I have been considering doing a documentary on the 'Paranormal' because it is a subject that I am very involved with as well. The problems is, how do you appraoch it? Do you stick with a sub-catagory such as 'Haunted Locales' or do you address everything that fits paranormal criteria?
Then once you have finally made a decision, how do you address the topic? Do I invite commentary & perspective from those who use paranormal methods in their investigation such as 'psychics' or 'seance' or use techniques that hold much more scientific value? All approaches used in paranormal investigation are only theoretical, but evidence recorded through electronic equipment such as photography, camcorders, & audio devices are more convincing then, Phyllis from the trailer park in southern Baton Rouge, who says she can speak with the dead, but these specters only want to communicate with her & no one else. Use the electronic devices & you could be waiting for years to record anything worth presenting & still it is questionable because most of the time you are only going to catch images of 'spirit orbs' which have been proven to be nothing more then amplified light from the night vision lense, projected onto a small particle of dust. Or I could bring the psychic along & yes, you have more substance in your documentary but the film & the film makers credibility is lost to everyone, but those who want to believe & will accept anything as proof.
If you do discover something substantial then the payoff is limitless, because you just proved almost every urban legends & proved the existence of life after death which makes you the most important person in the history of humanity, but I have a better chance of being struck my lightning three times a day or a month. I love paranormal investigation & I take part in them all the time, which is suprising because I have rarely been able to sit through frightening motion pictures or video games at 27 years of age. I have had paranormal experiences with 'spirits' along with my 20 year old sister while we were at the home of our grandparents, but never the less the word of two siblings against all scientific knowledge isn't going to sway all that many people.
Now I do like the idea of making a documentary on the underground vampire communities in the major metropolitan cities of the U.S., Canada, & overseas. As Misterking said, it will be alot harder since Katrina has all but destroyed, the New Orlean scene which was once the 'Mecca' of the gothic scene & all of it's sub-cultures.
Never the less there is still events that could be address, such as the 1996 disappearance of Susan Walsh who was an exotic dancer who strived to become a journalist & became involved in the underground scene in New York after an undercover investigation.
Then you have the Roderick Farrell vampire murders, which were addressed in a HBO documentary. Never the less, it would only be addressed in reference. Not to mention the White Wolf roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade & Vampire: The Requiem.
All these topics have been brought to light by documentaries & shows such as 'Decoding the Past: Vampire Secrets', but it seemed they were being used to convince the audience that it is a innocent counter-culture where a few misguided people have given the scene a bad public image. This is true in some sense, I am not going to argue that or argue that most who participate in the scene are doing so for their own innocuous motives, but no one has taken it upon themselves to address the circumstances which led to the assembly of these communities & the allure they hold for so many people from X & Y generations, except for a 5 second narrative like "They are the socially inept with great imagination who were scorned by the vogue cliques of their youth.
I really need to get my fiancee to address this as well, because she was & still is in some sense apart of the gothic/vampiric scene, though she has agreed not to wear low cut & form fitting black leather when I need her to be my escort to social function where it wouldn't be appropriate. (I was an under achieving jock in high school & I played football for who had the worst division I football team of all time, who was a in the closet vampire fanatic. The circumstances of our meeting each other was accidental & has turned out to be the best accident of my life.) She has great insight on this issue.
As far as the Vlad Tepesh project I mentioned, I was considering doing a biopic, rather then a documentary. I can't think of one movie on the life of Vlad Tepesh with the exception of a terrible two part mini series on the 'USA Network' I believe & was asking if anyone had ever seen a feature motion picture in the U.S. or overseas. This is the man that not only killed millions, but support for his merciless actions was so astounding that even after he was over thrown by his enemies, they were forced to release him three different times for the sake of their own nations, even though Vlad had killed more of them away from battle then what a normal Monarch or General would lose during a lifetime of battles. Also, the Romanian government just released that in 1935 when Vlad's corpse was exhumed, that there were only animal bones in his Burharest grave sight inside an orthodox cathedral he chose for himself, when it was originally stated that a well dressed headless corpse was in the tomb. So you add this along with the documented accounts of foreigners had broke into Bran to loot & vandalize the castle & were found dead from mysterious circumstances at the beginning of the tourist booms. As well as the construction team sent to fortify & renovate Bran Castle in order to turn it into a museum, who were ordered to retrieve a medallion & bring it back to a government official in the village of Bran. The day after they brought the Medallion to this government official, they returned to complete their renovations, but an hour before the official was set to leave for Bucharest the construction team returned to the village, covered in blood, made their way to this official then beat him to death before taking back the medallion, & returned it to the castle before they all died except one who returned to the village to in his own words,"Deviler a message that anyone else who tries to remove the medallion from Bran Tower will meet the same fate." You put all this together in a script, you have a movie that will not only satisfy historical buffs but fans of the superstition without compromising historical accuracy.
Besides the money I would have to spend to visit Romania to interview & investigate these events. This is a script I could sell in no time if it was done properly, but I would have to contact the embassy & pitch this to Romanian officials to convince them I wasn't their to write another 'Vampire Story' because he is the Abraham Lincoln of Romania & how many people in America would want a movie made about Abraham Lincoln going to Canada to drink blood, rape women, while on a savage serial murdering spree.
Now to answer, Misterking. Yes I have read the New Orleans volume of 'Preacher', but let me clarify that I haven't worked on any of the production scripts for the upcoming 'Preacher' series that is still in pre-production, but I did submit two episodes I wrote to go along with my resume. (I just want to clarify because I don't want to give any fraudulent ideas of my roll in any project.)
The last book in the 'Preacher' series I have finished so far is the volume you mentioned that is titled, 'Dixie Fried' where Cassidy meets Eccarius (I believe) who is a Dorky Ricean Mosquitoes wearing frilly silk shirt & black velvet cloaks. I don't nessecarily hate Anne Rice or Poppy Z Brite inspired vampires, because that is far from the truth. This is especially Poppy's interpretations because a large part of 'Lost Souls' takes in the area where I now live in, North Carolina but the thing is... it has been so over done.
I have considered abandoning the anti-ricaen androgynous vampire & go with a vampired stylized after Cassidy, but in discussion with Guennevere & her friends they have convinced me that I could create a story which is inviting to general movie goers, but I could potentially turn off the core audience vampire fundamentalists. So working on a documentary on the neo gothic/vampire counter-culture could be a good chance to consult the cult fans to conceive the hybrid vampire.
I have also considered going with a nosferatu inspired vampire, but with the exception of 'Shadow of the Vampire' (some would argue 'Blade II' as well) this formula has bombed since the 80's, but I could be wrong. So if anyone reads this message & has movie which contradicts the statement just made, I am all ears & ready to sing praise.
Other then that, I have no other ideas as of right now. I am brain storming on Delilah's ideas & I am considering in evolving my 'Vaudeville' pilot script into a feature, but I would want to find a few people to read my 'Vaudeville' pilot & get their thoughts.
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