My daughter has forbidden me to post it. My son has left my home in shame after having viewed it with a friend. Still, this is America, where we have freedom of expression and I have made a film so frightening yet empowering, so controversial yet provocative that, though it has been banned in my home, I am going to screen it here, for you, my blog readers.
First a few words about how I came to make the film. It was inspired by a film that I made the other day. Yes, I used to call them videos until I posted the last on Twitter and a man commented that he thought the “film” was impressive. In fact, he said that at times, the images of the horse in shadow looked almost like animation and he suggested that I make a film all in shadow, with a sort of narrative. Well, this got me going. I realized that I had a gift. I had made a sort of short film that only needed a narrative. For those who missed the first film, allow me to screen it for you right here, now. Please note the swing near the end of the film. Mark, the protagonist (our hero) has always been alarmed by this swing in real life. He often takes a look at it, and if the wind catches it, he wheels away in fright. So here is the original film. If you can’t see it on your computer, click here:
So after the wonderful review and suggestion by my Twitter critic, I decided to turn the video into a horror film. I thought it would be very scary if the swing turned out to be haunted. So, I won’t tell you how I came to cast the role of the ghost, but I shot about 45 minutes of the ghost swinging, picking flowers, skipping and then I came home and showed what I had shot to my son and one of his friends. Both of these boys are in college studying film so I saw them as my colleagues.
“Isn’t it scary?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say scary, so much as ….disturbing,” said son’s friend.
“Besides,” said son, his face scarlet with shame, “you can see your sneakers in almost all the shots. And Holly is leaping around.”
“I’m going to cut all that out, you’ll see,” I said. “And then I’m going to edit in into the film and have the horse galloping away in fright.”
“You do that,” they said, backing away from me slowly. This was two days ago. I’ve not seen the boys since, but Denis assures me that they are staying in New York with him. Apparently the footage was so powerful and disturbing that they refuse to speak of it, even to him.
Anyway, it turned out that I don’t have the software required to cut videos into each other. And once I cut out all the shots with my sneakers and the dogs, I was left with a very, very short video film.
Still, I think you’ll agree that it shows promise. I warn you that, though it’s short, it’s very, very scary.
DO NOT WATCH IF YOU SUFFER FROM A HEART CONDITION, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME, OR ARE PRONE TO FITS OF SHAME BY ASSOCIATION:
Click here if you can’t view.
Here’s the director’s cut with all the outtakes. Interesting shot at 0:28. Director has utilized terror inducing device of having Ghost Girl almost step on something HORRIBLE. Very effective sequence at end leaves the audience wondering if there isn’t a little Ghost Girl in all of us, and if so, how do we get rid of her?
Also, music is called “Kiss Me Deadly.” I swear!
Wish I had read the bit about “IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME” I just sh** my knicks when i saw your ghostly hair do……
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! That is hilarious mt fav “FILM” to date!
LOL,LOL,LOL,Ann, It’s time to hang up the camera on your shadow “films”.
I’m sooo dizzy!
: )
I thought the beginning was scary, but the ending took me totally by surprise. When the pig-tailed ghost waved her hand, I shrieked.
Fascinating. The shift from Blair Horse to Blair Swing left me reeling. Hopefully you will be adding an ‘outtakes’ reel. I’m sure we all want to see your artistic ‘process’ in process, if not the ghost in the machine.
I love to start the day with a chuckle. Thanks.
Can not view until I get home tonight. Is our book club tonight? It thursday, but the 13th, let me know.
Oh sorry Candy, it’s next week but now I’ve been getting emails that people aren’t finished and want an extension. Can everybody do Thursday the 27th? I LOVE this book by the way and believe it is very timely with all that is going on now with the proposed immigration laws. If any of you haven’t started it, do, you won’t be sorry. It’s about the beauty and wonderful diversity brought to the Nebraska plains by a colorful and industrious group of immigrants. It’s also about how migrant families prospered due to the hard work of the young women. The writing is so lovely and the characters wonderful. I’m so glad you recommended it Candy.
Not as scary as the knife-wielding, hard breathing stalker that menaced Moses. (maybe not knife-wielding). I thought this new film was rather lovely, how did you get the girl from Wendy’s hamburgers to do a cameo?
My only critique is that it’s a little confusing which novel by Sapphire is this film is based on? But other than that I see NO problems. It’s very great!
This film is way good.
