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An
interview with horror title sequence designer "Nightmare Kinetics"owner Mike Bohatch
(BM-VM Magazine - by E. Novak - April 2007)
Hello,
I am here today to interview Mike Bohatch; designer, editor and creator
of the motion graphics organization known as "Nightmare Kinetics"
specializing in "titles sequences", "impact editing"
and "movie trailers" for the horror film business. This hot
new visual provider has seemed to have spawned out of nowhere and jumped
directly into the competitive film markets of film titles and dark motion
graphics. What is especially unique about NK is that they have specifically
promoted themselves as a "horror-genre-specific design firm. I had
the pleasure of talking with Mike about NK and its plans for the future.
- Looking
at the clips on your website, there seems to be a very radical editing
style to your work. Can you tell us a little about your approach to
film titles?
I
like to approach titles with a storybook approach. If possible, I usually
request footage taken in production to better enhance how the titles
play out. Sometimes if involved early enough, I'll send out requests
and even direct segments that pertain only to the titles themselves.
It's sort of like a collection of visuals. The idea though is to introduce
the viewer to hints about the subject matter, history or feeling of
what is to come. Take for instance the the film "FrightWorld".
The object was a 6 minute introduction of titles with various hellish
visions about the psyche of the main character. It's not laid out in
verbatim, but you get the sense of the internal madness that went on
in this character. It's like a "freakshow circus from hell".
This approach is alot of fun because your really only limited by your
imagination. In most cases, it is in fact the first thing the viewer
sees. So why not make it interesting.
Often we are not that lucky to get footage filmed exclusively for the
titles and are sometimes left with a handful of photos that have to
be incorporated into some kind of presentation. Which requires a bit
a creative intervention. HAHA. Though now after doing a few of these,
I try an get involved more in the interim stages of the film so if specifics
have to be shot they can be scheduled in. The text animation portions
are also designed to compliment the direction of the film. So they may
need to convey a certain mood in the way it animates.
I prefer to do things in isolation. So I'll talk with the director to
determine a flavor and work the piece up to completion. For me, this
saves time rather than sending multiple proofs that are not quite ready
for prime-time. It gives me a chance to present it in full vision. In
preliminary discussions, I will try as best as possible to communicate
what I'm going for in the look and feel. This might include certain
color palettes, visual references and animation styles.
-
Can you comment on your "Movie Titles" demo, and tell us
a little bit about it?
Yes.
Actually it's a motion graphics text-animated demo that showcases the
many different looks and styles of doing the segue titles to trailers,
and film credit intros. They contain alot of influence from what I've
seen in the past year, but the main object was to convey that NK has
the ability to tackle these various styles. I've found that you cant
just "tell" people what you can do, you have to show them
"something" as well. With NK being only a year old, I needed
to show them something now rather than later. Though this impact style
of titling seems to be really becoming more and more common in the film
marketplace. It really has evolved from "just" a task an editor
provides to a true "visual art form". With titles becoming
more than just fancy text, it is a chance to present a prologue short
film of sorts before the film begins.
-
Can you tell me how you came into this medium and who you were influenced
by?
I
can tell you that the title segments by "Kyle Cooper" and the
Music Video stylings of "Floria Sigismondi" were a huge inspiration
and influence on my direction as a motion graphics artist. I've feel
the films of "Kubrick", "Tony Scott" and "Oliver Stone"
have been firmly planted into my psyche. While this hyper-kinetic style
of filmmaking is often slammed by the critics, I for one cant get enough.
I suppose it comes from being more modern-minded than traditional, but
I think Tony Scott nailed it on the head in "Domino".
It's not that its my all time fav film, its just the edting and camera
work took on a life of its own. This hyper-kinetic flair seems to be
excepted more in the "titles" of a film rather than as a a whole, but
all in all I still appreciate those who ignore the critics and just
go for it! Wayne Kramer also did a bang up job in "Running Scared"
- too cool for words.
