Filmmaker Spotlight: “Bells” by DJ Remark
This month’s spotlight is a short that I recently had the pleasure of working on as 1st Assistant Director.
“Bells” is a horror short film directed by DJ Remark, who co-wrote the script along with Angelia Green. In the short, a man named Morgan introduces his son to a traditional ritual the townspeople perform every year as part of a dark bargain made years ago. Also featured in the short is a heretical neighbor who rejects this superstition and refuses to participate in the ritual. Bram Fulk stars as Morgan, with Angelia Green and Mark Owen co-starring.
Some of you may remember that I previously wrote a post about DJ and his award-winning short, “Good Works.” I won’t give too much away about “Bells.” As I stated in my “Good Works” write-up, the less you know about a horror film, the better your viewing experience will likely be. What I will say is that thematically, these two shorts are somewhat similar since both deal with making (or not making) deals with the devil. But while Good Works was more of a slow-burning character study, Bells is a plot-driven narrative about the dark consequences of the aforementioned theme.
This is the more recent short film that I’ve had the privilege of working on. I had a great time on set with the cast and crew, especially cinematographer Jack Miller, grip/electric Jon Cibella, and makeup artist/2nd AD Elizabeth DeFelice, who also did a pretty good job as the short’s “Goat Wrangler.” After this pandemic is over, I’m looking forward to working with all of them again.
DJ is currently in preproduction on two projects: a new short for the FrightFilm Competition and a feature film entitled “We Lived.” (The first draft of the latter project’s screenplay was recently completed.) If you’re a fan of his work like I am, I’ll be sure to keep you updated on his progress on both of them. And I’ll be back next month with another spotlight. But for now…
…click on this link to watch “Bells!”
Bonus: click on this link to read DJ’s blog post about Bells with bonus behind-the-scenes pictures from the production!
