Ethan Terra
An In Depth Interview With Ethan Terra
Director Of Black Friday
First of all thank you for chatting with us at CLAD! Tell us a little about yourself and what inspired you to become a director?
INT. BARN - 2nd LEVEL - CONTINUOUS
Pupa rushes to Danielle's aid and helps her from the...................
DANIELLE
Wait a sec...
She digs into her purse and pulls out her phone, she punches 911 and they
turn around to see...
THE NIGHT STALKER'S GONE
DANIELLE
Oh shit!
They stop dead in their tracks. Scanning the room...
EMPTY
The Hay loader window CREEKS open.
PUPA
(pissed)
Mother... Fucker!
He pulls his piece from his pants and cocks it back. They walk towards the hay loader window. Pupa moves like a lion ready to pounce at the slightest sound. Danielle is hanging on Pupa's shoulder from fear, with the phone pressed to her ear.
They edge closer to the window and take a step away from eachother.
DANIELLE
Come on answer already...?
He nudges the doors open with the barrel of his gun.
PUPA
Shhhh..
A firework explodes over head, a blinding flash of light reveals The Night Stalker above them in the rafters. The milky eye stares through the mask.
PUPA
He aint nowhere.
Another firework explodes revealing...
THE NIGHT STALKER IS GONE
PUPA
I guess he made like a bitch and ran.
OPERATOR
(O.P.)
Nine one one what is your emergency
Behind them a shadow starts to grow, suddenly Pupa's chest explodes. His
jaw gums for God, The Night Stalker's fist punches through Pupa striking
Danielle in the chest... A burst of gore showers the audience. She SCREAMS out,
losing her balance, falling backward out of the hay loader window.
CUT TO:
In your last press release you said Kane Hodder will play the
killer. What kind of look do you have in mind for Kane as
the killer?
Once you settle on a distributor, are you going to release these films one right after another or with some time apart?
Any final words for the fans?
Director Of Black Friday
I got a chance to chat with the director of the upcoming film Black Friday,
Ethan Terra. Here is an in depth interview with him.
First of all thank you for chatting with us at CLAD! Tell us a little about yourself and what inspired you to become a director?
About me huh, well I'm an easy going guy.
I'm down to earth, approachable and fair. I have an odd sense of humor, very
sarcastic, and personable. I'm an observer, I watch things, I listen, the
accounts that go on around me influence the stories that I tell.
Like for example "Home for the Holidays" is a story about a guy who finds out he has contracted HIV from his wife. His wife and her friends are going out of town to visit her parents for Christmas. He then kidnaps them, tortures them and gets away with it in the end.
That general synopsis was created this morning after I read a story about an Ex adult actress who blew her brains out all over her living room after finding out that she had given HIV to her husband and new born son.
I think my version is a lot funner, however for as long as I can remember I've always had this gift for coming up with great stories on the fly. You know like a rapper freestyles. They just come to me, I'm an idea guy, I don't believe in babies either... Meaning the writer that has the one story that he'll write and re write over and over and over, see my ADHD will kick in and I'll just get bored... There's no perfect story, you just gotta do what feels right in your heart.
Like for example "Home for the Holidays" is a story about a guy who finds out he has contracted HIV from his wife. His wife and her friends are going out of town to visit her parents for Christmas. He then kidnaps them, tortures them and gets away with it in the end.
That general synopsis was created this morning after I read a story about an Ex adult actress who blew her brains out all over her living room after finding out that she had given HIV to her husband and new born son.
I think my version is a lot funner, however for as long as I can remember I've always had this gift for coming up with great stories on the fly. You know like a rapper freestyles. They just come to me, I'm an idea guy, I don't believe in babies either... Meaning the writer that has the one story that he'll write and re write over and over and over, see my ADHD will kick in and I'll just get bored... There's no perfect story, you just gotta do what feels right in your heart.
How did the idea for Black Friday got started?
I always loved good fast paced slashers. I hate
having to wait for the damn story to start moving. Thats why BF never stops, its
always moving so you don't get bored, and I don't mean kill after kill after
kill. Its pretty well balanced between blood, boobs and good a story. But you
don't have to wait for the story to start we jump right in and keep going.
Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about the
storyline?
