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BY : SONIA VERMA ANKUR ADLAKHA NISHANT SHEKHAR RINKY KHANEJA ATUL KUMAR RUIKE ATAKA

INTRODUCTION

Three film students go to Burkittsville, Maryland to make a documentary on the infamous Blair Witch legend. They go missing, but a year later their footage is found in a bag inexplicably burried under an abandoned 100-year-old house. The director is Heather Donahue (Heather Donahue), her main cameraman is Joshua Leonard (Joshua Leonard) and Michael Williams (Michael C. Williams) is the sound crew. According to legend the Blair Witch is the ghost of Elly Kedward of the late 1700s. Several children accuse Kedward of luring them into her home to draw blood from them. Kedward is found guilty of witchcraft, banished from the village during a particularly harsh winter and presumed dead. By midwinter all of Kedward's accusers along with half of the town's children vanish. Fearing a curse, the townspeople flee Blair and vow never to utter Elly Kedward's name again. In 1825, eleven witnesses testify to seeing a pale woman's hand reach up and pull tenyear-old Eileen Treacle into Tappy East Creek. Her body is never recovered, and for thirteen days after the drowning the creek is clogged with oily bundles of sticks. In 1886, eight-year-old Robin Weaver is reported missing and search parties are dispatched. Although Weaver returns, one of the search parties does not. Their bodies are found weeks later at Coffin Rock tied together at the arms and legs and completely disemboweled. In 1941, starting with Emily Hollands, a total of seven children are abducted from the area surrounding Burkittsville, Maryland. An old hermit named Rustin Parr walks into a local market and tells the people there that he is "finally finished." After the police hike for four hours to his secluded house in the woods, they find the bodies of seven missing children in the cellar. Each child has been ritualistically murdered and disemboweled. Parr admits to everything in detail, telling authorities that he did it for "an old woman ghost" who occupied the woods near his house. He is quickly convicted and hanged. The three filmmakers interview the 'country bumpkin' types of Burkittsville, who seem equally enjoying being on camera and mystified as to why they'd want to make this film. Heather interviews Mary Brown an old and quite insane woman who has lived in the area all her life. Mary claims to have seen the Blair Witch one day near Tappy Creek in the form of a hairy, half-human, half-animal beast. Two fisherman tell Heather that Coffin Rock is less than 20 minutes from town and the three decide to make the woods of the 'Blair Witch' the centerpiece of the film. After enjoying a drunken night at their motel, Heather, Josh and Mike park and go into the woods, with a map of the logging trail. After hiking a few miles into woods that seem far larger than they thought they were from the outside, they film the creek where the Coffin Rock

massacre occurred. Satisfied with their footage the three set up their tent when it starts to rain. They remain in high spirits through the night, despite Mike's flatulence. The next morning Joshua claims he heard strange noises during the night, one of them he's determined was cackling. Consulting their map of the area, the team decide to press on further into the woods in search of an old graveyard but Josh and Mike are a little concerned about the accuracy of Heather's map reading having got them a bit lost the day before. They set off, still in high spirits, kidding with each other and generally enjoying their weekend. Heather remains confident that they are on the right trail and that they will reach the graveyard in an hour and a half. But it soon becomes clear that they are in fact lost and tensions begin to mount, both men resenting that Heather continues to film while they're lost. They press on, braving an arduous river crossing over a log bridge. They soon come across a clearing where they find strange piles of rocks neatly stacked on the ground. Heather recalls something that Mary Brown had said about a pile of rocks in the bible, but can't remember exactly what it is. They find seven piles of stones all in all. That night, they build a fire and cook food, some of the tensions having dissipated a little. During the night, Heather takes them back to the rocks to film more footage and one of them knocks over the pile of rocks. Later still, the trio hears strange noises from the woods and they set off to investigate. Something is clearly moving around them, but Mike refuses to leave the tent to help look for it. Next morning, it's raining harder than ever and the trio discuss the events of the night before. Josh suggests that the noises were caused by local rednecks and Mike agrees, worrying that if someone was prepared to come this far out into the woods just to frighten them, they must be seriously disturbed. The group decides to head back for the car, Heather continuing to insist that she knows where they are going. As the day progresses and they fail to find their way back to the car, tensions again start to run high and, as the day turns into evening, Heather suggests that they camp for the night. Mike is starting to get increasingly stressed by their predicament, though Heather maintains that they aren't far from where they left the car. That night, they are again disturbed by strange noises around them in the dark. They again go outside to see what's causing it and hear what seems to be trees being knocked over and other strange sounds. Josh suggests that it's probably deer, but Heather isn't so sure, noting that "it's on all sides of us" and that the sounds are like footsteps. Next morning, they find three piles of rocks that have mysteriously appeared overnight surrounding their tent. Heather films the rock piles, to the dismay of Mike and Josh who just want to get home. But things are about to get worse - the map has disappeared. Heather had it in

