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Since the closure of Derann, new digests were still produced . Here is the story behind one of these:
"The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" on Super 8!
Paul Bunnell, an independent filmmaker from California, has released his feature film "The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" on Super 8 - in collaboration with Dave Films. Why he's so excited about it, and how he coped with the radical editing, he tells us in this interview.
"The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" can be ordered as a 30-minute Super 8 version for $375 (as of 2023) from Dave Baker: monsterman1954@aol.com (build-to-order, can take up to 6 months).
The production story
"The ghastly love of Johnny X" was released in 2011, by which time of the making of this independent production had gone through a bit of an odyssey: the first 1/3 of the film was shot back in 2005... until the production ran out of budget. It took several years for Mr. Bunnell, through the assistance of a friend, to gather the funds to complete it. Despite this large time gap, he actually managed to rehire the entire cast, as well as fill all other positions. Then came the shock: the first part of the film had been shot on Kodak Plus X black-and-white 35mm stock - but its production had already ceased when shooting resumed! With Kodak's support, Mr. Bunnell managed to gather up leftover stock from all corners of the U.S. - so that in the end he had about two hours of unexposed material at his disposal. Plenty short for the planned shots, so scenes only had to be shot with a maximum of two repeats. In fact, this is not noticeable when watching the film. And that makes "Johnny X" the last film to be shot on Kodak Plus X 35mm stock, with production costs totaling two million dollars.
"Johnny X" screened at several festivals, including "Dances With Films" as a sold-out performance at LA's famous Chinese Theatre. However, it became known as the film of 2011 with the lowest ticket revenue: $86! Incredibly but true, as the winner of a festival in Kansas, it won a week's playtime at a small movie theater. However, this cinema reported the takings as "premiere week" to Box Office... Thus the story, and thus the film got attention as a curiosity , e.g. on CBS's "Sunday Morning" program as part of the 2011 Oscars.
"The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" on Super 8!
Paul Bunnell, an independent filmmaker from California, has released his feature film "The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" on Super 8 - in collaboration with Dave Films. Why he's so excited about it, and how he coped with the radical editing, he tells us in this interview.
"The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" can be ordered as a 30-minute Super 8 version for $375 (as of 2023) from Dave Baker: monsterman1954@aol.com (build-to-order, can take up to 6 months).
The production story
"The ghastly love of Johnny X" was released in 2011, by which time of the making of this independent production had gone through a bit of an odyssey: the first 1/3 of the film was shot back in 2005... until the production ran out of budget. It took several years for Mr. Bunnell, through the assistance of a friend, to gather the funds to complete it. Despite this large time gap, he actually managed to rehire the entire cast, as well as fill all other positions. Then came the shock: the first part of the film had been shot on Kodak Plus X black-and-white 35mm stock - but its production had already ceased when shooting resumed! With Kodak's support, Mr. Bunnell managed to gather up leftover stock from all corners of the U.S. - so that in the end he had about two hours of unexposed material at his disposal. Plenty short for the planned shots, so scenes only had to be shot with a maximum of two repeats. In fact, this is not noticeable when watching the film. And that makes "Johnny X" the last film to be shot on Kodak Plus X 35mm stock, with production costs totaling two million dollars.
"Johnny X" screened at several festivals, including "Dances With Films" as a sold-out performance at LA's famous Chinese Theatre. However, it became known as the film of 2011 with the lowest ticket revenue: $86! Incredibly but true, as the winner of a festival in Kansas, it won a week's playtime at a small movie theater. However, this cinema reported the takings as "premiere week" to Box Office... Thus the story, and thus the film got attention as a curiosity , e.g. on CBS's "Sunday Morning" program as part of the 2011 Oscars.
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