Ann,
Robert DeNiro just called. He’s angry that you withheld your short film from the Tribeca Film Festival. (but he loves your hair in this “film”)
This is just an example why your blog is the BEST; not only do you take the time to keep us entertained, but look at all the clever, funny post by your followers.
I’ll say it again, this is an amazingly talented group.
What Cynthia said!
Rebecca and Amanda: Hilarious!
And Ann Herself: HILARIOUS!!!
It is humbling to be witness to such brilliance.
And Ann, thank you for the MY ANTONIA reprieve … I’m going to the library tomorrow, I promise! I’ve been meaning to get it started but, well, you know …
Thursday the 27th sounds perfect (as in, “so comfortably far away that I can delude myself into thinking there’s *plenty* of time to get it finished”). Thanks for the extension.
I thought the film was sweet, and the music so appropriate. How long does it take you to select the music for your films? The little – altho her shadow isn’t really little – girl reminded me of Pippi Longstocking without her braids. In fact, spooking around with the swing is just something Pippi would do. She’s such a monkey, and one of my favorite characters of all time.
Oh, and the film’s music is perfect! So creepy-melancholy.
Pigtail Ghost-Girl’s hauntingly slow wave is exactly what the scene called for, too.
That’s it. I am not coming Saturday night unless the ghost girl comes with hair intact for me to make her acquaintance. And after that I’ll run away in horror or cower behind Bev’s scooter.
On another note, since you enjoy riding with a camera, you should consider getting a helmet cam like Doug Payne, who taped his XC run in the Jersey Fresh CCI Three Day Event. Many of the jumps are new, but I did the event more than 10 years ago with Midnight, and there are a few I remember jumping! (The cannons at No. 7 and the water combinations in particular.) Here’s the link:
http://www.dpequestrian.com/video/flashvideo/2010_happyvalley_jerseyfresh2s_xc.html
Arliss, My Antonia is a really good read – you’ll definitely be finished by the 27th. It’s such beautiful language (I remember a line about “sun-baked earth” and it has stuck with me!).
Bev: Please change your knickers before Saturday, thanks! xo
Judging from the “film’s” hilarious introduction, and everyone’s comments, I can’t wait to see this “film” when I get home tonight.
Okay, Okay, since you all insisted, I have released the outtakes of Ghost Girl on Swing. It’s my director’s cut, if you will. There’s an interesting moment at 0:28 when Ghost Girl comes close to stepping in something rather frightening. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lkh_-gaHmY
KC, the video of that cross-country ride is great! Thanks for sharing that. How amazing to see the whole course from horseback. Some of the obstacles are so intimidating — the cannons, the uphill-downhill ones, the water combinations! And that one near the end, where the horse jumps through a circular hole in a wall of brush! The sheer length of the course must be exhausting. What an athletic, unflappable horse it must take. Some of the jumps are so narrow, so strange-looking, and at such odd angles, and there’s not an ounce of hesitation. I have such admiration for you for having competed in these events!
Ann, the outtakes are almost as good as the final film! The dandelion is such a nice touch. I love how you so got into character — adore the white sneakers.
Oh, and the “ground hazard” at about 0:28 adds such an element of danger!
OMG OMG!!!! I am dying at the outtakes!!!! What i want next is full on camera action on what you were wearing!!!! Pig tails…. sneakers and a triangle cardboard dress!!!! the dramatic throwing of the weed………. pure raw talent!
off to change me knicks…… again.
Okay, Ghost Girl-the Director’s Cut, is a little creepy with the music. What would be even scarier, if you had neighbors watching you dressed up like that, walking around taping your shadow!
Actually that was a tennis skirt that I wear all the time. Pigtails make it creepy. Okay, it’s sort of creepy anyway. I have bird legs.
Okay, I found the film really spooky! And the music was perfect. When ghost girl waves at the end, I literally got a chill. I’m also dying to know how you kept the swing going…complete with the seat at an angle, thus implying someone was sitting on it.
Don’t worry about the offspring and friend. Great artists are never fully appreciated in their time.
P.S. The 27th for “Antonia” is perfect.
I think the “element of danger” that’s present at :028 frightens even the dandelion. Did you see Edvard Munch’s “Scream” on the face of the dandelion about 1:03 to 1:05?
