Pigfender
asked
Michael A. Arnzen:
Hey, Mike! You've got a track record of exploring quite a broad range of media to share your tales with others, but -- unless I'm mistaken -- you've not stretched into moving pictures yet. Which of your stories would you most like to see made into a movie, and how involved would you want to be in it's conversion?
Michael A. Arnzen
Believe it or not, an art film has been made of my work: Exquisite Corpse (Jim Minton, 2007) adapted a dozen or so of my poems and flash pieces into an anthology of horror shorts, and it spent some time on the festival circuit. Here's a trailer and excerpt: http://gorelets.com/books/exquisite-c...
I think a lot of my shorts from 100 Jolts or the Horror Library anthos would make for great movies, but like most writers, it's the novels that would be the most fun to see on the screen. It would be a joy to see recognizable actors giving life to the characters and acting out the dialogue in Play Dead or Grave Markings. Being on the studio or location for a movie production, though, would probably be frustrating to me -- adaptation requires making changes, and I would probably find that process a bit torturous unless I had real input -- but it's so rare to be in that position. So I'd rather just see the final product and bite my nails in the dark. One of the benefits of writing is that you can be director, cinematographer, actor and editor all rolled into one, whereas in the real world of movies, it's sort of "art by committee," and it's a roll of the dice whether it will work or not.
Thanks for the great question!
I think a lot of my shorts from 100 Jolts or the Horror Library anthos would make for great movies, but like most writers, it's the novels that would be the most fun to see on the screen. It would be a joy to see recognizable actors giving life to the characters and acting out the dialogue in Play Dead or Grave Markings. Being on the studio or location for a movie production, though, would probably be frustrating to me -- adaptation requires making changes, and I would probably find that process a bit torturous unless I had real input -- but it's so rare to be in that position. So I'd rather just see the final product and bite my nails in the dark. One of the benefits of writing is that you can be director, cinematographer, actor and editor all rolled into one, whereas in the real world of movies, it's sort of "art by committee," and it's a roll of the dice whether it will work or not.
Thanks for the great question!
More Answered Questions
Tanya Twombly
asked
Michael A. Arnzen:
Recently there's been an increase in female-centric, women-directed horror films (many receiving industry, audience, & critical acclaim). Since horror is often viewed as a "masculine" genre (esp. in terms of target audience) and has been accused of deeply misogynistic tropes, do you feel the increased deployment of the "female gaze" might change and maybe even revive the horror industry?
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