremendous amount of buzz around Blair Witch when it was finally released. Everyone was talking about the movie, and it was ambiguous whether the film was authentic ‘found’ footage, or a fictional movie. Many attended showings of Blair Witch fully believing what they were about to see was genuine, particularly in the early screenings.

Heather, Josh and Michael are three student filmmakers, and they have come together to film a documentary about an old local legend, The Blair Witch. Using rented equipment, they begin by travelling around the small town, questioning locals about the story. Some know very little, but others know a lot more about it. The filmmakers are told that an old witch lived in the woods, and murdered local children. Once finished in the town, the trio set off into the woods, with a tent and supplies, to look at where the killer supposedly roamed.

They find some mysterious small rock formations, and film plenty of footage. On their second night, they make a fire. During the night, they are terrorised by frightening noises, and are freaked out. They decide the next day to leave the woods, but in the middle of a non-descript forest, struggle to make sense of the map. Over the next couple of days, still lost, desperation sets in. Constant disturbances at night deprive them of sleep, discoveries of unusual symbols and formations haunt their day.

Hungry and terrified, infighting begins. As the band begin to lose their grip on their sanity, Josh becomes separated. Fearing they’ll never see their friend again, Heather and Michael discover a derelict old house. Is that Josh they can hear inside? Or the unspeakable evil of the Blair Witch?

In trying to track down a copy of Blair Witch, i was surprised at the reaction i got from people about the movie. No-one had a good word to say about it, and for a movie that made hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide, that baffled me. There are two ways to assess Blair Witch, so i’ll explore both routes.

The first is to look at it through the eyes of those who saw it at the time, in an atmosphere of ambiguity. The (often very poor) handheld camerawork does give the film a very convincing air of authenticity. The interviews with locals come across realistically, and are indistinguishable from those in real documentaries you’d find on obscure cable channels. The trek into the forest begins convincingly, and the young actors are enthusiastic and good natured. Many of the scenes, particularly during the night, are shot in a very organic way, with short cuts and fast movement. As the fear builds up over the days, the changing attitudes of the filmmakers and their fraying relationships are portrayed well.

As the movie progresses, however, and the disturbing phenomena become more pronounced and therefore farfetched, the boundaries of believability then close in. When their equipment is interfered with in the night, the fantasy element begins to come clear. Then when a present is left for Heather and Michael outside the tent after Josh vanishes, any semblance of realism disappears. As a result, the spooky conclusion, though eerie and well shot, is rendered moot. The illusion has already been shattered. A shame, because if the lead up had been toned down to believable levels, audiences would have left the theatre still unsure of whether they had witnessed a true story.

The other way to look at Blair Witch is as i look at it now, as simply a fictional movie. The legend is laid out quite well, and as they enter the woods it’s still holding your interest. The problems begin when it gets dark in the wood. The poor camera work, combined with a lack of light, make the movie difficult to follow. During the night disturbances, the poor sound quality makes it difficult to hear what the protagonists are reacting to. As the movie goes on, the lack of scripted dialogue and hands-on direction means the storyline meanders, with very little interesting progression. The dialogue becomes repetitive, and the whole experience is in danger of becoming tedious.

The storyline picks up somewhat when Josh disappears, and ironically the elements which disable your suspension of disbelief are the saving grace of the plot. With the possibility of a visceral finale, some momentum is generated. Unfortunately, the conclusion is nowhere near just reward for the patience required to reach it.

As an experiment, and a marketing phenomena, The Blair Witch succeeded in it’s goals at the time of release. Going into the movie with some level of faith in it’s authenticity would have made it a great watch. Re-watch value, however, is virtually nil. Difficult to watch for all the wrong reasons, it’s best left remembered as a one time great movie experience.

Come back tomorrow, as i look at movies that have taken a cue from The Blair Witch Project over the last ten years, and discuss how the phenomenon fundamentally changed Hollywood marketing techniques forever.