her trousers the night before, but it's gone now and the two men deny having seen it. They are now completely lost and have no way of finding their way back to the car. Josh implies that Heather has deliberately lost or hidden it to keep them all in the woods to complete her movies. Unwilling to give up, the trio keep on following the creek hoping that it will eventually lead them somewhere. Josh reasons that someone will start looking for them when they don't return. They come to a river which again proves difficult to cross and already frayed tempers are stretched almost to breaking point, with Mike now acting even less rationally than ever. Heather is angry that the men are laughing at her when her shoes become waterlogged and a near hysterical Mike admits that he threw the map into the creek because he felt it was useless. Mike and Josh almost come to blows and Heather screams abuse at him, becoming even more hysterical than Mike. The relationship between the three is now completely broken down and they waste time arguing over who is going to hold the compass and apportioning blame. Eventually, after continuing south for a while, Mike and Josh simply stop and refuse to go any further. But in a nearby clearing, Mike finds strange stick figures hanging from trees, dozens of them, some in the shape strange runic symbols, others clearly meant to represent human forms. Heather films the totems for a while before Mike, and Josh demands that they leave the area. Mike screams hysterically for help, reasoning that rednecks have followed them and made the figures. That night, they decide not to light a fire and to extinguish all lights in the hope that it won't give away their position and hence won't attract attention to themselves. But they are again all woken by strange sounds, including what appears to a baby screaming. As they are listening, something starts shaking their tent. All three flee into the night, still filming everything as they go and they spend the rest of the night cowering together in the darkness. At day beak they return to the tent and Josh finds that all of his belongings have been scattered around the clearing and is covered with some strange slimy substance. They also find another of the wooden stick figures fashioned from twigs and vines. Finally sickened by her insistent filming of everything, Mike attacks Heather and tries to get her precious video camera away from her. They again press on and Josh seems to be on the verge of losing it, becoming moody and depressed, wandering off to sit on his own. Mike and Heather forge an uncomfortable alliance, trying to hold the group together. Mike argues that whatever is stalking them will return and that they must keep moving, while Heather maintains that it's simply impossible for someone just to vanish in America. Later, they come to a river and, panic-stricken, realise that it's the same river they struggled across the previous day - they've been going round in circles. Mike rushes off ranting angrily while Heather collapses in tears. They're now desperate and have no idea where they should go - they've been heading south all day and they've simply ended up where they

started from and Heather has no explanation for it. Josh's anger and frustration finally boils over and, turning the camera on Heather, taunts her about her ambition and obsession that has led to them being lost, cold and hungry. Mike tries to calm things down but Josh persists and torments Heather until she again breaks down in tears. Night falls again and they are forced to sleep in pretty much the same place as they slept the night before. They're now too tired and emotional to fight any more and as they discuss the food they miss the most, Heather repairs a hole in Mike's jeans. Next morning, Heather and Mike wake to find that Josh has vanished. They search the area around the camp site but there's no sign of him. Mike believes that Josh has simply gone off for some time alone, but even after they've packed up and broken down the tent, there's no sign of him. Totally demoralised and clearly very disturbed, Heather and Mike move on, trying to keep each others spirits up. Night again falls and they again wake to hear strange noises in the woods, including what seems to be Josh's agonised screams. They stumble around in the dark looking for him, but there's no sign of him and it's impossible to tell which direction the screaming is coming from. At daybreak, Heather finds a strange bundle of sticks held together with twine sitting on the ground outside the tent. She nervously picks it up and throws it away. Heather and Mike are now just too exhausted to move on and they spend the rest of the morning comforting each other. Later, Heather finds another of the bundles of twigs, this time with something inside - she opens it and finds a piece of the material from Josh's shirt wrapped around hair, an unidentifiable piece of viscera, and what appears to be teeth, all bloodied. Heather breaks into hysterics, rushes to the nearby stream and washes her hands before putting on her pack and joining Mike on another fruitless hike through the woods. Their meanderings are becoming ever more random and directionless as their mental states rapidly collapse. Mike is even driven to eating dry leaves to help alleviate the hunger. That night, Heather videotapes a confessional, apologising to her mother and to Mike and Josh's parents for her naivety accepting full blame for what has happened on the ill-fated expedition. She realises that her dogmatism and pig-headedness are what has led them to being where they are. Later in the dead of night, they again Josh's voice, closer this time, pleading for someone to help him and they abandon the tent to go in search of him. Following Josh's voice, Heather and Mike find a derelict house in a clearing and goes inside where they see runic symbols on the wall next to child sized hand prints. Josh's voice seems to be coming from somewhere inside the house and Mike rushes upstairs in search of Josh. Mike then realizes that the voice is now in fact coming from the basement and rushes down the steps. Suddenly, Mike is rendered silent and the camera falls. A hysterical Heather follows and sees

Mike in the corner of the room, face against the wall. Suddenly Heather's camera is knocked down too and she is rendered silent. The film runs for a few seconds and then dies.

"The Blair Witch Project" and "The Sixth Sense" Review by Katharine E. Monahan Huntley The Blair Witch Project, co-writer/director/editors Eduardo Sanchez and Dan Myrick's faux documentary about an urban legend, has created its own mythology. The least of which is its tremendous financial success-a phenomenon sure to be recounted among aspiring filmmakers for years to come. As a horror story, the scare factor is not as startling as one might expect. At least not when you are aware of how the cinema verite' was really produced. Certainly not when you're watching the film knowing full well one of its stars is appearing on Letterman that night. In spite of this, its realistic intensity and wild popularity indicate there's something about the Blair Witch. Survival of the fittest is one take on the story-issuing forth a potential Dramaticagrand argument. Student director Heather Donahue is the main character. Capturing the Blair Witch essence on 16mm is the objective story goal. Heather's crew, Josh and Mike, represent the obstacle character's (dissenting) point of view once the quest goes awry-which is almost immediately. The conflict and eventual disintegration between Heather and the boys is delineated in the subjective story. The outcome is a chilling success, however, the judgment is not just bad-it is horrific. The Blair Witch Project may not be a Dramatica grand argument in the strictest sense. Nonetheless, it is a finely crafted work of filmic fiction and I, for one, am superstitious enough to stay out of the woods and in my hotel suite-room service and a concierge my essential camping necessities. The Sixth Sense is another ghost story, but unlike The Blair Witch Project the ghosts are visible (along the lines of Dickens' restless specters) and the Dramaticagrand argument story quite distinct. Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan performs a neat mind trick upheld by sharp storytelling that, upon replaying the narrative, answers all pertinent questions. The opening sequence outlines the impetus for Dr. Malcolm Crowe's (main character) drive. A renowned child psychologist, his past (mc concern) is visited upon him with a violent suddenness (objective story driver-action). A former patient, grown up and still anguished, puts himself out of his misery by shooting Malcolm and then committing suicide. The good doctor did not understand (os story concern) the nature of his demons. The next fall, the psychologist finds himself diagnosing an acutely sad andsuspicious (obstacle character unique ability) young boy whose problems (desire) are uncannily similar-offering

