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'Very Creepy': WSSU professor uses Davis Garage to film movie about vampires
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
Professor Doug Osman gives student Antonio de Graffenreaidt some editing tips.
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Published: October 8, 2009
Updated: 10/08/2009 12:25 am
As a boy growing up in Detroit, Doug Osman used to sit in front of the TV on Saturday afternoons and watch Sir Graves Ghastly rise from his coffin and introduce a classic horror film, such as Bela Lugosi's Dracula.
"I got through them without nightmares," Osman said.
His fascination with cinematic blood and gore continues to this day.
Osman, who teaches television and film production at Winston-Salem State University, has written, directed and produced his own horror movie.
His 30-minute film, Consumption, was shot over the summer with the help of area college students, including six from Winston-Salem State. Parts of the movie were filmed in a campus dorm and at O'Kelly Library, but the majority was shot in the lower two levels of Davis Garage, not far from the WSSU campus.
The dark, dank cavernous spaces below the garage were so eerie that Osman rewrote parts of the script to accommodate the location. The garage was once a train station, and the tracks that led to the station are still in place. There is also a boiler room, broken windows and boarded-up areas, which give the space spooky feel.
"It's very, very creepy," Osman said.
Consumption centers on Jack, who is in his 20s and lives on the streets. Jack is hustler who uses people, but he has a soft side that makes him a sympathetic character. One day, Jack witnesses a murder.
"He gets seen and is dragged into their world and discovers they are vampires," Osman said. "He can go along with them or do something about it. He's a true anti-hero."
Osman called it a dark film, but it's not a slasher movie. Rather, the film looks at the way society treats people on the fringe.
Fans of the Disney Channel may recognize two of the leading actors. Chester See, who plays Jack, contributes to Disney 365, which broadcasts newsy segments between Disney Channel shows.
The female lead is Mandy Van Duyne, best known as Joe Jonas' former girlfriend and the subject of the Jonas Brothers' song, "Mandy."
Osman was able to attract Van Duyne to the project with the help of a mutual acquaintance. Casting companies in New York and Los Angeles suggested See.
Antonio de Graffenreaidt, a senior who is studying theater, plays Jack's best friend. He took off a week from his summer job in New Jersey to make the film. He particularly enjoyed getting his torso ripped open by vampires.
"It was definitely a different experience for me," de Graffenreaidt said.
Osman has made four other films, but this is his first attempt at a horror movie.
"I have such respect for the genre," he said. "From a filmmaker's view, you use every trick there is to throw the audience off through music, through lighting, through character."
Once the sound and music editing is complete in November, Osman will begin submitting the movie to film festivals. He hopes that the 30-minute version will entice an investor to finance a full-length feature film, which Osman estimated would cost $300,000.
lodonnell@wsjournal.com.
727-7420
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