The Study of the Case/The Witch of Blair

In keeping with my love of movies, I decided to do my case study on The Blair Witch Project.  Yeah, I know, a lot of people aren’t too crazy about the film.  I remember liking it, but then again, I haven’t seen it in years. 

Anyway, I’m getting off topic.

My case study covers the content of its website, a timeline of the film’s release, budget, profit, actors, and more, all for only $19.99.  But, seriously, I also mention how the film fits into the horror genre, and some of the marketing used outside of the internet.

This was kind of an interesting topic to explore, mostly because of how most people just write this movie off as a crappy indie horror film.  It really makes you appreciate filmmaking passion when you go back and read up on how a film so small could have changed so much in Hollywood.  Maybe not in terms of storytelling, but definitely in terms of marketing.  Actually thinking about it, TBWP kind of did change storytelling.  You can’t tell me that every mockumentary/found-footage movie we get isn’t compared to TBWP.  It became the seminal example of this subgenre.  You don’t see anybody comparing Cloverfield to Spinal Tap, do you?

Who am I

So begins my blog, and a glorious blog it shall be.  Hello everybody, my name is Dylan Elliott, and I'm here to tell you who I am.  I am a twenty years old, Wisconsin native, and current student of the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater, of which I am in my junior year, majoring in multimedia.

My greatest interest in life is film.  From early childhood when my favorite film was The Land Before Time, to now, where my number one spot is tied between Pulp Fiction and Ed Wood, I have always had a love of movies.  Yes, I would like to one day make movies of my own, but the first step in filmmaking is thinking up a good story, and one has yet to come to me.

To date, the only films I have made have been class projects; the resources I've needed have only been available this way.  I've made a faux news report and public service announcement, and a short zombie film.  Science-fiction and horror are my two favorite genres, and I'd like one day to make to make a feature length film in each.  However, you have to walk before you can run, and I still need to learn how to write in a formal script format. 

So, that is me and my interests in a nutshell.  I look forward to writing more as the year goes on.