A message from the editor
The Indie Digital Buzz is a new feature from Monsters at Play and Horrorview that allows our readers to get the inside scoop straight from the source in the world of indie horror. I felt that indie horror was an untapped medium and not given the proper respect it surely deserves. Yes, there are those indie horror flicks out there that are slapped together in a heartbeat and passed off as quality cinema, while they remain complete and utter garbage. Then there are those who really enjoy the craft of filmmaking and pour their heart, sweat and tears into each production. Most of these people work normal 9-5 jobs and make movies on the weekend as a hobby. They spend little money on these flicks and they make little money from them, but the films speak for themselves. I felt our readers could benefit from some inside knowledge including anecdotes from the indie movie set and info on upcoming titles that may be of interest. I hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as I have. Expect to see 3 or 4 of these a month, enjoy!

...and don't forget, Beware the Monsters!!!
Lawrence P. Raffel, Editor-in-Chief, Monsters at Play

A Story from the Set: "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!"

Our scene consisted of a man (Todd Tevlin) being chased through the streets by two thugs with guns (Mark Wallace and Dave Berliner). Of course we ran into the usual problems with shooting on a public street, the cars, the pedestrians so on and so forth.

We ran into a much bigger problem, a problem that we did not see coming, a problem that should have never become a problem, and a problem that scared the bejesus out of everyone on set.

We had set up the camera on the side of this rather busy road, actors and crewmembers also lined the street. We had crewmembers holding bounce boards, a boom pole, and a slate board. Additional crew were on set for various reasons. So the street was littered with what was OBVIOUSLY a movie set!

We shot about 10 different shots on the street then the scene moved to behind a house on that street. I stayed in front of the house to wait on the arrival of more crewmembers. As I was waiting on the front porch, I noticed a female police officer park in front of the house next door. She exited her car with a GUN!!!! She approached the front of the house where I was sitting. She asked me if I saw two guys with a gun chasing another guy. I tried to explain to her what was going on and that the guns were plastic! Before I had the chance to convince her, three more police officers arrived and pulled out their guns! I begged and pleaded with them. They did not care! I couldn't run to the back of the house to warn the cast and crew because I probably would have been shot by the officers! I could do nothing but watch them slowly approach the rear of the house where the scene was being shot. The officers disappeared from my sight behind the house and then suddenly I hear one of the officers yelling things like, "GET ON THE FUCKING GROUND! GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! DON'T FUCKING MOVE! DROP THE FUCKING GUN NOW!!!"

I managed to peak around the corner and saw the entire cast and crew Ð hands in the air - guns pointed at their heads. Mark Wallace, one of the thugs with a fake gun, was on the ground with the boot of an officer on the back of his neck pinning him down! David Berliner seemed to know the drill already, as he had placed himself belly-down on the ground voluntarily. Slate boards, bounce boards, boom poles, camera, scripts and other equipment was scattered all over the ground surrounding the captive cast and crew.

Finally, we convinced the police that the guns were fake and that we were shooting a movie. They let the actors get up off of the ground, scolded us for shooting in a public place with fake guns, then let us continue our shoot. They left laughing. We continued shooting... a bit shaken.

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