Malcolm a chance for redemption (judgment-good). Malcolm and Cole Sear conceptualize (subjective story concern) a way (limit-optionlock) to help each other, and in turn help others understand (os goal) the troubled child's gift. The four throughlines are uncommonly well balanced. The main and obstacle characters are fully developed. Although Malcolm and Cole's interactions in the subjective story are the film's focal point, the roles the main and obstacle characters fulfill as objective characters in the overall story are clearly defined and key to the story's resonance-particularly exemplified by Cole's triumphant acceptance (oc resolve-steadfast) of his abilities (oc solution). "Out of the depths I cry to you, oh Lord." An otherworldly plea treated with compassion in this fine Dramatica grand argument story, transforms The Sixth Sense from a "freak" show to one of benevolent humanity.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS OF BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

One of the great strengths and weaknesses of the film is the editing. It is good in that it does much to heighten the tension, with many key moments lasting just a little too long for comfort. Each time the characters find something nasty, the viewer is made to want the editor to cut soon to the next scene, and the fact that he doesn't adds to the sense of being trapped, as the characters are. The problem with this, though, is that one is left wondering about the motives of the fictional editor. In truth, of course, the film is edited to create these effects, and to entertain, but the film's rationale is that these are the rushes of a documentary put together posthumously by someone other than the film's original creator. Why, then, would an editor piecing together such footage, edit for dramatic effect rather than for clarity? Why would he keep cutting back and forth from the video footage to the film footage, when neither shows any more information than the other? The film is stark. After one simple caption at the start, all that follows is the "rushes". I wonder if the film might not have been improved with an introductory section which documented how the rushes were found and edited. A program was made for television which did this. Perhaps a portion of this might have been added to the film, making it more complete and more believable (and proper feature length)

ACTORS Joshua Leonard - Footage shows this young man went missing during the fifth night of the hike. A mysterious bundle of sticks, bound in strips of his plaid shirt, was found outside of the tent the next morning. Further inspection revealed a bloody tooth, some herbs and more of his plaid shirt. Still missing and presumed dead. Michael Williams - Information gathered from the video evidence suggests this man was somehow hypnotized inside a dilapidated old farmhouse in the Maryland forests. Last image of this victim alive shows him cowering in the basement corner of the farmhouse. Like his friends, he is still missing and presumed dead. Heather Donahue - The film which was found buried in the woods suggests this woman was the last to be attacked before the film suddenly ended. Blood-curdling screams from this victim can be heard throughout the last 30 seconds, indicating she was most likely being attacked. Nobody has been found. Presumed to be dead

FACTS ABOUT BLAIR WITCH The three principal actors, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams, shot nearly all of the completed film. - The actors were requested to interview the townspeople, who often, unbeknownst to the actors, were planted by the directors. As a result, the expressions on the actors' faces were unrehearsed. - The working title was "The Black Hills Project." - The actors were given no more than a 35-page outline of the mythology behind the plot before shooting began. All lines were improvised and nearly all the events in the film were unknown to the three actors beforehand, and were often on-camera surprises to them all. - Some theatergoers experienced nausea from the handheld camera movements and actually had to leave to vomit. In some Toronto theatres, ushers asked patrons who where prone to motion sickness to sit in the aisle seat and to try not to "throw up on other people." - The production company Haxan Films borrowed its named from Benjamin Christensen's witchcraft documentary, Häxan from 1922, a source of inspiration for the film. - The house that Heather is in during the opening shot is owned by Lonnie Glerum, the film's key production assistant. He is also operating the camera during the opening shot. - When promoting the film, the producers claimed it was real footage. Some people still believe it. - Before the film was released, the three main actors were listed as "missing, presumed dead" on the IMDb. - One of the video cameras used by the actors was bought at Circuit City. After filming was completed, the producers returned the camera for a refund, making their budget money go even further. - When Joshua Leonard and Heather Donahue pick up Michael C. Williams, they were originally listening to the song "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" by The Animals on the radio. However, Haxan Films couldn't get the rights to keep it in the film. - In the supermarket scene near the start of the film, you hear in the background, the line "You're Rick Derris?". This is taken from Kevin Smith's 1994 film Clerks. - Heather Donahue's discovery of Joshua Leonard's (presumed) tongue and teeth wrapped in his handkerchief bears a striking similarity to Washington Irving's story "The Devil and Tom

Walker". Tom's wife goes to find the devil in the swamp, and never returns home. When Tom goes to find her, he discovers her apron with her heart and liver inside. - The 16-millimeter camera was broken during filming; Joshua Leonard (who had the camera in his pack) rolled down a hill, causing the lens to pop off the camera. - This film was in the Guinness Book Of World Records for "Top Budget: Box Office Ratio" (for a mainstream feature film). The film cost $22,000 to make and made back $240.5 million, a ratio of $1 spent for every $10,931 made. - The sign for Burkitsville at the beginning of the movie has been stolen three times, and was stolen opening night of the movie. - The waitress asking about Blair High School is played by Sandra Sánchez, the sister of director Eduardo Sánchez. - The three leads believed the Blair Witch was a real legend during filming, though of course they knew the film was going to be fake. Only after the film's release did they discover that the entire mythology was made up by the film's creators. - Held the record for the highest-grossing independent movie of all time until October 2002, when it was surpassed by My Big Fat Greek Wedding. - This film uses the word "fuck" 133 times. - The filmmakers placed flyers around Cannes for the film festival that were "Missing" posters, stating that the cast was missing. All the flyers were taken down by the next day. It turns out that a television executive had been kidnapped just prior, and they were taken down out of respect. The executive was since recovered safely. - It took a mere 8 days to shoot this film. - Apparently, Heather Donahue brought a knife into the forest while filming was taking place because she didn't like the idea of sleeping with two guys. - To promote discord between actors, the directors deliberately gave them less food each day of shooting. - In a scene where the main actors are sleeping in a tent at night, the tent suddenly shakes violently and they all get scared. This was unscripted and the director shook the tent; they were really scared. - The first cut of the movie to be screened was 2.5 hours in length.