The storyline... Well youve never seen it
before, its a completely brand new idea about the masked killer that hacks
through a bunch of not so innocent teens... Yup never been done before... That
was sarcastic if you didn't catch on... Black Friday is not original by any
means, I just know what I didn't like out of the slashers that I have watched
and thought maybe I can do it better.... BF is well written, has a powerhouse of
talent, and a great memorable killer.
Where are these films being shot?
Were shooting in Arizona. I have a house
there and in California, but I primarily stay in AZ. Because its less cluttered,
I can get to my appts on time, my son lives there, and I can breathe... I'm in
cali all the time its only an hour away!
You have put together quite a cast, including some F13 alumni. Can
you tell us a
little about some of the characters we will see?
The characters revolve around the Scooby Doo
Method. You have Danielle the non virginal lead being played by Kate Todd. She's
the prankster, the instigator, and kinda a bad ass in her own right.
Then you have Jill who is being played by Kristina Klebe, she's the edgy goth/'emo girl whos kinda of a follower to the others.
Tanya who is being played by Ashley Bank, is the virginal skittish one whom you'd usually see as the lead.
Last but certainly not least is Stacy who is being played by Adult actress Raven Riley, Stacy is kinda a mixture of all of three, but a bit more on the sexual side of things...
Tony Todd will play Danielle's father and he's a cop but I'm thinking about changing that to a different town head. Just to escape the whole Halloween cliche.
Kane Hodder will play the killer and I don't give a whole lot of back story, I don't want to justify evil. We don't ask for justification on why Damian is evil, he just is. Sometimes the less you know about something the scarier it becomes.
Then you have Jill who is being played by Kristina Klebe, she's the edgy goth/'emo girl whos kinda of a follower to the others.
Tanya who is being played by Ashley Bank, is the virginal skittish one whom you'd usually see as the lead.
Last but certainly not least is Stacy who is being played by Adult actress Raven Riley, Stacy is kinda a mixture of all of three, but a bit more on the sexual side of things...
Tony Todd will play Danielle's father and he's a cop but I'm thinking about changing that to a different town head. Just to escape the whole Halloween cliche.
Kane Hodder will play the killer and I don't give a whole lot of back story, I don't want to justify evil. We don't ask for justification on why Damian is evil, he just is. Sometimes the less you know about something the scarier it becomes.
With Tom Savini aboard, Are we going to see alot of that
classic horror movie special effects?
Tom Savini will be acting in the film
because he's Tom F'n Savini, but he will be supervising the practical FX
technician Kyle Thompson of Splatter FX Studios (www.splatterfx.net) The only CGI
will be when we bring out the last 15 minutes of the film in 3D. And I made the
decision today to green light the 3D. So the audience will get some pretty
hardcore stuff thrown their way.
I was going over the visiual FX tonight with my Line Producer and I'll disclose part of one scene that I think you''ll enjoy and please feel free to put this in your article. It takes place close to the end of the film where they get trapped in the barn. I had to cut it down not to give anything away so bare with me here.
I was going over the visiual FX tonight with my Line Producer and I'll disclose part of one scene that I think you''ll enjoy and please feel free to put this in your article. It takes place close to the end of the film where they get trapped in the barn. I had to cut it down not to give anything away so bare with me here.
INT. BARN - 2nd LEVEL - CONTINUOUS
Pupa rushes to Danielle's aid and helps her from the...................
DANIELLE
Wait a sec...
THE NIGHT STALKER'S GONE
DANIELLE
Oh shit!
EMPTY
PUPA
(pissed)
Mother... Fucker!
He pulls his piece from his pants and cocks it back. They walk towards the hay loader window. Pupa moves like a lion ready to pounce at the slightest sound. Danielle is hanging on Pupa's shoulder from fear, with the phone pressed to her ear.
They edge closer to the window and take a step away from eachother.
DANIELLE
Come on answer already...?
He nudges the doors open with the barrel of his gun.
PUPA
Shhhh..
A firework explodes over head, a blinding flash of light reveals The Night Stalker above them in the rafters. The milky eye stares through the mask.
PUPA
He aint nowhere.
Another firework explodes revealing...
THE NIGHT STALKER IS GONE
PUPA
I guess he made like a bitch and ran.
OPERATOR
(O.P.)
