Editorials
Learn About Production Design Through David Cronenberg’s ‘eXistenZ’
Something that I learned while doing set visits for BD is just how much I need to recognize and honor whomever is in the Production Designer role. The amount of work they put into ensuring we, the viewer, get a hopefully wonderful and immersive experience is unreal. From location scouting to ensuring the material used in building a set works with planned FX, their role is vital, no way around it.
When it comes to horror, one of the top names in the genre is David Cronenberg, whose films Scanners, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Crash, and more have filled us with fear, revulsion, arousal, and morbid fascination. He assaults the senses with each release, his ability to mix beauty with the gruesome an absolute marvel. But it couldn’t be done without the assistance of his long-time production designer Carol Spier.
Spier has worked on some of the best horror titles in recent memory, as well some that we simply adore, such as Silent Hill, Mimic, Blade II, Carrie, Pacific Rim, and more. Her work with Cronenberg reaches as far back as 1979’s sport drama Fast Company, for which she was the art director. Her work with Cronenberg has continued for over four decades, including the above mentioned films as well as Eastern Promises, A History of Violence, and, most relevant to this piece, 1999’s eXistenZ.
I bring this movie up because a fascinating documentary is available to watch below that goes into the making of the sci-fi/horror mindtrip that also focuses on the impact of Spier. For those who love the film, it’s a magnificent look into what it took to piece everything together. For those interested in how movies are made, this delves into the specific roles and functions that various people have and how they all interact with one another. Basically, this is something any aspiring filmmaker should watch.
eXistenZ follows marketing trainee Ted Pikul (Jude Law), who becomes an unintentional bodyguard for game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) after an attempted assassination. Fearing that her gamepod, which works by being plugged into a port in the user’s spine, may have been damaged, she needs Pikul to join her in playing her game to ensure everything is working fine. So begins the mind-bending journey into a film that distorts reality and never makes it clear whether the characters are in the game or in real life.
I love this movie. From Howard Shore’s grandiose score to the disgusting yet hypnotizing visuals, the story and characters are wonderfully realized and this film deserves every bit of love that comes its way. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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