While many make claim that Saul Bass was a big influence, honestly,
he was a bit before my time. So in a sense, I'm very much more a product
of modern titles styles rather than the old school ways, like it or
not. In fact, when I made the decision to head in this direction, I
found that I was more prone to the "dark side" of titles and motion
imagery than the whole spectrum in general. So for me it was an easy
crossover. I have been an illustrator for horror and fan of collage
work for many years, I knew in my head the vision and style of imagery
I wanted to see. So the hardest part was getting up to speed on the
technology end.
Basically, I more or less took a year off to study After Effects
from about every book on the subject I could find. Then as I came across
solutions, I would pick the best that fit into what I was trying to
present. This was followed by extensive research into movie trailers,
and bits of what I call "impact editing". Now topping
that off as an obsessive horror movie viewer & fan pretty much connected
the dots to what NK has become. It really is one of those mediums
that you grow with on every project you take on. New solutions and visual
options seem to reveal themselves as things have progressed. I pretty
much have stayed focused on a particular style and a particular recipe
of visual flair presenting. Maybe that kind of scrutiny has ramped up
certain aspects rather than the genre and styles as a whole.
-
I noticed you also provide services for "movie
trailers", which are indeed quite kinetic in themselves.
What would you say your process, theory and approach to creating a good
movie trailer is?
Successful
trailers pretty much follow the same formula. Of wild editing, impact
sounds and cool segue motion titles. Whenever you see a trailer that's
missing these elements it always seems less than adequate. In my opinion,
It's because we've grown accustomed as movie viewers to this style of
presenting. The formula clicked for me right away, so I can't see doing
them any other way. I think there is this illusion that only big
studios can present there trailers this way in the market. But in
reality all the sounds, tools and software are available. The rest is
creative imagination, rhythm and timing.
I love them because they are really like short films in themselves.
And with most being under 2 minutes, you can really cram alot of energy
into their creation.
- In
your opinion, are there movie trailers that you feel don't capture what
they were intended for?
Absolutely.
In fact to be quite honest, that was motivation enough for me to market
to this field. Really the common mistake I've seen is when a production
company puts a year or 2 into a film and then shortcuts the trailer.
It becomes more of an afterthought. This is a bad mistake, as your trailer
is your number #1 promotional tool. If your presentation lacks
pizzazz, flair or energy, how can you expect the viewers to respond
to it positively? Maybe the studios might draw you in with a cool looking
cover or ad, but if they fail to seal the deal with a crappy trailer
then the consumers aren't gonna waste there time on it.
So back to the formula. If its missing any of the above...there's a
good chance it won't take.
- How
does NK usually work with new title jobs, impact segments or trailers?
Honestly,we
are not your usual political Hollywood based agency-type setup.
No-disrespect intended, as many do incredible work, but we have very
competitive fees without the overhead to pay an entire staff, run a
building and deal with elaborate contracts and agents.
We also get things done pretty fast with no 3 month stretches or labor-some
approval stages within our organization to deal with.
The way it rolls is.....if you have a job, drop us a line and lets get
things rolling, simple enough.
It is kept simple so that the work is the focus and nothing else.
But getting back to the question, we take a look at the script to analyze
the vision behind what's to come. If the director has ideas initially
we will elaborate on that. But in many cases it's an open book. So we
set out to provide titles that fit the mood and visuals that can paint
some kind of segue presentation into the film. From there it's treated
with post magic, color treatments and variety of stylish processes to
help convey the mood. The impact scenes that need something special
added are sent to us complete and then reedited.
- I
see you use the term "impact editing" alot. Can you explain
what that is exactly?
Absolutely!
- I basically wanted to coin a term for those really kinetic segments
we see in films. An example of these would be the fast-moving kill
scenes, the flashbacks, the nightmare or dream segment, the time displaced
moment, the warped psychological ripples and so on. A good example
I like to refer to when in doubt is the moments in the TV series
"Millennium" when Frank Black would get a psychic ripple.