Nine one one what is your emergency
CUT TO:
Now we were going over this scene tonight to do it the way I see it in my
head, is Tyler's fist striking through Pupa, sending guts and blood at the
audience, then his fist would be out there too, so you get double exposure. I'll
be going over depth of field with my Director of Photography Jacque Haitkin
(Nightmare on Elm Street) this coming week to find out just how far I can push
the limits. Anthony my LP said I can go as far as having the firework particles
seem like their falling over the audience through digital compositing. It takes
more time but if it gives the audience that HOLY FUCKIN SHIT DUDE reaction, then
I'm game.
What has it been like getting this film up off the ground?
What has it been like getting this off the
ground? Okay I'll be honest with you, I've been literally on the streets
homeless twice, lost everything I owned once, my girlfriend of 3 years left me,
and I had my family turn their back on me.
Now its a different story however. Now I have a monotonous amount of support from everyone cause they know that its real. I work 18 hours a day, this last Thanksgiving I had turkey in a box by myself in front of my computer. My birthday I spent on the phone doing a radio show, I don't have the luxury of time off and holidays.
If I don't work nothing gets done, I have deliverables to the world to my fans, to my cast, my crew, and myself. Thats a huge weight I carry on my shoulders. But I wouldn't trade it, I have no regrets, and in the end I'm doing what I love, and I love scaring people!
Now its a different story however. Now I have a monotonous amount of support from everyone cause they know that its real. I work 18 hours a day, this last Thanksgiving I had turkey in a box by myself in front of my computer. My birthday I spent on the phone doing a radio show, I don't have the luxury of time off and holidays.
If I don't work nothing gets done, I have deliverables to the world to my fans, to my cast, my crew, and myself. Thats a huge weight I carry on my shoulders. But I wouldn't trade it, I have no regrets, and in the end I'm doing what I love, and I love scaring people!
It is rare but, you are going to shoot Black Friday 1 & 2 back to
back. Can you tell us why you decided
to shoot both films now?
Why am I shooting both films now, because its the
right time. With the anticipated SAG/DGA strikes I can't afford to (and I say
this hypothetically) have Black Friday be a success and then the industry gets
shut down for 6 months and cant do the sequel. Its about timing the climax. If
you don't time the climax right in bed what happens? Your gun goes off to soon
and shes upset, well same thing applys here. I don't want upset. I want to keep
the momentum moving. But the end of the sequel is a title fight, EVIL vs EVIL, a
fight the fans have waited a long time to see, and to give it to them is what I
wanna do.
I have included a picture.of the mask that
Kane will be wearing.
Once you settle on a distributor, are you going to release these films one right after another or with some time apart?
Again it's timing, I'd like to
say a mid Halloweenish time might be the right time, depends on the market, and
how the first one does theatrically. Theres a small chance we might self
distribute ourselves and go city to city. We don't know yet, but I'll say this
whoever does get behind the film is going to be very happy they did.
What are some of you favorite horror films?
My personal faves are NOES,
Halloween, F13, I've never seen any of the Living dead movies, yeah I know I'm
getting there. The Bela Legosi Dracula, Roman Polanski's Repulsion, Pigs, To the
devil a daughter, and Sleepy Hollow. Thats my all time favorite story is The
Headless Horseman baby. I love Tim Burton's style, mixed with Danny Elfman's
music they mesh well together.
With Black Friday being a sponsor for The Texas Fear Fest
Horror Convention, will some of the cast be there?
As far as Fear Fest is
concerned, we have a few surprises that just haven't been released yet. You
might see a few friendly faces here and there, and Robert Englund will be there
so you know it'll be a blast, lemme rephrase that. Its going to be
fanfuckingtastic!
Any final words for the fans?
Words to the fans? Yeah you guys
rock! Thank you for all the support, if it wasn't for the fans insatiable
bloodlust there wouldn't be any Black Friday... If you haven't done so already
join the Black Friday army on myspace. The bigger we grow the bigger we are
together, and of course we give away a lot of stuff too.
Thank you and I'll be seeing you guys all real real soon.
Thank you and I'll be seeing you guys all real real soon.
Thanks Ethan for your time! We will be looking forward to seeing Black
Friday 1 & 2, Best of luck to you!
This Interview was conducted
by count6string on November 26th 2007
Edited by Kyle
Questions by count6string
Thank you Ethan Terra for your time, it was greatly appreciated!
Discuss This Interview Here.
by count6string on November 26th 2007
Edited by Kyle
Questions by count6string
Thank you Ethan Terra for your time, it was greatly appreciated!
Discuss This Interview Here.