A while back my old friend Josh (yes, “That Guy” from the 9:30 club in DC) has been featured on modblog a few times previously for pictures similar to these. It seems he has a thing for playing the villain, when truth be told he is a gentle giant of a man.

For another shot and a little backstory on this project from Josh, keep on keeping on.

My buddy Dave and I started doing some horror themed photo shoots as a promotional campaign for a haunted hayride a few years back.  That project went away, but we kept shooting.  Dave is a huge old horror movie buff, and he started toying around with making movie posters out of the shots complete with titles, taglines, and credits.  That gave birth to the “movies that don’t exist” concept.  As we kept shooting, we started to realize that it would be fun to make a trailer for the movie that doesn’t exist.  we’ve started working on the story, and shooting video along with the stills.

The photos have received a wide range of responses, from people that absolutely get the homage to the slasher flick angle to being called poorly edited misogynistic crap.  We realize that the subject matter is not for everyone, and the fact that it elicits any response at all is a good sign.  If you don’t get a response, you’re not doing it right.  We also haven’t tipped all of our cards just yet.  There is more to the story than what appears at first glance.

Our number one priority when shooting is that none of the girls get hurt (only I am allowed to injure myself for a shoot).  The shoots are all done in fun, and we often ruin shots because one of us can’t keep a straight face from joking around so much.  This made us realize that we need to show that side of the process as well, so we’ve started shooting some “behind the screams” video to show the lighter side of the project.

The current plan is to put together a multimedia package .  There will be a book including the stills, some bios, peeks behind the scenes, and some story elements.  Then there will be the video portion which includes the trailer, outtake video, and some interviews.  The project keeps evolving, so there may be even more to come in the future.

All of the work can be seen on the 13th Hour Photography’s facebook page.