In short, I find these moments really exciting and are created to have
a strong quick framed impact. There purpose is to sway from the main
editing for a sudden visual burst. In fact, recent films like the "Saw"
franchise, "See No Evil", "Death Tunnel" "Dead
Silence" and "Silent Hill" were filled with these
visual segments. You can also recognize them as they are usually accompanied
with a strong audio stab. In retrospect, they often are the scariest
moments in the film. Which speaks for itself. So we wanted to market
to those particular flavors of editing needs. It is an art form that
we feel strong about.
- Your
work has been commented as being "Hallucinatory, fascinating, extreme,
maddening .....The visions of nightmares and chaos unleashed".....
Can do you mind commenting on that?
No
not at all. I'm very serious about saying what I want to say visually
to communicate to the markets. If your looking for scary title work,
we are here for you. The root of the work is focused on the horror genre.
It is the same approach I took with illustration with Eyes of Chaos
and the same I'm taking with "Nightmare Kinetics".
We are very in tune with horror based content and the presentation of
visuals it requires. In my early research I had come across several
motion graphics firms with 1 or 2 edgy titles mixed in with a bunch
of mainstream work to show there diversity. Which is fine if you are
a generalist, although NK simply is not.
- Do
you see NK leading into other area's?
Right
now we are focused on the level of graphical work we provide. Though
as things have moved forward, NK has had opportunities to CO-direct,
coordinate visual FX and generally become more involved on the production
stages of horror films. This has helped consolidate the visions of the
director and fine tune the presentation aspect.
All in all, it's a learning process. So as needs for certain aspects
become more apparent, it starts a whole new branch of service offerings
and potentials. While there is no immediate plans to become a film production
company ourselves, we intend on being a service provider that can meet
specific needs on many productions. Although I mention it alot, we really
intend on being the one stop shop for horror films
- I've
seen you've done and are doing collaborative efforts with other filmmakers,
care to comment on that?
Yes, recently I've been collaborating with some talented folks
out of Buffalo, NY who I believe will a common factor on alot
of new productions scheduled. It's great because there is a nice mix
of talent. Rather than a group of filmmakers competing with each other,
it is more of a mix of talents complimenting each other. So everyone
grows in unison. I've also been in talks on several projects with other
filmmakers. Most recently we've started working with the new film division
"Suicidal Filmz". I've generally found that the law
of attraction seems to kick in and new opportunities and productions
seem to find us. What we'll be working on a year from now is hard to
tell It's important to stay focused in the industry but its also important
to treat people with respect and deliver on what you promised. If you
keep those 3 things always in mind good things will happen.
You've heard the term "Nature finds a way"..... well so does
film-making.
- Any
bad experiences?
Yes, but those folks fall into the "where are they now,
where were they then" category. So no-one is losing any sleep over
it. All I'm going to say on the subject is what comes around goes around.
- Do
you have certain limitations to what you do?
I
believe a smart service provider knows what jobs they can take and which
ones that require something on another level. We know that if the needs
require extensive CGI, 3D type creations, that, that kind of need is
best suited with agencies that are more familiar with that technology
- Any
particular films that stand out to you?
Well,
as I mentioned before there seems to be this back and forth movement
going on right now in horror. You have one side like the "Saw" franchise
(and Dead Silence) that has alot of cool kinetic editing and visuals
going on and then there are those who more or less tribute to there
roots and the retro 70's feel. I love both myself - the films that Rob
Zombie has created are really unique retro and they are great! The "Grind
House" release is very carefully retroed and although sort of hit and
miss at times is really fun to watch. I think what happens is the directors
say ...OK the film we are doing is lacking something so it needs something
hipper added. This is usually where that kinetic editing starts getting
added. I recently picked up this film "Dark Remains" that I thought
was absolutely brilliant! It really knew how to scare the viewer with
misdirection techniques. Although it didn't have as much flashy editing,
it did it in the right places in the right ways. Of course we cant forget
about the "torture" wave, which pretty much borrows from the underground
Asian fake-snuff films (the ones you'll never see and probably don't
want to see). The idea with these is to present enough unsettling content
without crossing the lines. Those lines though are getting grayer all
the time.
