The Statement | Award Winning Lovecraft Short Film
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- Опубликовано: 19 май 2022
- After investigating an Elder cult's meeting place, a professor wakes to find himself in an interrogation room with a grotesquely scarred hand.
CAST
James Finn
Matt Wilhelm
Jeffrey Peterson
CREW
Writer/Director | Owen Imgrund
Executive Producers | Nick Houchin & Owen Imgrund
Director of Photography | Nick Houchin
Original Score | John Telfer
Editor | Nick Houchin
Assistant Director | Raphael Imgrund
Production Designer | Jenna Graffunder
Costume Designer | Natalya Bartelt
Hair & Makeup | Natalya Bartelt
Gaffer | Tim Schwagel
Key Grip | Reanna Madson
1st AC | Tim Schwagel
Script Supervisor | Josie Butzler
Boom Operator | Matt Vanderhyde
Production Assistant | Sophie Munson
Production Assistant | Benjamin Pichler
SPECIAL THANKS
Institute of St. Joseph
City of Eau Claire
Isodore Grange Catering
Kostka Family
Fr. Joe O'hara
Richard White
Paul Imgrund
Annamarie Wasinski
AWARDS WON
EB Indie Film Festival | Best Cinematography 2021
MLC Awards | Best M-obster-Flavored Film Summer 2021
MLC Awards | Outstanding Supporting Role Performance Wildcard Summer 2021 - Matt Wilhelm
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Beloit International Film Festival 2022
Door County Short Film Festival 2022
H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival - Cosmic Horror & Tales of the Supernatural 2021
Midwest Sci-Fi Short Film Festival 2021
SonderBlu Film Festival 2022
The Hollywood First-Time Filmmaker Showcase 2021
Vanilla Palm Film Festival & International Art Competition 2022
Find us at:
/ owenimgrund
/ nickhowch22
/ schwagel_bagel
The sound engineer on this film deserves an individual award. The sound editing was impeccable. Kudos to all involved in this little masterpiece. ♥
Remembering that HP himself wrote short stories, building his universe incrementally, I love how these short films pick up the threads he left for us.
RE complaints of bad acting: Guys, it's LOVECRAFT, who couldn't write natural dialogue or people behaving normally. The actors are perfectly in character! As for what Nyarlathotep is after, he wants to find out who the Professor shared information with to know who else to kill to keep things secret. And since he can't read the guy's mind, he has to use trickery.
It was irresponsible for the Professor to send Carter into such danger without an Elder Sign or protective mantra or even a revolver, just in case. Armitage wouldn't have made that mistake.
I love how you switch the original perspective form Lovecraft original story! It’s pretty clever and interesting
Imagine watching a horror short film with tons of high concepts involved, and then going on at length about the inaccuracy of the smoking as if that was the most important part of the narrative.
I think as others implied it's a clue that he isn't human, but it obviously went over too many people's heads lol
@@drinking_master Honestly I think it was an honest mistake that nobody should care about.
They are leading our attention from bad acting.
@@johnathanmonsen6567. Wrong. First comments Right
It breaks imersion... But whatever, its only in the beggining
I like my Carter shaken, not stirred.
had to watch it twice, im slow lol... love it... the movie, not being slow.
This is AMAZING! So happy to finally see it on the internet
imagine making a short that's this fantastic, with an interesting POV choice, great effects, great atmosphere, very solid acting, and then half your comments section ends up being arrogant nitpicking jackasses who are so desperate for a chance to look smart that they didn't actually put in the effort to understand the film they were watching. sorry you have to deal with that. this is fantastic and i'm glad it won awards because i'd rather be down in that cistern screaming in the dark than spend another minute thinking about what it must feel like to put in so much work, make something excellent, and then instantly attract swarms of people who think that knowing big words and having basic narrative comprehension (let alone actual intelligence) are the same thing
Triggered much?
you speak of arrogance and a chance to look smart. the god damn irony.. just stop with your pseudo-intellectual bullshit. why are you taking peoples opinions and views personal and assuming you know exactly what they are implying, how god damn arrogant can you be? people have opinions, no need to get butt hurt over it. seriously, the irony here is deathly comedic.. you have no idea how these people are trying to come across, let alone any understanding of how criticism works in this industry.
@@bodhidharmashmarma5179 pseudo-intellectuals, am I right? people shouldn't invest so much of themselves in someone else's work lol the dick riding isn't healthy. when your assumptions of others criticism is soley the chance for them to look smart.. lol this is one of the most ironic things i have ever seen (you dead ass might need some mental help like therapy)
He’s not triggered, he’s upset and with good reason. There hasn’t really been a good lovecraftian film in a long time and the way lovecraft wove his tales was much different than modern authors. This short film was really good and it involved a lot of under the radar lore from the xothic legend cycle. Most people only know Cthulhu, and these “critics” who think an expansive vernacular can extrapolate anything concerning the miskatonic and its legendary universe is laughable at best.