- Other endings shot in post-production that were scrapped included Mike being hanged, another had him bound to the wall with twigs in the manner of a stick figure. Stick figures themselves were experimented with as decorations in the final scene. - Heather had to be directed to open the twig "package" after throwing it aside. The package contains blood, teeth, and clumps of hair... no tongue.

An analysis of the faux vérité improvised filmmaking process. Methodology

The Blair Witch Project was filmed in real time, even though the filmmakers Knew that only a few moments of footage would be used in the final cut, because they Wanted to maintain the continuity and reality. The actors really took all of the shots that make up the movie. The only scene dubbed is one towards the beginning when Heather and Josh pick up Mike, and there is music playing in the car. For every other scene in the movie, the filmmakers utilized all real sound recorded by the actors, except some addedin ambiance effects (like wind, crickets, etc.) During the day one of the filmmakers would shadow the actors. The filmmakers would then watch each day‟s tapes and make development notes to plan the next day. For example, the car filmed driving in front of the character‟s car when they drive away from the cemetery is actually the production car. In their notes, the filmmakers state: “To ensure authenticity and realism in The Blair Witch Project, the filmmakers employed several techniques. First, the actors improvised their scenes from start to finish which provides a raw, emotional texture. As a result the filmmaking experience felt more like something akin to boot-camp than a film set.” The directors and producers give us an example in their commentary: Heather‟s narration at the cemetery was writen by her for her character‟s film within the film. “They give us so much good stuff for this film. It‟s unbelievable how many good lines they come up with.” In the commentary, the directors and producers also tell of how, during the filming of the first scene, before the characters leave the house, the filmmakers were sitting outside the house with binoculars “nervous as hell,” wondering how things would Turn out. During the filming in the town of Burkettsville, the actors were asked to go out

And interview the townsfolk about the legend of the Blair Witch. According to the Filmmakers notes included in the DVD, the actors did not know which of the people they interviewed were planted actors, and who were true townsfolk. This dynamic was intended to produce natural reactions from the town‟s people, while also making sure that the planted actors told the lines necessary for the movie to make sense, and for the audience to understand the legends from which the following events would be based. The filmmakers had the actors pack their own backpacks and truly hike them around the whole time. Five to eight people were doing all the set up ahead of the actors in the woods. The filmmakers‟ notes from the special edition DVD add: “Although the actors rehearsed the material, situations placed them in unfamiliar territory. The actors constantly underwent disorientation of time and place. The filmmakers managed to achieve and preserve that unnerving reality by „massaging‟ the characters‟ movements; they planted unannounced actors, props and civilians throughout the production. Easy to employ while the actors were in town, this technique grew more complicated once the narrative entered the Maryland forests. In the woods no communication existed between the Filmmakers and the actors. To navigate their way through the forest, the actors Had to rely on GPS. They received notes, gear, and food via baskets marked with Day-Glo orange bicycle flags.” “Taco” was the keyword for getting out of character. For example, one of the nights the crew was running around their tent scaring them for thirty to thirty-five Minutes. Afterwards, they waited for them to go back to sleep before setting the rock piles around their tent. However, the actors kept waking up when the filmmakers Approached. Finally the filmmakers had to yell “Taco” so the actors would know to ignore them, which meant that the next morning the actors had to actually pretend being Surprised by the rock piles. This shows how the filmmakers weren‟t going for simply Well acted scenes, but they were meaning to truly scare and surprise the actors to get Genuine reactions on tape, very similar to the “production of reality” techniques Championed by Jean Roach in films such as Chronicle of a Summer, on the methods of what we have now come to know as “Reality T.V.” During the fourth night, the characters hear the noise of children around them and a baby screaming. What actually happened is that the filmmakers were actually standing around with three boom-boxes with recorded sound of children to wake them up. The characters wake up, panic, and run away from the tent. The filmmakers had to plan an escape path the actors could run through “without poking an eye out or tripping over and killing themselves.” Instructions to learn the path and practice before hand were in that day‟s notes. As they are running away, we can hear Heather yelling “What the fuck was that?” which was her reaction to one of the crew members dressed all in white with white pantyhose over his head running alongside. That night, which happened to be the coldest night they had, one of the crew members fell in the creek. The others ended up having to take off different sections of their clothes to give him dry clothes so he wouldn‟t go into hypothermia walking the mile and a half out of the woods. Once the sun came up the actors return to their camp and find that people messed with their tents, backpacks, and water. The fifth night Josh disappears. During the following night, the other two characters hear him screaming and try to find him. The next morning they find a bundle

