Sean Blevins on making the anthology Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories

Sean Blevins is a part of House By The Video Store which is a online community dedicated to covering horror, cult, and underground films. They also produce news, reviews, and interviews. Sean Blevis is part of the group of directors who made Volume of Bloods: Horror Stories. He talks to us about his part in the anthology that is

indieactivity: How did you get involved with VOB:HS?
Sean: I had originally produced a video reviewed of the first film for a site I’m part of, House By The Video Store, and knew of P.J. as someone involved in regional horror filmmaking before that. He had casted an actress in VOB:HS that was part of a 48 Hour Horror Film Project that House By the Video Store entered along with some other local filmmakers and actors. The film that I directed for the 48 Hour Horror Film Project, ‘A Brush With Death’ ended up winning first place and I guess P.J. liked it enough to offer me a segment to direct after talking to me a bit about casting Shelby in a couple Horror Story segments..

Volumes of Blood if now available on Amazon Prime

indieactivity: How was the script writing process for your segment?
Sean: PJ wrote the original script for my segment, Trick or Treat. It’s a segment that has ties to another sequence in the film, as well as the previous instalment and both feature Shelby Taylor Mullins’s character Mallory. For that reason, my segment was basically there to act as sort of an epilogue to the other segment, while also featuring one of the many big kills in the film. I was really excited to have been asked to direct a segment, so I had agreed to the script as soon as I read it.

Volumes of Blood (VoB:HS) – Trick or Treat

Once I started the planning process and really figuring things out, I realized I may have jumped the gun as the script just wasn’t doing it for me. It served its purpose for what it was, but putting a lot of my own time and effort in the project I wanted something with at least a little more meat to it. At the very least, something I could have a little more fun with directing. I expressed my thoughts to PJ and he was very open to me re-working and re-writing the segment as much as I wanted, while still retaining the elements that were essential to what he wanted to achieve with it.

We spent a few months bouncing back revisions and notes and I kept rewriting up until shooting began. Of course, we had some creative differences just like any project has, but I’m really lucky he trusted me enough to really tear apart the segment and try and rebuild it again.

Jon Maynard discusses the segment he directed on Volumes of Blood

indieactivity: During production, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot for your segment?
Sean: Logistically the most challenging thing was the opening shot. Originally it was going to be one long take that introduced the characters, setup that it was Halloween, and gave the audience a feel for the environment and the layout of the room where all the action in the segment would take place. It was supposed to set the mood, while also serving many functional purposes for the film. The camera was to float through the room, following Mallory around until she finally ended up back on the couch watching a movie with Chad. The problem was when we could shoot this segment, Chad couldn’t be there.

This stopped this shot from serving a couple extra functions that it was intended to have, but we could shoot essentially half of it and then cut to some insert shots that also served to set the mood. The difficulty with pulling the shot off was nailing focus, timing and smooth operating just to get half of it to work right. I ended up making it a little more difficult at the end as the shot finishes with Shelby looking into a mirror and putting on makeup before walking out of the shot. That took a ton of takes to get the angles right the camera and for the perspective in the mirror.

Volumes of Blood (VoB:HS) – Trick or Treat

indieactivity: Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business you still struggle with?
Sean: Where to go with what my friends and I at House By the Video Store want to do with a feature. We try to be smart about possible feature film plans and what’s marketable, but also appealing to our own senses. And right now, many of the things that sell on the low-budget level of films aren’t something I feel I have it in me to make anymore. If I’m doing something, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability. So, if I’m doing a feature, it better damn well be something I’m passionate about and feel like there’s a good reason for the story to be told or for the movie to be made. I don’t want to just make a carbon copy of a million other horror genre films with my own tiny spin on it. Unfortunately, if you go too far off the beaten path then the risk for reward is astronomically higher.

Moses Moseley (TWD) on playing Steven in Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories

indieactivity: Where do you think your strengths line as a filmmaker?
Sean: I’m able to easily put intricately cut sequences together in my head while shooting. I find it pretty easy to add a lot of flash, and that’s all my segment is in VOB: Horror Stories. It was a big exercise for myself, and shooting that style does take a lot of time and effort by the crew. I remember overhearing someone on set saying, “This segment is ONLY going to be 5 minutes long?!” Some of the other segments were 10-20 minutes, but still only had 2-3 days to shoot.

I knew I had two days regardless, so I designed a plan to shoot the shit out of it. Having said that, it’s something I think I may be getting away from, stylistically speaking. With my next project, I think I may put more of an emphasis on actually having the least amounts of cuts as possible. Good cutting isn’t the MOST cutting. When you don’t cut often, each cut begins to mean something. It’s something I haven’t put into practice myself, but I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I hope to keep expanding my abilities and keep experimenting in filmmaking.

Volumes of Blood (VoB:HS) – Trick or Treat

indieactivity: How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make any dent without it these days?
Sean: I didn’t help on any of the marketing for this film, and in fact I’m terrible at self-promotion or promoting anything I’m involved in. It’s just not my thing at all, and it’s the thing that can sink you. You’ve gotta get a big horn and toot it when appropriate if you want to make it. My dream is to have my own hype man one day.

indieactivity: What do you hope audiences get from your segment?
Sean: I My segment doesn’t have any emotional impact, nor wild setups and payoffs. In fact, even though there’s a bit of an unexpected element to the end, there’s not a setup for it. My segment is a bit of a setup itself for other elements to the film, so it’s not satisfying as its own thing. For that reason, I made it have as much flash and style as possible. So, at the very least I hope it isn’t a segment where people are just waiting for the next one to start!

indieactivity: What else have you got in the works?
Sean: I’m helping on some films that other members of HBTVS are directing this spring, William and Chad. I’m writing a short script to get at least another short done and then figure out how to get a feature made. My goal is to make the feature something that I could be proud of even if it was the only film I ever make. I hope that isn’t the case though.