The Listening Dead Also Headed for 3D
Posted by bob in Films, News on August 8th, 2008
The Listening Dead, everyone’s favorite silent short film, will also be breaking into the 3D realm. The story evolved originally from a song about a guy that complained that his girlfriend only cared for him when he was gone. When their song was rejected, the creators took the idea and expanded the story. Thus came the birth of “The Listening Dead,” a gothic fable that tells of how a pianist Nigel (Peter Scriba) becomes obsessed with his latest composition, which attracts an unforeseen thrill. While Nigel’s music creates a rift between him and his wife Karen (Karen Miller), it also attracts a beautiful ghost (Sarah Hund) who falls in love with his work. Frustrated from his lack of attention towards her, Karen scribbles on a photo of Nigel who is then turned into a living scribble by a spirit that haunts the house. The ghost must now intervene to rescue the mortal she has fallen in love with.
TLD is unique to any other short. In creating the short film, writer and director Phil Mucci puts to rest any doubt about going old-school in film making. TLD is not only deeply rooted in 20th century expressionistic horror and sci-fi, but it also brings a fresh appeal as well. To prepare for the film, actors and crew referenced both vintage silent horror films such as the works of Fritz Lang (Metropolis) and later works such as Mario Bava’s Black Sunday and David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The exaggerated style of silent film acting and the quality of handmade special effects became the predominating elements of Mucci’s film in which he utilized old-school optical printing techniques to achieve the desired look. In effect, “all the actors are able to tell the story so evocatively though mere movement and facial expression” explain Mucci.
The short has been rumored to hit select theaters as early as Halloween. The film has won numerous awards for Best Short Film and Best Short Cinematography at various festivals such as Freaky Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Fantasporto Film Festival, etc.