@@bodhidharmashmarma5179cliche much?
Great short film! It's been so long since I read. Time to go through all of HP's stories again :)
What an excellent vid!
This is, I think, a worthy spiritual successor to some of lovecraft's short stories and his ideas vis: cosmic horror, etc; While it avoids some of his worst tendencies (towards excessive verbosity, anglophilia, repetitiveness, etc... And, you know..)
The pacing, the dynamic between the two primary characters- the willingness to allow its ambiguity to be integral to its horror, and so on.
Thanks for posting it!
Nice. Good use of imagination. Liked the atmosphere. Very noir feel to it.
Well done. Great adaptation of one of my favorite HPL stories.
I actually don't recall this one. What compendium is it a part of?
It’s not one of Lovecraft’s Randolph Carter stories afaik
No tentacled monsters, but l like the loop effect, which reminds me of 'lnto the Mouth of Madness'. Full length film, to my mind a Lovecraftian masterpiece. Nobody else gives a shit about it, which l think is fitting.
A really good little film here and a fine effort by all. As a non-smoker I wasn't even aware of the smoking issue until I read other comments.
None of those other comments actually understood then. The detective guy purposefully looks weird smoking the cigarette as a little hint that he isn't actually human
Splended film! Nicely done, great sets... I'd love to see you do "The Lurking Fear".
Very very well done! We need more on this please!
Very Good, Thank you.
A creepy, "Kafka-esque" little film, with good acting. Nice to see some more mature actors in a short film.
Ppppppp0l
It's not quite kofka-esque
@@elysium6679 Nor is the acting any good.
Not to be rude to the actors but… this was not good acting. Listen to their voices. Sounds like they got the script a few hours ago and are reading it off. Not convincing at all.
the acting was absolutely awful, wdym???
love the ending!
This… was really F’n good.
Reminds me of “The Endless”
Very nicely done.
"You fool! Randolph is dead!"
A fantastic short!!
Excellent ... everything flows nicely, evolutive loops are the right way to use them :)
Very well presented.
This was excellent.
Supernice ❤
Statement of Jonathan Sims, the Archivist, regarding his experiences with eldritch horror. Statement begins.
Very interesting film.
So good!
amazing
Cool
Nobody of smart assases in the comments didnt thought that detective wasnt human, that means it maybe can read proffessor mind to produce a likeable image of a "cool smoking officer"? And may be proffessor didnt smoke himself?
This was great! People who can't do bitch about everyone who does!
Really nice take.
very nice. Piece of construvtive critisism, would be the sound. The dialouge sounds tinny, no matter the environment. But nice. Good to see H.P. still has a legacy that inspires. D
Even more interesting than "The Statement of Randolph Carter" itself
Excellent little concept and well executed. Really liked it
Good use of sound.
What was the purpose in carving 'he knows? I'm kind of confused '
He knows the name of the entity/worshipped figure. At the end of the first interview the 'police officer' mentions "The Haunter of the Dark" something very few people know of, even the guy (Carter) the professor was with didn't know the name, so there is no way for the 'police officer' to know that name. Writing "he knows" into his hand tells him (since it appears his mind is getting wiped after each interview) that the 'police officer' knows one of his most closely guarded secrets and shouldn't be trusted.
The cop is either a cultist or an entity that keeps resetting the scenario until they get the professor to mentally break and tell them what they want so the professor left himself a message before the "reset"
Such a good lil film. Guy should known be careful as when staring into the abyss it stares back.
So Nietzche, much edge. Big clap.
What did the older guys left hand say?
He knows.
@@user-tp9hk8ox8sthank you so much that was bugging me
Thank you both soooooo much for asking and answering this question. I was trying so hard to read it!
Cthulhu Phone Home!
NEXT !
H E K
This was my first Red Flag right here 2:34. so any takers on the end's meaning?
What was the point?
@@frankoconnell6745 They are both being played against each other by the some outer god or eldritch deity.. The "cop" more like demon is trying to figure out what the professor knows and if he knows, and vice-versa. In my opinion, they are both in too deep so to speak, to get out of their heads. This has also been going on for far longer than we se, because who knows how many iterations it took before he realized it was happening. I believe the cop is either the manifestation of the "it" that he saw, or some servant of "it".
what was the point of the interrogation ,,what the *cop* wanted to know?
Did the Professor tell anyone else of his suspicions?