of branches that was left at the door of their tent. Heather later finds there is a pouch in between the branches, filled with human blood, hair, and teeth. The last scene, once Mike and Heather get to the house, is pretty much real time. The editing consisted mainly of just cuts back and forth from film to video (Mike‟s and Heather‟s cameras respectively). The audio comes entirely from Mikes‟ camera. When Mike turned a corner at the basement, the filmmakers nailed him (one caught him and one caught the camera), and then asked him to stand in the corner for Heather‟s last scene. Dealing with improvised reality In his documentary, Cinema Vérité: Defining the Moment, Peter Wintonick likens cinema vérité to “a window onto real life and real issues which freed the documentary from conventionally staged shots.” The documentary works with a definition of cinema vérité as “the opposite of the scripted, the conceived, the planned, the argument-led documentary. It was finding bits of life and weaving them together into a coherent whole. Wanting what you got, rather than going out to get what you want.”1 This definition most definitely applies to The Blair Witch Project‟s filmmaking process, including the 1 Kelleher, Ed., Cinema Vérité: Defining the Moment, Film Journal, 7/1/2000 http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4430056-1.html filmmakers‟ attempts to induce certain reactions from the actors, and the improvised dialogue based on a plot-only screenplay. The improvised filming process of The Blair Witch Project involved the risks of many things going wrong unexpectedly, but it also allowed for the possibility of serendipitous strikes of good luck. A good example of the latter is the little known fact that the lady with the baby, whom the actors interview in Burkettsville, was not a planted actor but really a stranger! She claims to have heard the legend of the Blair Witch, and she is the one to mention a supposed Discovery Channel documentary – and it was totally ad lib! It truly worked out surprisingly well. According to the filmmakers‟ commentary, they knew they wanted to keep that scene from the first time they saw it. They uselessly tried to track her down for weeks “with a private detective and everything.” They ended up using the video release they had from her. Other interviewed townsfolk include the waitress at the restaurant and the old man, from whom they were able to obtain signed release forms. An example of how little control the filmmakers actually had over the filming process took place as soon as the actors got to the woods. They got out of the car, and put their backpacks on. Then, they started walking the wrong way! According to their commentary, the filmmakers “thought they were screwed and they weren‟t going to be able to move the actors around the woods for six days and ever find them again.” Luckily the actors noticed and got back on track. However, the well-justified filmmakers‟ nervousness did not stop after that. In the first scene of the characters crossing the log bridge, the filmmakers where actually hiding high on the other side, watching. If the actors fell into the river, the equipment and film would have really been lost! In many occasions, the filmmakers had to adapt to the circumstances. For example, Coffin Rock was originally written to be a bridge. The filmmakers could not find one in the location, but stumbled upon the rock and rewrote it. They had also planned to take Mike out, but ended up having to take Josh out to get a different dynamic between the characters. Plenty of scripted scenes, like one of Josh climbing a tree, did not

make it to the final cut, while other improvised scenes did. On their way to the cemetery, the actors indeed got lost and walked an extra mile and half up and down the trail, while the cemetery was their feet to their left. The filmmakers had put the rocks up hours before, and the actors arrived much later than expected. Luckily, there was still light enough to film the scene then. Another interesting unexpected occurrence derives from an impromptu conversation about Gilligan‟s island. The actors were joking around when Mike comes up with “the Skipper line,” which is considered by many the funniest line of the movie. However, to be able to use it, the filmmakers ended up having to pay rights, which turned it into the most expensive line of the movie, even though it was unplanned. Another unplanned line was that in which Josh says to Heather: “I see why you like this camera so much, it‟s not quite reality. It‟s a filtered reality. It‟s like you can pretend it‟s not really happening.” It is a superb line regarding separation from reality, psychological escapism as a way to deal with traumatizing events, and even the philosophical aspects of “reality” through a camera lens. Additionally, that line brilliantly explains to the audience at least one of Heather‟s potential motivations to continue filming the whole time – a premise upon which the whole film depends. In their commentary to the DVD, directors and producers confess that it was not a prompted line, and agree that it was a necessary and pivotal line in the film. Most of the time, the filmmakers did not know what the actors were doing and how they were reacting, and had to adjust on the go. For example, after they placed the bundle of sticks in front of the actors‟ tent, one of the filmmakers happened to stay behind, because he wanted to watch their reaction when they found the teeth. So, he saw Heather throw the bundle away. He called on the radio and said: “They are walking away and they are not looking at the sticks!” So the filmmakers had to quickly decide whether to interfere and tell them to look between the sticks, which they did. The filmmakers had to deal with the unexpected because of their chosen methodology, sometimes for the good sometimes for the bad, through the whole process. When they were out looking for locations for the film, they just happened to find the abandoned house. They had to remove the graffiti, get nephews and friends‟ children to print their hands with paint on the wall, reinforce some of the floors, etc. Once they got to the editing room, the filmmakers also found themselves surprised by many accidentally well composed shots. For example, there is a scene about an hour into the movie, in which Mike is talking, sitting at the bottom left corner of the frame, with the woods filling most of the scene, which reflects their isolation exquisitely. Another wonderful example happens during Heather‟s confessional scene at the end. It turns out she thought she was framing her whole face. However, the composition with just her eyes and her nose in the bottom right corner of the frame turned out to be a famous staple of the movie. The “documentary on a veritable account” hoax Many aspects of The Blair Witch Project give it the appearance of being a documentary and not a feature film. For example, the fact that it is not produced or distributed by well known large companies, and the fact that the names of the directors and producers are not well known either. Right from the beginning the film appears to be a low-key low-budget film, and the title appearing on regular white font on a plain black background at the beginning of the movie (instead of in a fancy animation accompanied

by pretentious music) attests to this. The text that appears immediately afterwards confirms all of the above: “In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.” This documentary film claims to portray what happened to a group of film students while making a documentary on the Blair Witch. Therefore, it is supposed to be nothing less than a documentary on a documentary. Many details are painstakingly taken care of to make this statement believable. The raw footage look Because the film is supposed to have been put together from the found raw footage shot by the disappeared students, the entire film most appear crude and unedited. Some characteristics of raw footage, which are always edited out of films, but which we can observe in The Blair Witch Project, include out of focus and shaky scenes. We can also hear them talking to each other. In fact, one characteristic trait of raw footage which we find throughout the movie is the audible “voice behind the camera.” We can hear the person behind the camera talking to those in front of the camera. Moreover, we can see raw footage of them filming and/or holding sound equipment, which would obviously have been taken out of edited footage. We also run into unedited mistakes as they speak. Additionally, the sound is natural, sometimes difficult to understand, and does not at all appear to be edited. A documentary filming endeavor The filmmakers also had to make sure that the footage supported the claim that the students who disappeared where indeed trying to film a documentary on the Blair Witch. In fact, there is a clear distinction between two types of footage from which the film is put together. The shots that were apparently meant to be part of the actual documentary the students were filming appear in black and white, and were being filmed on a 16 mm camera, with sound being recorded on cassettes through a DAT. On the other hand, Heather had also brought with her a Hi-8 color video camera, which she used to document their documenting process. The change in Heather‟s tone of voice and modulation on the black and white film footage is also characteristic of documentary narrations. She over enunciates, speaks slower, in a deeper tone of voice, and with a sort of British accent. Additionally, the people they interviewed look like regular people off the street (versus the unusually attractive actors in Hollywood movies). The convention of the presenter addressing the audience through the camera lens is also characteristic of documentary films. Furthermore, we can observe them asking for a videotaped informed consent from the fishermen they interview, when Heather says: “Can I have your permission to use your videotaped image for the purpose of a documentary titled „The Blair Witch Project‟?” Finally, we can tell that they are not simply filming their adventure but truly trying to compose a documentary film when they film the rock piles in the cemetery, and later return to film them again at night, presumably to get a darker and scarier image. As Josh puts it: “Same thing, but darker.” Amateur Qualities The filmmakers are not only expecting us to believe that what we are watching is true footage filmed with the intentions of being a documentary, but that it was filmed by three film students. This is made obvious, for example, in scenes such as the one in the