All I’ve got to say is next year when you’re accepting your Oscar, you’ll just need to conveniently leave the “non-belivers” out of your acceptance speech. HA!
believers…dammit I hate it when I mis-spell something!
i’m going to attribute the following to the fact that i’m currently testing out bi-focal contacts, but…..
in the first video i thought i spotted a golf ball, er, gallstone and in the second one….um, dog poop?
Your right Lisa, I see balls and poop too…..
I think your “film” is awesome! The music is pretty damn perfect for it too. Yeah, I was wondering how you got the swing going and stay going too. Did you swing it super hard, let it go, and walk away?
we want more scarey stuff…
Wait…are you guys saying there really isn’t a ghost?????
I was more frightened by the first film of the horse head with the godfather background music (OK it quickly turned more spanishy, but not soon enough for me!).
Ann -
Ignore the naysayers – this is brilliant! What could be more scary than the shadow of a ghost with pigtails! And the music is perfect!
I think this could be the beginning of a whole new career for you.
Linda S.
Can we get a “Ghost Girl” mini-series?
Brilliant film, Ann! Off to get in touch with my inner Ghost Girl.
We will be traveling, so I’ll miss the My Antonia chat. I loved the book and know you will all have a wonderful discussion. Maybe Ghost Girl will make an appearance.
Ann – frightening…..I think? I have to agree with Colleen – I sort of expected Vito Corleone to pop out of a tomato garden……or perhaps the search has ended for Baby Jane Hudson.
I watched “Ghost Girl on Swing” first thing this morning before going to work. I had a headache for the rest of the day.
Ann, at times like these you should be thankful that you don’t have any neighbors who live really close by.
Oh that scary, pig-tailed ghost girl…I’ll be sleeping with the lights on tonight. (It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie…)
I am home now and finally got to see the film, thank goodness ghost did not step in the poop, that would have been really scary.
I love the film . . . I give it two pigtails up! I think what upset your family was that you wrote, starred, directed, produced, filmed, editted, did makeup and wardrobe . . . basically did the whole shebang yourself. That sort of talent and initiative frightens some people. . . or maybe it was the inner “Bad Seed” that spooked ‘em.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxisjomvvSY
Whoa! That Ghost Girl video scared the living daylights out of me. When she waved at me, I almost had to change my catheter.
Please don’t make any more Ghost Girl movies. Make nice movies, with little girls really sitting on swings, and no more shadows please. I hate shadows.
The horror!!! And the white Keds just add a darker twist. How did you convince your husband to wear the wig!? Still, though, it made me consider my mortality.
I just died laughing!! LLOOVVEE the pigtails! It would have been really scary if the dandelion started floating upwards when Ghost Girl went to pick it up. However I have absolutely no suggestions as to how that could even be done haha. Picturing the boys slowly backing away as you showed them the film made me crack up too! WAY TO GO GHOST GIRL!!!
Who’s afraid of their own shadow . . . their own shadow . . . their own shadow! It is all just smoke and mirrors . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un1pNtmYguA
Tiny suggestion for next project–director’s cut might benefit if director were blabbing intermidably with major protagonist over the soundtrack telling us every tiny intent of the film. Plus including some commentary from Mark since he was the inspiration.
After first movie, me feel very dizzy…after second movie, me feel scared and very dizzy.
LOL, the next recommended video on Youtube is Paranormal Activity: Ghost Farts.
.. me very scared too…
I was wondering where Ann was today. Then I realized that she’s probably on location filming her sequal.
Okay, I’ll tell you where I’m going today. There’s a big horse show nearby and they do a special dog-jumping puissance with a cash prize! I found out about it yesterday. They have small, medium and large dog divisions. Have been schooling Holly over jumps all morning. Now I’m massaging her legs and getting her to use meditation and visualization techniques (“you’re being handed a blue ribbon, the crowd is roaring’) to help her focus.
Of course I’ll bring Flipcam and regular cam. Going with my friend Jen, whose dog Rugby won his division last year. Of course! Mr. Fabulous!
looking forward to seeing ms. holly do her stuff..
Good Luck to Holly and her trainer !!!! If the training techniques work, I’m going to try them on Pippy the Chihuahua living at my house–”picture the poop on the grass, not on the carpet….on the grass not the carpet” Hope she gets that blue ribbon !!!
Can’t wait for the video !!
I guess when Rugby isn’t reading doggy porn, he’s out jumping.
Good luck, little Miss Holly Golightly!
Good luck to Holly and Ann! Can’t wait to see the video.
