Exclusive: Director Eric Blue Talks Sci-Fi Thriller Beacon Point
Since 1998, the Dances with Films film fest has grown from presenting a handful of movies to nearly a hundred each year, including narrative features and shorts as well as the top documentaries and music videos on the circuit today. One film having its world premiere at this year’s DWF (June 2-10) is sci-fi thriller Beacon Point, directed by Eric Blue.
We had a chance to speak with Blue about his inspiration for Beacon Point, his experiences using Kickstarter to finance it, his location choice, and more. You’ll also find below several images from the film and its trailer.
Q: How did all this begin? A love of the outdoors or a love of being spooked?
Eric Blue: It’s based on something that happened to me. It was 1994, and I was camping with my girlfriend deep in the Great Smoky Mountains, a stone’s throw from the Appalachian Trail. We had a really strange experience our first night. We both felt like something was watching us from the darkness. We heard strange noises, it didn’t seem like an animal, and at one point in the middle of the night the birds started chirping wildly. It was really scary, and we felt helpless, alone in the mountains. This experience stuck with me and was so intense that I felt compelled to use it as the basis for a story. This morphed into my first feature film, Beacon Point.
Q: So you had this idea for several years then?
EB: Yes, my spooky camping experience has always stuck with me. I like writing about things that are personal to me, and this definitely left an impact.
Q: Did everything that’s in the movie happen to you? How much “extra” did you add?
EB: It’s based off the one experience I described above. The rest is fiction. We used the environment, the vastness and isolation of the Great Smoky Mountains, to create an ominous vibe. This builds an unsettling foundation and really works for the movie. We didn’t rely very much on jump scares or makeup. I think human nature, like paranoia mistrust, is a much better tool to build tension and scares. To me it’s the characters, and the tension between them, that builds scares.
Q: You shot Beacon Point in Georgia… was it for location reasons, tax reasons, storytelling…?
EB: There are a ton of reasons why we shot in Georgia. We have amazing cast and crew here. Fantastic locations. A booming film industry. And an amazing tax incentive. It’s our home turf, and we were excited to support Georgia businesses and crew members. Georgia production took place in Atlanta, Conyers, and Blairsville. For ease of access, we shot all of our night scenes at the Georgia International Horse Park. The waterfall scene was shot on private land — yes, we had permission. It is rumored to be the largest waterfall on private land in the US. I love being a Georgia filmmaker!
Q: Can you talk a bit about using Kickstarter to get your financing? It’s seems like the best avenue for independent filmmakers these days.
EB: We raised $24,000 on Kickstarter in 45 days. It was a lot of work and pretty stressful, but worth it. I think people underestimate how difficult crowdfunding really is. We did a ton of research before we started and followed the advice of other successful crowdfunders. If you do your homework and build a foundation for your campaign, crowdfunding works. We needed funds for finishing post-production and marketing. Crowdfunding seemed like a good choice. Not only did we get extra funds to finish our movie, but we built a new fan base for Beacon Point… that’s a huge deal and is critical now that we are releasing the movie.
Q: Take us back. What horror and sci-fi films did you enjoy growing up?
EB: That’s easy. The top three films that influenced me as a kid, and really drove me to become a director, are Star Wars, Alien, and The Shining.
Q: And what are some of your favorite movies of the last few years?
EB: I really liked Ex Machina, The Witch, and Blue Ruin.
Q: Beacon Point seems to focus on the fear of the unknown. Aside from the obvious, what do you think makes that so scary?
EB: I think it’s the mind’s ability to create a scarier, more terrifying experience than what we can see. The unknown engages our deepest fears, and that can be different for everyone. I think seeing the monster is never as scary as seeing the bushes rustle and a shadow run by. This is exactly what we tried to do. We wanted to create terror and suspense through character conflict and the unknown instead of lots of gore and jump scares.
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you’ll be able to find out on June 10th if Blue and Co. succeeded. Beacon Point screens at 11:45 pm at the TCL Chinese Theatres, 6925 Hollywood Blvd. Get your tickets here. For more info visit the Dances with Film website.
Beacon Point was written by Eric Blue and Traci Carroll and stars Rae Olivier, Jon Briddell, Eric Goins, Jason Burkey, and RJ Shearer.
Synopsis:
A group of hikers on the Appalachian Trail become lost and stumble across an ancient secret that threatens their survival.
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