As a non smoker who even avoids smoking people, I have no idea what people are talking about 😂😂 maybe they are right
Loved it! just one tiny detail, wish the guy paying the investigator really knew how to smoke, it was the only detail that kept me thinking this was not real.
Silly opinion. Is it not possible that the cosmic deity just doesn’t know how to smoke? It seems more like you’re doing some sorta weird elitist ‘oh well i smoke all the time so my immersion is ruined as a regular cool smoker person’
@@bertiesaurus I actually noticed the same thing, and I haven't smoked in 20 years. And the OP said he loved it, so pump the brakes on the comment coaching. Nothing that detracted from the film, but yea, kinda obvious the actor has never smoked a day in his life, and that's not entirely a bad thing. And yes, since you asked, I would think an ancient, cosmic deity WOULD know how to mimic a man. Just take Nyarlathotep for instance.
@@beardedhussar1755I seriously do not believe that this is a reasonable thing to get caught up on, and I don’t think it’s fair to reference a different cosmic deity, which exists in different lore universe to explain this universe’s lore
@@bertiesaurus That's the funny thing. It was just an observation from the OP. And one that I noticed. The show was excellent and based on an HP Lovecraft story, hence my reference to Nyarlathotep. So I believe I am in the correct universe. You are the only one getting hung up on the observation itself. It started with your first comment.
@@beardedhussar1755 " And the OP said he loved it, so pump the brakes on the comment coaching. "
The comment coaching is more valid than the inane smoking coaching, which is pure cringe.
super obvious that the dude doing the questioning doesn't smoke
Or act
As a non smoker I couldn't tell.
This is how non-smokers think smokers smoke.
1: long, meaningful drag
2: tilt head at the ceiling
3: savour
4: return with steely gaze
5: puff out cheeks and blow smoke out disdainfully
6: more steely gaze
7: gesture dramatically with cigarette
8: repeat 1-7 until finished
9: flick butt away in slow motion, preferably onto an exploaives fuse of some sort.
10: stroll away uncaringly while something blows up in the background
How smokers actually smoke:
1: smoke
2: cough up phlem
3: spit
4: frantically wave the smoke out the bathroom window when wifey yells "are you smoking?"
5: question life choices...
6: repeat
lol, nice
𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐦 💞
The awkward smoking has already been mentioned, but I wanted to add to that. If the actors don't smoke and want to puff, to appear as if they are smoking, fair enough, but don't do it from the middle of the mouth. Smoke from the opposite side of the mouth from the hand holding the cigarette for authenticity. Cigarette in left hand, take drag from right side of mouth and visa versa. Never the middle.
Well, most people don't smoke these days, so we wouldn't notice the difference. I'm amazed that cigarette smokers have such sensitivity to their habit.
@@carlosidelone8064 not about sensitivity, it is about authenticity.
@@niallmaritz2599 OK, you're sensitive to the authenticity of the portrayal of smoking, even though smoking really doesn't have anything to do with the theme of the film.
Smoking absolutely has something to do with the characters. If not, why bother forcing it into the movie???? Do you think they just saw a pack laying around and decided to fake smoke….? It has nothing to do with as you try to insinuate, being proud of being a smoker… it’s the authenticity of the scene. It would be the same if the guy was wearing a painfully obvious wig, or spoke French without knowing the language. You’d be like, “why even do that if you can’t do it right??”
It just looks dumb. If you don’t think 2:15 looks hilariously dumb… then idk. Even a non-smoker can see that. And if you’re trying to tell me they’re not clearly using the cigarette thing to make the cop appear rugged or tough or whatever… then you’re not reading the mood right at all.
It’s so obnoxious when anytime someone points out a legitimate flaw in a film… people on their high horse have to insult the person in return. Are you on the payroll of the film or something?
deliberate. The interviewer is only pretending to be human, and doesnt really know what smoking is. Its a clue from the filmmaker, to show this character is some sort of fake.
the guy's supposed to be gandalf?
Don’t put stage actors in films. This was community theater acting.
Why do film makers use a non-smoker to play a smoker in their films? It's so obvious their actions of smoking are contrived. Actors should study how real smokers actually smoke.
Agreed! Was just about to say the same thing! It was so distracting and takes one away from the actual story.
Look who we have here!!! The International Authority on Smoking Practices. We are honored to have you here, Sire.
@@roseCatcher_ I bet your comment sounded really funny in your head.
I honestly feel like this is consistent with any habit in acting. I've literally seen actors that had real life drug habits use the drug they had a habit with incorrectly in films. This includes Heroin and Cocaine.
HAHA I JUST CAME TO POST THIS!!!!!!!!!