Bazmann

Halloween is upon us! Ten years ago this week, to coincide with Halloween, The Blair Witch Project was released in the UK. Combine that fact with the recent release of the Blair-like Paranormal Activity, and it’s clearly the perfect time to take a look back at the original shaky-cam horror movie.

 Today, i’m going to look at how Blair Witch became a cultural phenomenon at the time, tomorrow take a look at the movie itself in Did you ever see… The Blair Witch Project , and on Saturday will discuss how it’s influence is still felt by the industry today in The Blair Witch Project: Ten Years On – Part 2.

 The Nineties were somewhat of a boon time for low budget independent film. With Kevin Smith’s huge Clerks success, and a whole raft of Tarantino wannabes putting together their own gangster tales, everyone felt like they could become the next big thing.

 In 1993, two filmmakers, Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick, came up with the concept for a movie about a group of characters lost in a haunted wood. They drew up a 35 page outline. The initial idea was to shoot it like a documentary, and the dialogue was to be completely improvised. Over time they developed the idea of the Blair Witch legend, and shot faux documentary footage with experts on the legend, and family members of the characters to build around the supposed ‘found footage’ that made up the core of the movie.

 The writer/directors advertised the roles, looking for suitable actors with very good improvisational skills. They finally settled on Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C Williams. The three actors had to shoot the ‘discovered film’ footage guerilla style. They were given a 16mm film camera and a Hi-8 camera, and an outline of the story and basic structure. They were given minimal training with the cameras and sound equipment.

 Following GPS systems to various checkpoints, the actors spent eight days and nights together at Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland, shooting hours of footage each day, which was routinely dropped off at the checkpoints. At the same time they picked up fresh batteries and film, and any relevant directing notes and suggestions required to move the plot along. As they made their way through the woods, they encountered planted props, and the filmmakers used various tricks to scare the actors, in order to allow authentic reactions to be caught on film. Eventually the GPS route led them to an abandoned house where the climax of the movie was shot.

 As well as writing and direction, Myrick and Sanchez also edited the film. With around 20 hours of footage, to be cut down into a 90 minute movie, the editing process took nearly nine months. The budget of the production process to this point had been around $25000. In order to prepare a workable print to be shown at the Sundance film festival, they spent another $75000. After more work on the film, the estimated final budget was around $500000 to $750000. The showing at Sundance was a big success, and Artisan Entertainment bought the distribution rights to the movie for $1.1 million. They went on to spend an astonishing $25 million on a huge marketing campaign.

 An internet campaign had begun far in advance of the movies release. The filmmakers had created a website before filming had even begun. It outlined the story of the Blair Witch, and was initially designed as a way to sell the concept to potential investors. As the general public of the internet began to discover the site, word spread. The studio picked up the ball on the internet promotion, and began the largest web hype campaign in history. The website was overhauled, and clips from the ‘found’ footage were put online.

 The campaign proliferated the idea that the documentary was real, that the filmmakers had gone missing in the woods, and the tapes had been found and edited down to tell the story of what happened to the three young people. The legend spread, and pirated copies of the movie were ‘leaked’ into the hands of internet movie writers. These online journalists helped to increase the furore by singing the praises of the ‘documentary’. The rich backstory of the legend of the Blair Witch, created by the filmmakers, was so well written and comprehensive that it served to make the idea that the events were true even more convincing.

 By the time the movie opened, fan sites had already been set up, and the movie had become one of the most highly anticipated releases of all time. In the week leading up to it’s release, Sci-Fi channel ran a Blair Witch documentary. The Blair Witch Project had become a cinematic event. In it’s first week, it grossed $28.5 million. By the end of it’s run, it had grossed nearly $250 million worldwide. This meant it had made the biggest box office gross to production cost in movie history. It retained this record until just a few weeks ago, when another Blair Witch-style phenomenon, Paranormal Activity took over that record.

 Join me tomorrow when i take a look at the movie The Blair Witch Project itself, and then on Saturday we’ll look at The Blair Witch Project: Ten Years On – Part Two.

Bazmann