In essence I tend to like the film if it delivers.
I've come to like films for different reasons. As sometimes maybe a
story lacks but the editing is incredible. Or maybe the presentation
is ordinary but it appealed on a simple fright level. Or maybe it had
incredible effects but the acting was so so... So in short, I like a
wide variety of horror films is they have something to contribute. "Abominable"
was a great example of a film done simply that still delivered on scares.
"Mimic" I didn't like but loved the titles. So I may watch only the
first 5 minutes again and again... I also have a certain respect for
a great deal of cool, weird older 70's -80's films. "Devil's Rain, The
Sentinel", "the Legacy", "Burnt Offerings", etc. Yes, it's true for
every 10 films, 1 may only deliver...but when you find it, it's worth
the wait!
- So
what do you feel about those in the industry dismissing this new wave
of style simply as MTV style editing, do you see it as a fad or something
that is fresh and new?
Well for starters, I'm not at all influenced by music videos with the
exception Floria's work. In fact up to this point I haven't worked on
any or marketed myself to that field. Though like any type of presentation...no
matter what it is, you get some that like it and some that dismiss it
off or better yet classify it. But to get to the point, all we are talking
about is editing style. I know numerous editors that simply cant do
it. They edit, they cut and paste but they hit a wall when it comes
to complex motion graphics. Which I think is a good thing because it
creates "specialty market" for what I do. Now in regards to the horror
industry, let's look at the facts. Many movies with this style of editing
integrated in have sold quite well, and have gone on to make even more
movies.
Traditional stuff is great too. Somedays you want taco's while other
days you want pizza. I think at the heart of things, if you look at
commercials on TV these days, the presentations are not like they were
in the 70's and 80's.. They are aggressive, in your face and aimed at
making a point. Film works the same way. Does the ghost simply stand
in the corner every scene, or does it defy time and space by jittering
its way in unnatural motions to its destination?
So you can call it MTV style editing, but really its just enhancing
the scary moment. So I think you will continue to see kinetic edits
where they are needed. The movies that fail are those that overdue it.
Do I think digital solutions, clever editing and finesse will die out?
Hell no! Look at "Sin City", look at "300"....man we are just getting
started
- Where
do you see the future of horror leading?
I
think the horror film-making of tomorrow will be a direct result of
those with fresh vision, energy and the ability to do things on cheaper
budgets. Trends will tire and ideas will dry out....which leaves the
door wide-open for the creative minds. I find this to actually be a
good thing.
The bottom will eventually drop out on productions who spend 65 Million
and produce less than adequate movies to favor those who can spend $50K
and produce a frightfully more impressive product. Ultimately, the horror
fans will show there support to "that" which appeases their
tastes. You can only rent so many films with attractive covers before
you start losing faith in the product. The consumers are getting smarter
and when they recognize certain film productions that promise alot but
never deliver...word gets out.
Cookie-cutter, bang em out, no plot filmmaking is on its way out.
All and all, Art will always prevail. Those who are just in it
for the money I believe will one day find themselves broke and alone.......
enuff said.
- Any
last words?
Sure,
horror filmmakers - before you go searching all over Hollywood, drop
us a line. over at:
http://www.eyesofchaos.com/nightmare_kinetics
Film titles, intro credits, main titles, motion graphics...call it what
you want
We know what we are doing because we have a passion for it.......
Also don't take my word for it, drop us a line at Mike@eyesofchaos.com
to request a demo.
Mike,
thank you for taking the time with us today. I'm sure we'll be hearing
alot more from "Nightmare Kinetics" in the future. It was
a pleasure speaking with you and we look forward to hearing about all
your latest productions. Word to the wise.... get em now while they
are still affordable! This is BM-VM
Magazine over and out....
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