car, when the characters are driving away from Mary Brown‟s house. They discuss technical aspects of the filmmaking process and the equipment, such as depth of field. Many of the film‟s characteristics illustrate their inexperience, including the aforementioned shaky camera and out of focus takes. In the directors‟ and producers‟ commentary to the film, the filmmakers recognize this is a technical flaw for the film, and state: “but it ends up exemplifying the characters‟ inexperience.” The rounded corners of the film‟s frame, also give it a homemade movie quality. Furthermore, throughout the movie we are witnesses to Heather‟s amateur interviewing skills. She sometimes puts words on people‟s mouths, and often interrupts the interviewees. One example takes place when one of the men they stop to ask questions to on the town‟s streets is telling them about Mary Brown. The man is in the middle of a sentence: “She‟s old …” and Heather interrupts: “How was she seen by the community?” When they are interviewing Mary Brown, she is describing to them what she saw in the woods: “She had a shawl…” when Heather interrupts “and she scared you?” A little later, when Mary Brown is talking about the witch‟s furry body, Heather interrupts “How about her face?” True Legend Whether or not the audience believes the Blair Witch legend is true and accurate, the filmmakers do want to make sure that the audience believes such a thing as the Blair Witch legend actually exists at all. For that purpose, they construct an incredibly detailed Mythology around the legend. They come up with a series of chronological events: a Salem-type witch trial in the last century supposedly documented on a rare book, and Many cases of disappeared children since then, the most recent one involving the murder of seven children. None of the events are true, nor were they ever believed to be true. However, the filmmakers cunningly present them as historical fact. Additionally, the Mention of “a Discovery Channel Documentary on Ghosts and Legends of Maryland Which talked about the Blair Witch legend” by one of the interviewed townsfolk gives the Whole story credibility. Believability One of the basic questions regarding the film which would be obviously raised by the audience involves the fact that the characters had enough battery power in their equipment to last them though the six days. The filmmakers take care of explaining this early on in the film. The characters buy a very large pack of batteries at the store before leaving town, while there are buying their food supplies. In the car one of them actually exclaims: “We have so much battery we could fuel a small country for a month!” The filmmakers also make sure that it seems understandable that the characters get lost in the woods where they are filming. They show that Heather was leading them, but also show she didn‟t really know where they were going. For example, when they are on their way back to the car, one of the boys says “I don‟t remember this,” and Heather replies: “Well, we have to go a little different to get back because we went there in a curve a little bit. Two more hours max.” Even so, for some people it might have been slightly difficult to believe that the characters could get lost when they actually had a map. However, Mike later takes care of that by tossing it into the river. Something he did without being prompted by the filmmakers to do so. The fact that the characters are very human young students constantly arguing with each other, also adds a layer of believability to the film. Furthermore, the fact that

they seem to be just as clueless as the audience regarding what is happening, also makes it easier for us to believe what is being presented on the screen. For example, when they first hear noises at night, the characters actually toy with the possibility that townsfolk have followed them into the woods to mess with them. One very important detail that makes it possible for the audience to believe that this is actual footage filmed by the people on the screen and not a fiction film, is not revealed until the credits at the end of the movie: the actor‟s names and the characters are the same! This is no trivial detail. If the audience read the actor‟s name at the end of the film and realized they were different to the names of the characters, it would have been immediately obvious that it was all fiction. Finally, the filmmakers went through the trouble of creating actual fake newsreels regarding the disappearance of the characters, and of the police search for them. This “newsreels” are included in the special features section of the DVD and were also available on the widely marketed internet site for the movie, together with all the information regarding the alleged legend of the Blair Witch. In fact, the website includes interviews with Heather‟s mother, an image of the “missing” flyer with the pictures of the three students, pictures of the cops‟ search, a Channel 6 interview with Josh‟s father, an interview with two volunteer firefighters that participated in the search, and much more! In fact, the website contains material enough for a whole other documentary on the alleged incident. Realism The style of the film is strikingly realistic. One example of that happens on the fourth day. The characters find the “trinkets,” as Josh calls them, actually strange symbols made of branches and twine resembling men, hanging from the trees all over an area of the woods. After that, we can see Josh is about to break down. He walks away with a clear expression in his face that shows us he is about to cry. The directors and producers note in the commentary that “in a normal film you would have a big giant scene of Josh breaking down, and in this you only have a two second scene as he walks off out of the frame.” Another very realistic scene that tells the audience that this is no fictional feature film, takes places when Heather is inside the tent while she is sawing with a flashlight in her mouth. You can hardly understand what she is saying. An unintelligible dialogue like that would have no place in a fictional commercial movie. Perhaps the most realistic, and well known, scene of the entire movie is that of Heather crying with snot dripping down her nose, while she is apologizing in video to her parents and the boys‟ parents for getting them into that situation. It turns out the actress came up with those lines herself. Furthermore, those were most definitely real tears and real snot. “It‟s rare to find an actress willing to expose herself like that,” remark the directors in the DVD‟s commentary. Inconsistencies Perhaps the first dubious aspect of the film is the fact that there is no mention in the actual film of how the footage “appeared.” In the special features, it is mentioned that anthropology students from another university found the film and cassettes in the house. In fact, that section of the DVD offers very detailed information on how long the footage was kept by the police before they were released. However, none of that information is available in the actual ninety minutes of the film.

