The ballad of Ivano and Giuditta...
It's a sad one.
It's a little known story, but it's hardly a secret.
Italia 1973. A failed novelist takes his latest attempt at a horror novel and turns it into a script for a Giallo film that attracts the attention of many producers. One year later the production of “La Norte Dentata” begins.
For the direction the producers make a surprising decision by signing a virtually unknown director, Ivano Rizzo.As little as a name he had done for himself had been by making several experimental horror films.
He never made a secret of his interest in the occult and the esoteric. And while it did worry the producers a bit, it did wonders for the film as he was able to add to the scripts and art department many details and that enriched the atmosphere of the production.
From the people he had worked with there was a saying that, while a gentle man, he did have many strange quirks and mannerisms. Besides being really superstitious, stopping a shooting for days until they could have a priest blessing a mirror from one of the backgrounds that broke.
While outbursts like this made things difficult on occasions, other than that the production moved smoothly, until it didn't.
It was especially easy for him to work with the main star of the film, Guaditta Herin an americo-italian up-and-coming star that was catching the attention of many in the industry.
It being a horror film, and playing a victim turned psycho killer she was able to bring an energy to her character that could unnerve everyone in the room.
For a good chunk of the film she had to wear nothing but a prosthetic wolf jaw that in the story of the film was from her boyfriend killed in front of her and then chirurgically attached to her in a bizarre experiment.
On set, she and Ivano develop a good working relationship and eventually an actual friendship as seemingly he was infecting her with his interest in the occult.
On set, though it was rumoured that it went beyond a simple friendship, at least from his part, as he seemingly followed her around everywhere all the time, and sometimes while hiding. Many believed he had grown obsessed with her.
Which made her passing especially hard for him.
Tragically, one evening in December, while coming back home from a Christmas party, her driver made a wrong choice that ended up with their car being crashed by a truck and pushed off a bridge. Many believed Ivano to be the driver that night but no evidence pointing to that was found.
Only her body in the passenger’s seat.
It's rumored that Ivano fell catatonic for a day and a half after the news hit him.
While the production had stopped for the holidays, the break was expanded for months while the production figured out how to continue.
It was during these months where Ivano’s behavior became more and more erratic. His known interest in the unknown suddenly became an absolute obsession. He began looking sick and was often seen accompanied by obscure figures like supposed clairvoyants and preachers of little known churches that had become his advisers.
As for the production itself, given that for most of the film, Guaditta’s face was obstructed by prosthetics anyway, the controversial decision was made of hiring a look-alike actress to finish the scenes Herin didn't get to film and dedicate the film to her name. A character actor named Jessica Romano, famous for her participation in a comedy show was chosen for this role. Clearly more for her similitude to Herin than for her talent.
And while that could have been a problem for her, all attention on the set would go to Rizzo who had become exponentially harder to work with. From even more constant outbursts, to his newfound psychotic perfectionism, to his growing irritability and to an event where he chased everyone out of the editing room with a stick and bunkered himself there.
Even though he was obviously burning through all the good will he had won with the studio before the tragic break, the final straw was when he delivered a first cut of the film to the producers that, not only was deemed as “incomprehensible”, but had them shocked as it featured footage of what seemed to be either an incredible well made special effect, or a real life execution. It wasn't clear, the only thing that was is that given the change of style and format, said footage was not originally filmed for the movie.
It was an easy choice for them. Rizzo was officially out.
But by the time the team finally got to tear down the door of the editing room where he had bunkered himself in, they discovered Ivano Rizzo had disappeared taking with him many masters of the film, including a good chunk of original footage of Herin for which they had no copy, and leaving behind the crude drawing of 4 eyes in the wall. The same was later found in the wall of his now abandoned home.
Originally, the production decided to keep this episode as a secret while the movie was being finished by an unknown director who requested to be credited with the Alan Smithee pseudonym and finally released to a lukewarm reception and eventually forgotten.
It was years after when, through recountings of the crew that the story began to be known. First as drunken hearsays, rumours and as an industry cautionary tale until a small magazine in the early 2000s finally published an article with what is considered the definitive recopilation of accounts and reconstruction of the story, which led to a surge of interest in the film and established its status as a cult film.
The article also included what is believed to be the last known photo of Ivano Rizzo.
