By the time Nicole and Ian walked into the theater and took their seats most, if not all of the seats that would be taken for the function already were.
Besides the occasional murmurs and whispers, the room was filled with a dead silence, powered by the padded walls which were there to prevent any echoes.
A couple of minutes went by and the already dim lights faded out and the projector started running.
The movie started abruptly, no trailers, no production logos. Truly as if it really were raw footage ripped directly from the editing room.
In fact the start from the movie was more abrupt than what Ian remembered from the original version. It was facts like this that he would occasionally communicate to Nicole on a couple of occasions, encouraged by noting that she seemed genuinely interested in them, and these were reciprocated on occasion by Nicole commenting on the accuracy and vice versa on the way the movie approached the themes of the paranormal.
Besides a few editing changes, like the beginning of the film, most of the movie plot for the first 10 minutes played more or less the same, this including the new scenes stolen from the original production which still included Heron.
And suddenly there was a moment when something changed, and it was an editing trick so seamless yet so sudden that even Nicole, who was unfamiliar with the original version of the film, noticed.
Suddenly completely new scenes were projected in front of them, betrayed, at first by the slight difference in the quality of the film they recorded on, and less subtly by the reconstructions of the sets, technically impressive but inevitably imperfect, and characters abruptly played by actors other than the originals, obstructed on the screen by lighting choices while parts of the original film's audio played and often placed far from the camera to hide the trick. But the most important thing is always in the background and in contrast to Heron in person. There was no doubt, it was not a double, nor animation, nor any other cinematographic trick. In some ways, it was her, and the fact that elements of the original film were reconstructed to surround her seemed to imply that those scenes were made after the original production was suspended due to the death of the same actress at the front and center of those same scenes..
But, as uncanny as it all seemed, it was another thing that sent Nicole into a state of uneasiness, as for a good chunk of the movie but specially as soon as the new impossible scenes started to roll out, she had started to get a weird hunch, something in the back of her head that would not let her lean back and relax.
Thanks to Ian she was familiar with the story of the production and the fact of its director's interest in the supernatural and his wish to leave Easter eggs of his knowledge in the art design. But it was what the director would probably call a budget saving decision that would finally give Nicole her dark eureka moment.
Dark Times for Isabella, our fearless reporter and the hero of our film. If that's the word you'd choose to describe her.
While traveling to the country side of the country to investigate a series of weird homicides, she and her photographer and boyfriend are chased out of time by an angry mob who shoot at their car and provoke them to fall down a mountain.
By the time Isabella wakes up months have happened, but she doesn't know it. She only knows that she finds herself in what seems to be an empty operation room. No one around her could explain anything to her.
Most of her body is still under anesthesia, she can't move. So she stays in the cold empty room until she can finally feel enough of her legs to try to clumsily look for a way out.
She stumbles around what seems to be an empty mansion until she opens a door and finally finds someone. Bad news…
Ian heard a quiet gasp next to him coming from Nicole, not completely surprising as it came during a very tense scene. Way more tense than the original version. Tense enough to not notice as Nicole turned around and noticed her surroundings.
-Ian- she whispered into his ear. -We need to get out of here.
-What? Why?- he was surprised by the possibility of a horror film being too scary for a girl who runs into haunted houses as a job to handle.
-It’s… uh…Don't say anything and look around. I think we might be in danger.- He did
As she said. Neither of them noticed at what moment everyone around them put the masks on, but whatever these people were they were surrounding them.
A sea of people wearing an eerie mask just standing still, looking directly at the screen, they had remained perfectly frozen in the same pose since the beginning of the film.
Nicole grabbed Ian by the hand and led him as they stood up from their seats and began walking slowly towards the stairs.
-Nicole…- Ian whispered. -What’s going on?-
-They’re the Cuarto Ojo.-Nicole whispered back- Crazy cult. Very dangerous people.
As they walked in front of the masked attendees, none of them reacted even a little. The masks just confirming Nicole's suspicions after she recognized the room part of the movie was recorded on from footage of masses celebrated by the dangerous cult obsessed with bringing back the dead among other things.
Nicole and Ian's steps became faster trying to hurry their way out, and unfortunately with this louder.
They didn't notice but as they were trying to escape the quality of the movie's audio became worse. A loud static-like hissing filled the room.
The doctor inside the office Isabella walks into looks at her like if watching a ghost. Because I sense he is. This wasn't supposed to be like this.
He does all the talk. He tells her the story he claims the doctors at the hospital told him. Her boyfriend is dead. And her brain was supposed to be too. He would have never done the experiment if she was supposed to wake up.
He then takes her to the next room and hands her a mirror after retiring the bandages of her.
-Nicole!- Ian whispered to grab Nicole's attention but she was too focused on her escape to notice.
-They made it!- she whispered to herself, figuring out the mystery. Only to immediately hear Ian calling out her name out loud.
-NICOLE!- This is an effort to make her turn and realize that she solved the misery too late.
The speakers booming out the hissing. The movie paused in the frame of Isabella’s big reveal. And in the front row, standing and looking at them. Guiditta Heron in something similar to the flesh. Mirroring with her existence the screen behind her.
-They belated death- Nicole said, finishing her idea from earlier right before both she and Ian noticed that the deafening hissing in their ears wasn't coming from the speakers but from Heron herself.
-Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…- she was saying from beh
ind them already.
....
And that's what I got. So far I mean.
And I've made it. I finally reached the moment from the original post from some years ago. I felt I needed to retouch a bit so it has more of the aesthetic I'm going for with this story. That wasn't the original plan but I got the feeling the original was a little more flamboyant you know. Like it was more like: cult film! Ain't that clever? Tee-hee. And here's more like part of a story. Though it was probably better. Lmao.
So I've been working on this since the last batch, but it has felt a bit slower because I also have been working on commissions and all that, luckily unlucky, I got a cold this week because it's been basically flooding in my city and until Tuesday I did not own an umbrella. And being sick and in bed gave me some more time to finish this.
What has been a little bit of a challenge for this part unlike the last one is that this is more of a sequential thing while that last one was more like a collection of moments
And here it has been a bit hard to figure out what to show and what not, unlike the last part where I could use the resource of in-universe known photographs which helped me keep the story a bit more mysterious.
Basically all of the pictures were made on Procreate this time minus the line art of one, and the laying out of a very useful 3d model I bought from 3d artist glem82-1
In order of appearance:
Entering the theater.
This picture in a sense replaces a sketch I made and posted here of the people surrounding Nicole and Ian before going cult mode. I figured out that that composition was too dramatic to appear before the money shot.
A thing I liked while working on it is that seen from behind the seats on the theater kind of look like graves, which enhances the horror vibe I guess.
Nicole and Ian watching the movie
I kind of struggled with this one as I wasn't sure of how much of them just normally enjoying the movie should I show. I knew I didn’t want to just jump into the spooks as I think I want them to have a nice evening before things went weird.
I managed to have some foreshadowing as the lady next to them seems to be in some sort of trance already.
The new shots.
This one was more of an after thought, while I don't think it shows something truly important I thought it'd be better if Heron's figurative return to life looked more triumphant before her character’s descent.
I wanted to have the picture frames following the logic of a POV shot of watching a movie inside a theater but in order to do that I had to make the original fake screenshot of the movie. And here it is:
Nicole's uneasiness
With this one I kind of feel I fell a bit into the trap of doing too much but on Sunday I felt I had enough extra time so I thought “Eh, what the hell?” And went for it.
The doctor’s office
Actually the first picture I constructed the screen POV composition for. This shot was important because here is where Nicole finds out the cult the movie seemingly has ties to.
The original fake screenshot is here;
Nicole's Shock
Similar to before, a reaction shot that wasn't absolutely necessary but it's nice to have.
Nicole whispers
Finally, the whisperers whispering! I really felt I needed some anticipation before the big money shot picture of the cult members surrounding our heroes.
Our Feature Presentation
The first picture that started this whole ordeal. Originally I wasn't going to change it but I felt it really needed some edits to fit with the rest. The saddest edit I did? I had to take the retro pattern from the seats because I had completely forgotten they used to have them until it was too late.
The choir.
A shot of the cult in their prime. I tried to fake the VHS aesthetic to suggest this picture is from an existing video which is the main way Nicole knows about the cult’s existence. From archives and stories.
The idea here is that this video was recorded in the same office Rizzo eventually used as a set for finishing his movie.
Nicole and Ian trying to escape.
I really felt like I needed to show that they didn't just stay in their seats shaking in fear but actually tried moving before things got worse.
If I'm really honest I'm not completely happy with this one. I really struggled with the angles and the results still feel kind of off to me. But I think it's good enough for now. Maybe if I have time after I'm done I'll give it another shot. But for the time being it stays.
The Star
Heron in the flesh. Actually the very first picture I did for this project this year. I've had it for some months now and it's been next to the original Our Feature presentation, the map for the story. These are the two point I wanted to reach.
The Star is how I think the whisperers will classify Heron as. They have this thing where they give codenames to the ghost and creatures that always start with “The” like The walker, The Boomer, The Stalker or The Saint, though that one is a bit of a spoiler for later.
The angle is also a bit off for this one but I think that actually works here.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Just to show how off guard Heron caught our heroes. I don't know if this will be a spoiler for later or If I'll just leave it as something ambiguous but as long as the movie is playing Heron has complete control over the room it is happening. So she basically changed location from one frame to the other. It's kind of sad because, given how she seems to have movie based powers, this whole thing would have worked very well as a video. But who has the money for that? Lol
And there you go! How's that for a cliffhanger?
Soon I'll be posting the final batch of this story. And believe me, there will only be one. I have the whole thing planned, kinda.
But before that I wanna do some stuff, for example finishing all the commission I still have in my to-do list. Besides just drawing stuff for myself.
Maybe some extra loose Whisperers adventures, it's been a bit weird not drawing Vero and Ignacio for this but we'll, they already had their time under the spotlight last year. So maybe the next long story will be for the Doll, who knows lol.
I also have a setting for a new band comic and I'm not promising anything yet but it feels it could be the next long comic. Only time will tell.
Also I want to do a short film.
Like, while working on the Whisperers pitch bible (BTW update on that: I didn't make the selection lol oh well) I felt like, man I haven't done a short film in a while. I feel like it's time. I don't even know what it will even be yet but I want to.
But I do want to finish this thing as well of course.