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John Carpenter. The Master Of Horror Films . John Carpenter: Early Life. John Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York in January 16, 1948. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father was the head of the music department at Western Kentucky University.
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John Carpenter The Master Of Horror Films
John Carpenter: Early Life • John Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York in January 16, 1948. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father was the head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. • As a boy, he began filming horror shorts on 8 mm film even before entering high school. • He was captivated by movies from an early age, particularly the westerns of Howard Hawks and John Ford, as well as 1950s low budget horror and science fiction films, such as Forbidden Planet and The Thingfrom Another World.
John Carpenter: Personal Life • Carpenter was married to Adrienne Barbeau from January 1, 1979 to 1984. During their marriage, Barbeau starred in The Fog, and also appeared in Escape from New York. The couple have one son, John Cody Carpenter (born May 7, 1984). • Carpenter has then been married to producer Sandy King since 1990. King produced a number of Carpenter's later feature films, including They Live, In the Mouth of Madnessand Ghost Of Mars.
John Carpenter: Career Beginnings • He briefly attended Western Kentucky University where his father chaired the music department, but transferred to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts in 1968. • He dropped out before finishing his degree for his his student project, The Resurrection of Bronco Billy(1970), which won the 1970 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film. The short film was blown-up to 35mm, sixty prints were made, and the film was theatrically released by Universal Studios for two years in the United States and Canada.
John Carpenter: First Success • Carpenter’s first major film as director, Dark Star (1974), was a sci-fi black comedy that he co-wrote with Dan O'Bannon (who later went on to write Alien, borrowing freely from much of Dark Star). The film cost only $60,000 and was difficult to make as both Carpenter and O'Bannon completed the film by multitasking. • Carpenter did the musical score as well as the writing, producing and directing, while O'Bannon acted in the film and did the special effects (which caught the attention of George Lucas who hired him to do work on the special effects for Star Wars) • His efforts didn’t go unnoticed and Hollywood was fascinated at his filmmaking abilities within a low-budget film. Dark Star
Carpenter's next film was Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), a low-budget thriller influenced by the films of Howard Hawks, particularly Rio Bravo. Carpenter was responsible for many aspects of the film's creation. • He not only wrote, directed and scored it, but also edited the film under the pseudonym "John T. Chance". Carpenter has said that he considers Assault on Precinct 13 to have been his first real film because it was the first movie that he shot on a schedule. • The film was originally released in the United States to mixed critical reviews and lacked box-office earnings, but after it was screened at the 1977 London Film Festival, it became a critical and commercial success in Europe and is often credited with launching Carpenter's career. generally regarded as one of the best exploitation films of the 1970s.
Halloween (1978) was a smash hit on release and helped give birth to the slasher film genre. On Halloween 1963, six year old Michael Myers murders his older sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital, returns home, and stalks teenager Laurie Strode and her friends. • Carpenter again worked with a relatively small budget, $320,000.The film grossed over $65 million initially, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time.
In addition to the film's critical and commercial success, perhaps its strongest legacy is the film's original score by Carpenter, which remains one of the most recognizable film music themes of all time along with other notable scores such as John Williams' Jaws. • Carpenter got the idea of the movie by having the concept of a babysitter being menaced by a stalker • Carpenter’s approach of the film was "True crass exploitation” instead of the classic horror genre.
Carpenter followed up the success of Halloween with The Fog (1980), a ghostly revenge tale (co-written by Hill) inspired by horror comics such as Tales from the Crypt and by The Crawling Eye, a 1958 movie about monsters hiding in clouds. • Completing The Fog was an unusually difficult process for Carpenter. After viewing a rough cut of the film, he wasn’t satisfied with the result. • In order to make the movie more coherent and frightening, Carpenter shot additional footage that included a number of new scenes. Approximately one-third of the finished film is comprised of the newer footage. Despite the difficulties, it was another commercial success for Carpenter, which grossed over $21,000,000 in The U.S.
His next film, The Thing (1982),which is about a parasitic extraterrestrial life form that assimilates other organisms and in turn imitates them. The Thing infiltrates an Antarctic research station, taking the appearance of the researchers that it absorbs, and paranoia occurs within the group. • The film has innovative special effects by Rob Bottin, special visual effects by matte artist Albert Whitlock, a score by Ennio Morricone and a cast including rising star Kurt Russell. The Thing was made with a budget of $10,000,000, Carpenter's largest cost up to that point, and distributed by Universal Pictures. • It Is considered to be Carpenter’s first financial failure because it’s box office was low due to the fact that E.T: Extra Terrestrial came out after, which was more appealing at the time.
One of the high points in Carpenter's career came in 1984 with the release of Starman, a science-fiction fantasy film directed by John Carpenter that tells the story of an alien who has come to Earth in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on the Voyager 2 space probe. • Starman was favorably reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and LA Weekly and described by Carpenter as a film he envisioned as a romantic comedy and Jeff Bridges was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for the portrayal of Starman.
The Ward(2011) was he latest movie he has released since The Ghost Of Mars (2001). • The Ward is a psychological horror film that revolves around a young institutionalized woman named Kristen (played by Amber Heard) who is haunted by a mysterious and deadly zombie/ghost.As danger creeps closer, she comes to realize that this zombie might be darker than anything she ever could have imagined.The film got unfavorable reviews overall, but I would consider watching it because its his most modern film and you can analyze the transition of techniques he does in his filming.
Film Technique • His films are characterized by minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras, use of steadicam, and distinctive synthesized scores (usually self-composed). • He made Sci-Fi, Horror, And Thrillers • Carpenter is an outspoken proponent of widescreen filming, and all of his theatrical movies (with the exception of Dark Star and The Ward) were filmed anamorphic with a 2.35:1 or greater aspect ratio. • Frequently makes references to classic Westerns • Includes at least one scene inside an automobile in nearly all his films. Likes to include helicopters in his films, many times doing a cameo as a pilot. • Underlying sense of paranoia in horror stories • Graphic visual effects and body transformations
Carpenter also wrote his scripts for his films because he usually produced his earliest films by himself or with a co-writer. • The recurring actor in Carpenters films was Kurt Russell because they were long time friends. • Directed film adaptations as well such as Christine, a film adaptation of a Stephen King Novel.His films were all created from his ideas, but he collaborated ideas from other films to inspire his own version.
He describes himself as having been influenced by Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Nigel Kneale and The Twilight Zone. • Movies are pieces of film stuck together in a certain rhythm, an absolute beat, like a musical composition. The rhythm you create affects the audience. • I'm flattered if someone comes to me with the idea of remaking one of my films. Remake or original, making a movie still comes down to old-fashioned hard work.
Fun Facts • He only won Academy Award and other awards such as Saturn Awards but never any Golden Globes or Oscars.His favorite genre is Western. • Considers it bad luck to wear the hat of the show he's working on. Will not wear a crew cap until the film is over. • Loves Elvis Presley and old Cadillacs. • Is a major NBA fan and has a satellite dish installed on his location trailer to keep up with the games. Always has a portable basketball hoop on location.He was given the chance to direct Top Gun, Fatal Attraction, Armed And Dangerous and Zombieland but declined all offers.