One other easy to spot inconsistency takes places while the characters are filming at the Burkettsville cemetery. They talk about tombs of infants who died in the 1940s as evidence of the murder of seven children of the town at that time. However the tomb they film, which indeed reads “infant,” also reads “1907.” The fact that the actors knew they didn‟t have to pack the tents creates one of the movies most often pointed out mistakes, in which the boys are often insisting on Heather to stop filming and go, but they are not putting the tent down − because they knew it would later be put down and left at their next camping ground by the crew! Manipulating reality through editing As marvelously illustrated by Tim Asch‟s The Ax Fight, filmmakers have the ability to manipulate reality acutely, through editing and cutting footage. That which is presented to us as reality after editing could actually be quite different, or in fact completely opposite, to what actually happened in front of the camera. By omitting sections, changing the chronological order, zooming in or cropping, and an infinite number of other tools and effects, editing and cutting can transform the event being filmed to the point of completely twisting its meaning. The Blair Witch Project‟s directors‟ and producers‟ commentary gives the audience a fascinating glimpse into what actually happened when the movie was being filmed, compared to what we see in the edited version. For example, the scene of the characters drinking at the hotel is really over 90 minutes − an hour and half in which the characters “get really hammered” and argue a lot. However, the filmmakers only show a few shots from the beginning, giving the audience a completely different impression of the event. The actual footage filmed by the actors reflects the fact that Josh was in fact the most antagonistic towards Heather throughout the process of filming the movie. In fact, all three of the characters argue considerably more than we are allowed to see. In editing, the filmmakers kept most of the fighting out, and fished for the friendly scenes in order to make the audience sympathize with the characters, especially towards the beginning of the movie. Then, they used the first real big fight the characters get into, and show it as if it was the first fight at all. They chose that particular fight because in that occasion Mike was the most antagonistic. The filmmakers wanted Mike, and not Josh, to be the one to clash with Heather the most. In fact, they cut out a part of the fight “in which Josh said something really nasty to Heather.” It turns out, in the cut version of the scene Josh comes off being the peacemaker. Another example of this takes place during the morning of the third day. It turns Out Heather really went over the top “insulting and bitching at the guys” for not coming Out of the tent long enough, or at all, during the night in order to get on film what was Going on outside, to the point that she later had to apologize to them. However, the Filmmakers decided to cut that section out of the movie to avoid the audience from Antagonizing her character too much On the night after Josh disappears, the other two actors hear his voice (which is Actually him up on a hill with the filmmakers). They look for him for forty-five minutes, Which were then edited down to about two. The filmmakers used the actual sound Recorded from the actors‟ video camera, but picked the best visual scenes and the best

Sound moments and put them together in a non-chronological order. Therefore, even Though both the sound and the images are true to what happened that night, the final Edited version has been distorted to the point of portraying two minutes which never Actually happened – at least certainly not as they appear on the screen. Similarly, Mike‟s freak out scene was actually over thirty-five minutes long. The Filmmakers found it over the top. According to their commentary, it contained some great Moments, but did not further the plot. It was edited down to just a glimpse of him Rocking, and then a shot of Heather putting the camera down and hugging him. Finally, the film as a whole was modified extensively and repeatedly through Editing and cutting, according to feedback and audience reaction from numerous test Showings – not an uncommon practice, but certainly not often given that much Importance or done as many times for feature films. Manipulating reality through the camera lens In part because of the chosen angles, and the decisions of the actors‟ regarding What to film and what not to film, the movie looks like it‟s in the deep woods, when they Are often near houses. A perfect example of this takes place as the characters first get off the car. The scene looks like an isolated woods area, while there are actual buildings just around the corner – a fact that would not be known to the audience, was it not revealed in the DVD‟s directors‟ and producers‟ commentary. The fine line between reality and fiction Because of the improvised nature of the film, it is sometimes difficult to separate the actors from the characters. For example, Josh, the actor, was in fact late in arriving at the time scheduled to begging filming. Therefore, in the film it is shown how his character arrives late to Heather‟s house to leave for their filmmaking trip. During the first night one of the characters talks about hearing a cackling. One of the guys says: “If I would have heard a cackling I would have shit in my pants” − and one wonders whether that‟s him or his character talking. In one of the many scenes in which they are arguing about Heather‟s insistence on filming everything, Mike straight out asks her why she is doing that. She answers: “„cause we are making a documentary!” To which he replies “Not about us getting lost! We‟re making a documentary about a witch!” Which is ironic considering: 1) that, in the film, their “found footage” ends up becoming “a documentary about them getting lost,” and 2) they are really actors making a fictional film about them getting lost. There is actual irony to Mike‟s comment in three levels of reality: actuality, the film, and the film within film. The Blair Witch Project constructs an incredibly complex web of layers of truth. The audience can believe or disbelief what is being presented to them at a number of different levels. Is what is happening to the character‟s true? Are the character‟s real people (actual students who disappeared) and is this real found footage? If so, did a real search for them actually take place as suggested by the provided newsreels and pictures? Even if the story of the disappeared students is not real but made up footage, are the legends of the Blair Witch and the disappeared children real? Any of them? Are they at least believed by some people in the area? Or are they made up legends? Is the book Heather reads out of at Coffin Rock a real book? At the same time the actors in the screen are also dealing with a disturbingly

