Welcome to the first installment of “In the Frame.” This is a biweekly series that will feature a cast or crew member working in a new release this weekend who, despite not necessarily being high-profile, deserves attention. Read on!
It took him two-and-a-half minutes to rekindle everybody’s fear of the dark. That amount of time was also all the Swedish filmmaker needed to enter Hollywood.
David Sandberg, who frequents YouTube under the awesome moniker “ponysmasher,” never thought his short would come to James Wan’s eyes.
“It went on to win ‘Best Director’ in the (2013 Bloody Cuts—Who’s There? Film Challenge contest), which was great but we figured that was pretty much it,” Sandberg said to the horror-centric website Bloody Disgusting. “Well, a few months later the film suddenly went viral online, and before we knew it all these people from Hollywood wanted to get in touch.”
Sandberg’s shorts easily make an impact—even at 14 seconds—because he knows how to scare and not startle viewers, and he understands true horror lies in showing restraint rather than being bombastic. It also helps to have a performer who can effortlessly makes a character’s fear tangible like Sandberg’s wife, Lotta Losten.
“This guy has what it takes, and it’s really hard to find filmmakers that get these things,” Director and Producer James Wan said to the Los Angeles Times. “People think it’s easy to make a horror movie that works. It’s not, that’s why there’s a lot of crap out there.”
Improvements begin with awareness—something that figures in the industry tend to not do. Sandberg, on the other hand, doesn’t mind addressing the rough edges in his project.
“There is one particular jump scare in ‘Lights Out’ that I’m not very proud of, but not because it’s fake, just that it’s a bit lazy,” Sandberg said in another interview for Bloody Disgusting. “We had another thing planned, but because of time and technical issues we had to come up with something on the spot. People always jump when it happens and it seems appreciated, but I like to have a little bit of finesse to it.”
With refreshing thoughtfulness, the clout of the genre’s household name and a screenwriter brilliant in subverting tropes, Sandberg’s debut should fast-track him toward the big leagues. He deserves it—even with IKEA as the prop provider, the man has done wonders.
To aspiring filmmakers, let Sandberg and his story be your fuel. But make projects that let viewers sleep easy at night.
Lights Out is in theaters now. Sandberg’s next project is the sequel to Annabelle.
Recent Comments