Liars and Lunatics :: Film Blog

Want to do something different for your New Year’s Party this year?

Why not take a page from Dr. Donovin’s Party Planner… That’s right. Something akin to Donovin’s “a morale booster” from our feature film Liars and Lunatics. 

Okay. So Dr. Donovin is the director of a mental asylum. But don’t let that stop you from taking some tips from a guy who really knows how to plan a never-to-be-forgotten party… 


1. The color theme. Think drab.

2. There are no helium balloons or streamers at this party.

3. Hand-made party hats. You can make them look like crowns if you want to (that idea came from our Production Designer… we think).

4. Also, artificial roses (the REALLY cheap kind are best). Stick them in your hair. Give them to guests. If you think you’re particularly suave, you can even stick them between your teeth…

5. Tell all your guests to wear their bathrobes.

6. Hire a really bad Elvis-impersonator. Make sure you tell him to wear a bathrobe too. (Oh and sunglasses!)

7. Play some lame music (For his party, Dr. Donovin chose a song we wrote in our Rasmania band days called “Grandma’s Obsession”. It was an excellent choice).

And voila! You have a party that your friends will probably remember for years to come!

…Happy New Year!

Here’s something we probably already knew, but are still amazed at the discovery:

Put some ominous music under some images, and bingo! It changes the whole feel.

For example: When we first began working on the title menu for the DVD of our film Liars and Lunatics, we chose images of James and Paige having a picnic. These scenes are flashbacks that are usually accompanied by a wistful music box tune.

But for the title menu, we wanted to try something different.

We used a piece of music from the film that is very emotional and gets your heart rate up. Put it under the picnic scenes and those images (that are usually so nostalgic) now seem ominous… Like you know there’s something bad going to happen to these people, but they’re completely unaware of it.

That’d probably be categorized as dramatic irony, right?
 
In any case, it’s amazing what music can do…

{{ photo :: James and Paige having a picnic, completely unaware of the trying time ahead of them }}