“Puissance.” Now there’s a fifty-cent word for us non-equestrians. I had to look that one up. Once again, this blog is both fun and educational.
Puissance scares the Bejeesus out of me. . . I remember seeing a crazy little grade Appy with a big ole thick neck jump well over 7′ at the Cow Palace when I was a teen. I have no idea what would possess a horse to jump a wall taller than it is, unless like the proverbial chicken, that horse just really wants to get to the other side. I’ve known little horses to jump out of their stall to get to green grass, or friends. . . I’ll bet Holly is a natural. Good Luck, Ann — can’t wait to see the video.
Well, I won’t be too disappointed to be stuck in Vegas this weekend, instead of at the ASAP extravaganza bidding way over my allowance on some fabulous silent auction item (I am the auction queen, and that includes the silent kind). I found out this morning my idol, 8x World Champion Calf Roper Fred Whitfield is coming to compete in the Helldorado Rodeo!!!
It is especially sweet, because last year I posted on his message board that the Helldorado Rodeo (after returning from a long hiatus) was a really good one, and that in my humble opinion if he could fit it into his intense schedule, we would love to see him there. I’m not sure that he took *my* advice (35 NFR cowboys are competing this year), but none the less the “Whitfield Watch” says he will be here on Sunday.
I could go on and on about Fred, but I think this little story sums it up, and speaks to the heart of the man.
Fred is getting older, he no longer dominates the sport like he once did. In 2007 he had shoulder surgery, and he didn’t qualify for the National Finals Rodeo. In 2008, he did make the cut, and I took the opportunity to have him sign my favorite poster of him that I have had since 2000. Even in 2000 the poster was somewhat outdated, as it proclaimed him “3 Time World Champion”. Still I love the layout of it, and it hangs in my cowgirl room.
So when I present it to Fred for signing, I ask him to update it with all the dates of his Champion wins — he looks at the poster, and fixating on the dominate photo of him and his steed, he says with the utmost brevity, gravity, and sincerity “That was a really good horse.”
I could tell that he was really touched to see his old friend again, and of course so was I.
In Fred’s “Personal” section of his bio this is written “His nickname is “Moon,” and he got it from his grandfather. His best horse was also named Moon that died in December of 2006, after breaking its hip.”
That’s the way it is with cowboys . . . they may love their women, but nothing will ever compare to the love of their horse.
http://www.fredwhitfield.com
Ann, really enjoyed ghost girl, and music was special and created just the right drama…My mind after thinking a little, saw a girl’s shadow at a window inside her home… a dark storm is passing outside…and the shadow runs out of the house as the shafts of sunlight pierce the black clouds and begin hitting the earth, and you see the dark shadow of the girl running across a brightly sunlit field, and the shadow mounts the swing and begins to swing higher and higher…I know there is a way to morph your real body into a shadow, but it would take some special effects training…You have such good ideas, you should take some film courses to get more comfortable with those creative urges you keep getting…
Everyone have fun tonight. Did anyone think of pictures or cameras for the less fortunate on the West Coast? Can’t wait for the Dick Tracy Skype. Listen carefully and raise money for a good cause.
The music to Ghost Girl is perfectly eerie……..I’m afraid to go to bed tonight. Will put on nightlight in bedroom and find teddy bear….just in case.
I know most everyone here are animal lovers…just wanted to let you know that there are two new articles about the ongoing problems at the CT Humane Society up on http://ctwatchdog.com or you can read my blog post about them at http://www.jankozlowski.com
i love how you’ve stumbled onto a sideline career of horror film director. is there a horror flash film festival? if not, maybe you could start one.
the music’s perfect. the hairdo…reminded me of a rerun of “The Office” we caught the other day where Michael forces his employees to suggest women he might date. Kevin gives him a card with a recommendation and Michael reads it and says, “Hot, juicy redhead…that sounds good!” when he dials the number, the woman answers, “Wendy’s.” 
there was some glitch in my online order, so i got a very pleasant call from a woman at the Hickory Stick last week. looking forward to getting my signed copy. hope it was fun!
Ann- I read your blog all the time, but have never commented UNTIL TODAY. Ghost Girl! I LOVE it. Excellent idea and I can’t wait to see more of this FILM series. Ghost girl on a skateboard? Ghost girl could have a ghost dog, too, to go with her ghost horse.
Anyway, thanks for the film. Awesomely awesome stuff.