Good little film. Its always funny to see a non smoker trying to play a smoking role and how ridiculous they look. What was he trying to do when taking a puff...eat it like an ice cream cone and then not inhale. Jeez would have been better to make him non smoker instead of him looking like a fool. The old man was a smoker though. That's the only constructive criticism I can bestow.
They don't even inhale the smoke they just suck it out of cig then let it out their lips 😂
4:54 ? why is there room echo in the voice overdub? I assume the lines were overdubbed later and the actor had too much room echo so the vid editor put a room verb on the other actor as well to make them sound similar in the walking with back to camera section. Shame because suddenly they're both in a bathroom talking instead of outdoors with no echo like before 4:54. Not nitpicking like others will say but noticing an obvious error that should not be there and is easily fixed by asking the actor to do his overdubs in a vocal booth. You can buy those things to put around a mic to block out most of the room echo. Ah the old feedback cycle plot tactic. How did he carve such great letters with only his teeth? wow. but why would he carve out HEK the first time? Maybe he didn't have time to finish it? anyway.... another unresolved short. Leaving stories unresolved is not cool, it's lazy, imo. It's all the rage with people but to me it's basically saying I can't figure out HOW to create a great ending so I'll just chop it off w/o having to commit to anything and call it a CLIFF HANGER! oh well.... There's a few ways to end but just stopping it seems a cheap way out of making that executive decision. I think resolving the conflict AND leaving something left dangling is a great way to end a story. Here, nothing is resolved except who the interrogator is (basically, the bad guy). But how does prof get out of the loop and to safety? Okay, carry on!
i wanted to like it... but i didnt get it. mostly
i agree with the other comments about the wrong smoking act. I read others saying its because he is not human. If so, they should enfatize the not-knowing-how-to-smoke factor. Make it more accentuated, maybe grotesque, or maybe we could see its efforts to mimic the other smoker human, or something. It just looks like an actor who doesnt know how to smoke properly.
Also, the chewing hand... I love the concept, but i dont understand the reason, and i also find hard to believe that you can chew a sentence in the palm of your hand using your teeth.
I appreciate the effort put on it, and the story got my attention for a while
Keep it up!
As another noticed… 10000% the cop or whatever doesn’t actually smoke. It is obviously done to give them a cool or tough vibe… but when they don’t inhale or even hold it right… it just looks ridiculous… if smoking isn’t cool or whatever… why would you even use that as a prop? It looks so stupid trying to take him serious and he takes a puff and blows it out of his mouth lol
You're not painting a good portrait of yourself. You either didn't watch the full short or you don't know anything of Lovecraft or both. OF COURSE the cop doesn't smoke, he's not human, he's Hastur.
@@alexandresobreiramartins9461 I can guarantee you almost, that WASNT planned and thought out like that lol. It was just a simple flub.
@@BabyDoIIx Very well. Still a good short, though.
The cop is not actually smoking and the cigarette is not actually burning.
@@BabyDoIIx and so what? its still can be the reason why it should be like that and not "correct"
dialogue is unnatural and stilted
The fake smoking is not to pretend anything. If it were, then at least one smoker would support that theory. Comment section just looks as non-smokers took it personally.
I’m sorry but the acting is annoyingly over the top
He hit it like a joint and then immediately blows it out without inhaling. Wtf. Why even include the smoking?
Why do you have to promote smoking cigarettes in the 21st century?
Lol, what?
Because it fails to imitate human smoker. Who knows if it even has lungs or not
Obviously your interrogator has never smoked before.
The interrogator is Hastur, he's not human. It's a clue.
It's almost as if he's not a human!
Ugh. There's fourteen and a half minutes of my life I'm not getting back.
That's the most horrible acting I've seen in a while.
Great video ...just dont have anymore smoking scenes unless the actor knows how to smoke js
The cop isnt even inhaling the cigs lol its so distracting.
Lol its terribly obvious when an actor doesn't smoke and pretends
Old guy acts real well . Tho whole movie was meh
The acting is very amateurish, sorry 😞
Very well done, really. But actors should actually smoke, they are faking, it's evident and it's very annoying.
i think this was deliberate. The interviewer was only pretending to be human, and as such only pretending to smoke, to try and fool the professor, and 'get into his mind'
It's deliberate. The cop is not human, so he doesn't know how to smoke. It's a clue.
amused that others believe this is good acting. sorry, not impressed ... stilted , dry , unimaginative
the acting was bad
No smoker smokes like this. Better try more next time, this one is a joke and HPL doesn’t approve.
More confused, bewildered and perplexed at the end than at the beginning. Bad acting, bad sets, bad dialogue and this short probably assumes the viewer already knows something about some backstories. Should have left the cigarettes out; this was distracting and awkward.
That was anything but lovecraftian