The Halloween Video (Short, 2018)

Synopsis: The task of making a Halloween video goes awry when a future version of Joel appears.

The Halloween Video is a short film I made in the fall of 2018 over the course of a couple weeks. This was for my YouTube channel, Ratgirl Resort, acting as a sort of ‘Halloween special.’ Back in 2018 was before I came out as transgender so I am in boymode for this film, which came about from the idea of not knowing what exactly to make for a Halloween video and the inspiration of just having watched Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy for the first time.

My brother, CJ Kaufmann, helped out quite a bit as my cameraman and lighting assistant. This was filmed over the course of one night using a painted airsoft gun, a homemade Spider-Man cosplay, a few Halloween decorations, and a dash of fake blood. Sort of embarrassing to watch in hindsight but a pretty fun riff on The Evil Dead.

This was directed, written, performed, and edited by me. All of the “effects” were cobbled together in Adobe Premiere Pro and the entire film was dubbed over after the fact. Most time was spent doing the sound design since all of the original sound had to be replaced.

Song Credits:

“I Put a Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

“Venom” by Eminem

“The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats

“Thriller” by Michael Jackson