Lights Out

In keeping with the vision I have for this blog, I've decided to write an entry focusing on an up-and-coming filmmaker whose creativity and do-it-yourself story inspires me.

David F. Sandberg is a Swedish director who, with his actress wife Lotta Losten, has made a series of short yet effective horror films. They can be found on his YouTube Channel under the moniker "Ponysmasher." One of these short films, "Lights Out," is the focus of this entry.

I discovered "Lights Out" a couple years back while I was aimlessly browsing YouTube for horror shorts. While not a horror fanatic I do enjoy a well-made horror movie, particularly if it is effectively scary. There is something that fascinates me about a truly creepy horror movie, especially one that manages it on a small budget. The first "Paranormal Activity" hit that chord with me, as does "Lights Out."

Plenty of horror films with big budgets fail to capture that genuine creepy atmosphere that this short nails so well. The short plays off fundamental fears, and I feel that the best horror movies often do the same.

I'm not the only one impressed by this short film. In fact, it went viral and has led to Sandberg being offered the chance to turn his film into a full length feature, produced by Hollywood director James Wan. The movie comes out next month. Now, based on the trailer it does seem a bit "Hollywoodized." In fact, I would be surprised if the movie is as creepy as the short film is. From what I can gather in the trailer, the movie gives the monster a back story. In my experience, the more I know about a monster the less scary it is. What makes the short version of "Lights Out" so terrifying is that we know nothing about the monster. We don't know its origin, its motivation, or what it does to its victims. Now, we also know nothing about the protagonist. But essentially the protagonist is a stand-in for ourselves. We have all been home alone, and we have all been spooked by strange shapes in the dark. What I fear for the feature length version is that much of this will be lost by over-explanation. However, it's possible that the movie will still be effective in its own way. Apparently James Wan has been impressed with Sandberg's performance thus far, as Sandberg is next lined up to direct "Annabelle 2," a sequel in a franchise which is also produced by Wan.

The most fascinating thing about Sandberg is how very rags-to-riches his story is. Before "Lights Out" exploded on the internet he was just a struggling filmmaker living with his wife in his native Sweden. Now the pair has moved to LA and he is making big-budget Hollywood movies, all because of a little low-budget short that he filmed in his own apartment.

I sincerely hope that the movie is well-received so Sandberg can continue making movies, which is clearly his passion.

Homestar Runner

I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. That's what moving into a new apartment and a little bit of international travel will do!

Recently I was reminded by one of my favorite websites to visit during my college years: Homestar Runner.

The creation of brothers Mike and Matt Chapman, aka "The Brothers Chaps," Homestar Runner began as a side project while Mike was in college. The character of Homestar Runner debuted in a picture book that Mike made with a friend and was later brought to life by the brothers in an animated short they created using, of all things, the Super Nintendo game Mario Paint. Eventually the brothers learned how to use Flash and brought Homestar Runner and a colorful cast of supporting characters to the internet. Mike did the animation, and Matt did the voices (with his girlfriend providing the voice of the sole female, Marzipan).


The colorful cast of Homestar Runner.

Though Homestar Runner himself is a funny, memorable character, the most popular character of the site is arguably his nemesis, Strong Bad. Looking a bit like lucha libre wrestler, Strong Bad's snarky, mischievous nature contrasts with Homestar's naive good-naturedness. The site's tent pole feature was Strong Bad Email, a collection of shorts revolving around Strong Bad answering questions from fans. Full of (sometimes obscure) pop culture references and riddled with hidden Easter eggs, the Strong Bad emails were the source of many an inside joke between me and my college buddies.

One of the greatest parts of the email shorts is that often one-off, seemingly throw-away gags would evolve into recurring sketches of their own. From the GI Joe parody "Cheat Commandos" to the faux-comic "Teen Girl Squad," a visit to Homestarrunner.com would always surprise and delight.



In recent years updates to the site had slowed to a crawl. Finally over the last couple of years updates have begun again. From what I have read on handy dandy Wikipedia, both Chaps have largely moved on to other projects.  Matt is a writer and director for the TV show "Yo Gabba Gabba," and Mike has also written for the show.

While the days of Homestar Runner being a normal part of my routine are over, I still have a fondness in my heart for the website. It is great example of two guys expressing their creativity and becoming successful because of it. From the modest beginnings of animating using Mario Paint to having one of the most successful Flash cartoon websites ever, their story is an inspiration and a great example of how the internet has created opportunities for creativity that did not exist before.