Taken by an amateur photographer on a boat set to the American continent by the time of his disappearance, it shows Rizzo looking at the sea, joined by one of his mysterious supernatural advisers.
Officially, for many years nothing else was known of him or the footage he took with him.
Until a new poster, featuring what seems to be a still of the lost Herin footage started appearing and disappearing, out of nowhere in movie theaters across the American continent.
…
Or something… And this here is the first draft of the first part of the story behind La Notte Dentata, a story inside the story of Ian And Nicole’s “first date”. And I use quotes because in the end the whole thing went awry. But technically that's a story development still so who knows…
This is basically the story of the movie they go to see.
On my first concept for this story I was mostly focused on the “cult film” and while this is clearly still an aspect of this, I'm also slightly more inspired by the concept of cursed movie productions. Like all of those deaths while making the Omen or that Genghis Khan movie that was filmed on nuclear test grounds and gave cancer to everyone in the crew.
I consider this just a first draft of this part of the story but depending on if I get the time or not it might also be final, or just a base for whatever type of release I end up giving these pictures.
I like this current format but I don't know how it will work outside of Patreon. Which is one of the things I now realize about The Host story which, while I really enjoyed making, had the effect of filling my galleries with pages of shades of grey.
What I should have done is to take the whole of the quasi-storyboard and edit them in a video. Which honestly, would not be a bad idea to do even now. I could even sell it as a Whisperers pilot or something.
As I've mentioned before in other posts, in order to avoid the pages of gray my plan is to make fewer, more complete and eye-catching pictures that hopefully work for themselves. Ironically I'm still using a lot of gray.
For this section I'm taking inspiration from analog horror series and ARGs and it's almost a shame that I can't sell these as that because of the cute talking animal aspect, but whatever.
Documentation of an in universe tragedy.
Even though most of these were done in procreate, my process this time wasn't a linear one so, except for one (below), in order of having timelapses for them I'd have to do some video editing that I don't feel like doing right now.
Maybe later…
In order of appearance:
Ivano and Giuditta’s portraits to present their characters. Young and In front of the camera.
Giuditta’s is an actress portrait from her portfolio so it is in color and made to focus specifically on her. This is the empty background.
As for Ivano's it's supposed to represent his formation in the arts so the composition is less simple and it has him casted in shadows and lights to show his mental state.
Ivano and Giuditta on set.
Of the before times before things ended up badly and showing they actually had some chemistry while working on the film.
The make up room.
A behind the scenes picture of the make up team putting the jaws cosmetics on Herin. The photographer failed to notice he captured Rizzo watching from behind in the background until he revealed the picture later that day.
I'm slightly afraid of having made this one too dark and Ivano harder to find in the process.but it also shouldn't be obvious.
The aftermath of the accident.
Captured by a reporter at the scene before the authorities could arrive and recovered from the tabloids. No photo of her actual body was ever made public.
Ok, with this one I'm actually afraid. I was feeling playful when I made it, clearly, but I'm afraid the obvious toy car might ruin whatever ambience I have been able to establish with the others. I did have fun with it though. It reminded me of my more experimental phase when I did a lot of photo editing for my drawings. If later I get the feeling that it doesn't work I'll trace the car or whatever.
Ivano Rizzo’s Advisers
A Paparazzi photo of Ivano Rizzo's descent into madness
Him chasing off people away from his apparent where some kind of ritual seems to be taking place. And actually the only picture of the bunch I actually have a good Timelapse video for.
Long: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1iZh435YWrc
Short: https://youtube.com/shorts/oC5VkQzb9IQ
Jessica Romano’s portrait.
The actress who ended up replacing Herin in the film. Unlike Herin’s portrait which happens to be from a professional photoshoot this one comes from a regular photo of Jessica on a beach trip. And in a sense it sort of contrasts with Herin’s last known photo. As both feature the actresses and bodies of water, but in different contexts.
Ivano Rizzo's last known photo.
Taken by an amateur photographer and recovered from a book of his. It isn't clear if it in fact features Ivano Rizzo but the time of taking, the destiny of the boat and the time of his disappearance match.
I also wanted it to contrast a bit with his first portrait, both featuring him next to a rail but, while before he was cast in shadows, even though surrounded by the light he now seems like a shadow himself.
These are all the pictures I plan to make for this section of the story.
Though I did impulsively buy a movie camera 3d model for reference that I didn't end up using so who knows…