Q. Why did you make this movie?

a. Years ago my brother gave me a box set of old horror films, a perfect gift. The first film I watched was “The Invisible Ghost” starring Bela Lugosi. The story was ridiculous, but the film had an irresistible charm, and it stuck with me. Years later I found myself seeking inspiration, and I was in a horror-comedy vibe, so I dubbed over the original and developed a script from there. 

Q. Why did you make it by yourself?

a. Purely out of necessity and a curious mind, too. I’ve made shorts by myself but never in a virtual environment. This is also my first solo film featuring multiple characters. I originally intended to have other actors come on. I suppose my impatience got the best of me. I didn’t want to have to wait to film. 

Q. What was an average day of filming like?

a. It was easy in a few ways but challenging in most others. Filming in front of a blank background allowed me to focus more on getting my character looks just right, and worry less about the look of my environment. But I had no one else to react to, it was very lonely at times. Fortunately, I still managed to make myself laugh plenty. And because I did all the filming with my phone, dropping it was a feature of the day to day. I’m glad it survived the filming!

Q. What was the editing process like?

a. Very slow. When filming more traditionally with physical environments, your footage comes to you with all the characters in place on camera from the start; then you can start cutting. With this piece, I had to key out every character individually and place them in the frame as well as sync up their timing. My process could have been better, but I am overall pleased with the effect. 

Q. What was your inspiration for the music?

a. I love generic, eerie music powered by haunting organs, and I think one of the tracks does use an organ. But I wanted to just make whatever came to me instead of attempting cleverness, and I was inspired by the upbeat nature of Nintendo 64 music. I think it helps the pacing.

Q. Why did you make the environments in Minecraft?

a. My original intention was to build a popsicle stick set until my other brother suggested Minecraft. The program offered both flexibility and speed with construction. It felt too good to be true, but I checked and learned that Mojang Studios does allow players to post their content and even monetize it, with certain restrictions. I may make more films this way, but I also yearn to build things by hand again.

Q. How did you design the Minecraft sets, and what was the process behind transforming them into a haunted mansion?

a. I drew inspiration from the layout of the sets in THE INVISIBLE GHOST, which as it turns out is a lot like many other B-horror movie sets. The key feature seems to be a large central staircase. I played around with various color and texture filters, originally intending to make the film look like a cartoon. I had recorded the virtual sets well before filming the characters, so it wasn’t until I was able to start placing the characters on screen that I nailed down the look. 

Q. What is this movie about?

a. I’m not trying to make a point, but I believe there is room for feeding people’s delusions to make them happy. The tragedy in this tale is that they go too far and hurt many innocents just to please one person. Also, no one asked the Doctor to commit murder, yet he puts all his self-esteem into it. He feels he owes it to others or is expected to be the breadwinner in this macabre way. Fear of failure is universal.

Q. How is this project similar to/different from other Brian Cowe works?

a. It’s certainly longer-I usually prefer short form. I love creating dark worlds, and I love comedy and outright silliness because I think life is silly. This film surprised me in that it reflects a lot on what I was going through while making it. Not the desire to murder. No. Not that. It’s the struggle to care for those around you who maybe are beyond your help. It’s a painful fact to bear. 

Q. How much is this film like the one on which it’s based?

a. Another brother (I have four) got me into writing dubs of films just for fun, and then I realized I could take them much further. The outline of THE INVISIBLE GHOST remains intact in terms of speaking order and relative staging, but the context of what people are saying is mine. In THE INVISIBLE GHOST, the doctor doesn't realize he's a killer; my twist is that the doctor doesn't realize he's an incompetent killer. I found writing a farce this way to be quite easy, because I just needed to start in a place of making whatever was already on screen sound and look ridiculous.