blurry line between reality and fiction. They know, for example, that the book Heather reads out loud was actually written by the filmmakers, but many of the things that are happening are indeed very real to them. The actors had packed their own backpacks, which they really had to carry around the whole time, as well as the video and sound equipment (although not the tents). In the scene at the market in which we see the characters buying supplies, the actors were really buying their food for the trip with an allowance given by the filmmakers. They really had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the woods. In fact that scene of the boys bothering Heather when she is trying to squat out of sight and pee is real! The actors really did get lost several times, and took longer than expected to make it to the places where they were supposed to be. At night when the filmmakers scared them and they came out trying to catch on film what was going on, it was indeed really cold, and they were indeed woken up from their sleep. Therefore, the actors had plenty of reasons for truly not wanting to be out of their tents. In their commentaries, the directors and produces narrate: “You can tell how cold the nights are because Heather‟s hand is shaking. (…) Even with everything that was going on they had to set up that damn tent every night (…) Even though they always had enough water, they were actually hungry, by the last two days they were only given a power bar and an apple each day (...) You can tell they are exhausted [from their voices, their facial expressions, dragging their feet] (…) You can imagine how easy it is to act frustrated when you are this miserable” Even though it wasn‟t real, what was happening prompted real reactions from the actors. For example, Heather and Mike truly did not know that Mike had gotten rid of the map. Therefore, their reaction, as filmed, is pure and real. The scene as a whole, in fact, was totally unplanned, since Mike kicked the map into the river unprompted and out of real frustration, according to the directors‟ and producers‟ commentary. Another honest and real reaction is that of Mike and Heather upon finding the house when they are following Josh‟s voice. The actors did not know they were going to be led to a house. Neither did they know what was going to happen inside the house, or whether they would find Josh. The filmmakers were actually leading them with well timed boom boxes with the recording of Josh‟s voice: first from the camp to the house, then up in the attic, and finally down at the basement. The filmmakers carefully manipulated the actors‟ state of mind throughout the filmmaking process, exploiting the relationship between fear and exhaustion or desperation. According to the filmmakers notes, producer Gregg Hale used some past army-training techniques he had experienced in order to heighten the actors‟ realist portrayals. Hale adds: “Normally, your conscious mind insulates you from extreme fear. But, if we could wear down the actors mentally and physically – by the end of the film, when really intense things are happening – they‟d tap into a part of their psyche they normally don‟t touch. The results show their fear as primal.” Definitions of Reality The Blair Witch Project was truly an experimental film in its approach to the filmmaking process, reviving some of the methodology of cinema vérité, and foreshadowing many of the techniques now common in Reality T.V. The filmmakers created a parallel universe for the movie, with its fantasized past and its made up present.

They created records to document the mythology behind the movie and the evidence surrounding the alleged events leading up to the release of the movie. Just as impressively, they effective manipulated the actors‟ circumstances with a clear goal of obtaining real reactions and true raw footage for their film. In the process they enraptured themselves, the town of Burkketsville, the actors, the movie‟s audience, and the website‟s visitors, in a complex and multi-layered web of realities.

Summary: The premise of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, a new low-budget horror movie, is that three student filmmakers enter Maryland's Blair Hills Forest to make a documentary on the legendary Blair Witch, a seldom seen, ghostly presence with a 200-year history of brutal murder. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT has none of the gore, brutality and torture in today's teen horror flicks, but it contains much foul language and a moderately strong occult worldview where evil demonic forces are victorious.

Review: Incredible positive word of mouth buzz is launching a $10,000 budget, mainly video captured horror movie called THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. The 1968 horror classic, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, is perhaps its only close relative, in that it exhibits a stark, music-less cinema verite feeling which, to varying degrees, puts the viewer in a you-are-there sense of fright. With no depicted murder or violence, no sex or nudity, and only a brief image of small bloody body parts that look like teeth, the scares in this movie come from an increasingly sense of loss of control and panic, ultimately resulting in sheer terror. The premise is this: in 1994, three ambitious student filmmakers enter Maryland's Blair Hills Forest to make a documentary on the legendary Blair Witch, a seldom seen, ghostly presence that has a history of brutal murder. Led by Heather Donahue, they first get reaction from surrounding townsfolk on the Blair Witch. Opinions range from denial to firm belief. Joining Heather is cameraman Joshua Leonard (who carries both video and 16 mm cameras) and sound man Michael Williams. These three enter the woods and come across a large rock in a stream. This large rock is the supposed murder ground of a search party hunting for a missing child in 1886, 100 years after the first alleged murders by an accused witch who was banished into the woods and presumed dead. As the three film students travel deeper into the woods, the threesome gets lost and lose their map. Irritation arises, then anger, then panic.

Though Josh and Mike simply want to find a way to leave and hence survive, Heather, always the journalist, keeps her video camera rolling even during the biggest arguments. Night after night, strange noises become louder and more prevalent. In the morning, strange totems, suggesting that they are targets of murder, are left outside their tent. The three come across an area in the woods with creepy hand-made people made out of natural materials. The story comes to a climax when Josh suddenly disappears and the remaining two can hear him tortured but cannot find him in the black night. Eventually, the two come across "witch central," resulting in certain doom. Poor lighting and shaky hand-held camera work suggest a true tale, and the acting likewise seems genuine, unforced and contributing to the realism. However, because this is a movie about the Blair Witch and not about the filmmakers, it is strange to see so much footage of the filmmakers just walking around through the woods. Do they not care they are burning so much tape and film? Yet, this point becomes forgivable when the point becomes survival. One can imagine that Heather will tell quite a story with her documentary, even if it isn't the one she expected. Some people may find the reality of the situation undermined by the documentary film approach, however, especially since the student filmmakers seem to have little idea what they're doing. Midway in the movie, it's unclear why these people don't stop filming their pointless, hysterical arguments and just try to leave the woods as fast as they can. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT may not fly with teenagers whose idea of horror is Jennifer Love Hewitt running around in a tight T-shirt screaming all the time while a psycho-killer's on the loose. Those movies try to scare with blood, graphic murder and even torture. Plus, you can't get away from the noisy heavy metal soundtracks. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT happily has none of these. It does have, however, a moderately strong occult worldview where evil demonic forces are physically & mentally stronger than human beings and even God. No one gains any victory whatsoever against these evil forces. Also, the three "heroes" are hedonistic, pagan characters with little moral awareness. They turn to lots of cursing and profane speech and hysterical arguing when things don't go their way. Unlike the appealing, sympathetic Jamie Lee Curtis character in the original HALLOWEEN, it may be hard for some viewers, if not many, to identify with the unlikable characters in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.