Revision as of 00:32, 8 July 2007

Teaser poster for Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll

Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll is an upcoming film written by Marilyn Manson with Anthony Silva and Geoff Cox. It is directed by Manson as part of his Celebritarian Corporation art movement. The film will be distributed by Blue Light studios.

Tagline: The sleep of reason produces monsters.

Plot

A synopsis given to journalists at the press conference mentioned above, read:

Victorian England.

A haunted writer in an isolated castle is tormented by sleepless nights and visions of a girl named Alice. He finds himself becoming a symptom of his own invention.

"Now all my nightmares know my name."

He is Lewis Carroll. Terrified of what waits for him each night.

Manson has stated his aim for the project is to "redefine the horror genre" and bring it back to the days of "Polański and Hitchcock". He is also been linked with other projects such as Alejandro Jodorowsky’s King Shot and an as yet untitled film with Tilda Swinton.

Current status

The script for the film has been complete since December 2005 and shooting began in January 2006, in Ireland. At a press conference for the film Manson (who will be playing Carroll) and Lily Cole (who will be playing Alice) showed a five-minute trailer to roughly 60 journalists which was generally well-received.

Manson stated in June 2006 that he sees himself "as more a student of film than of music" and after Phantasmagoria is planning a trilogy of films retelling three Edgar Allan Poe stories.

Although producer Alain de la Mata, hoped to have the film completed in late 2006, filming has since been postponed for Marilyn Manson's Rape of the World 2007 tour. Filming will commence in October or November 2007.

Release

Initially, the short films, and possibly the feature film, were to be reportedly made available through Manson's official website, but the website has since been revamped to now exclude the section reserved for these previews. It is uncertain whether or not the videos are still intended to be be released on the website. Manson stated that the first film's release will be "very unconventional".

Manson has also made many references to how his website will change in the future stating that the website is very video-extensive and "has been created to be a place where you can see even more than what is in the film, whether it will be viewed as trailers or teasers, or further elements that aren't necessary to support the film. If you enjoy the film, there's a wealth of knowledge there to dig deeper." Manson has confirmed that he had little involvement with the incarnation of the website at the time this statement was made, and that he was the main designer of the new incarnation launched in April 2007. It is not known as to why there was a video section in the site incarnation he was uninvolved in, as oppose to the video section being completely removed in the version he was the main contributor of, as his actions seem to completely contradict the statement above.

Though initially planned for distribution through his website as a series of short films, Manson now plans for a conventional cinema release in mid-2007 alongside a soundtrack drawing upon original music for the film and previously unreleased songs that "didn't fit elsewhere".

Filming locations

Filming locations, for the most part, have occurred in Ireland, although Manson has expressed interest in Sintra, Portugal as another possible location for either this film, or a possible sequel. Manson explained Sintra, delegating it as "a very powerfully magical, strange place. It was my first choice for location to shoot my film Phantasmagoria or possibly the second part of what I want to do, which would be the follow-up." Shooting commenced in Ireland in January of 2006.

Score

Manson has mentioned that so far the music has been based around some of the score he originally created for American McGee's Alice before he left that project. He intends to be working with Madonna Wayne Gacy and Tim Skold on the score but has added that he doesn't want to over extend himself as he has other responsibilities, acting and directing. Gacy's involvement in the project beyond what has been composed so far is uncertain due to the fact that his friendship with Manson has been described recently as "weird". Gacy has even gone as far as to drop out of the live line-up of the band for the first time in its history. His hiatus from the band and state of friendship with Manson at this point is uncertain.

Manson has mentioned the possibility of there being at least one unoriginal song used in one of the films. "There's a song that's a huge influence on the way the movie ends called "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" by Roxy Music, and it very well might make its way into a film, which would be very odd because it's a 70s song in a 19th century film."

Style and process

Manson has stated that Phantasmagoria will be filmed in a way no one has done yet. "I have a camera that I'll be the first person to use in cinema, and I'm very excited about it. It's very unique." He has suggested the use of subliminal elements to enhance feeling, but also says he may go further. "I'm going to do a lot of things that may end up being illegal. Until they are, I will do them. I think it will change people's opinion about horror films and they will realize they're not all about slasher. "It's kind of a return to Hitchcock-style psychological horror about letting your mind do the damage and sometimes what you don't see is scarier."

Personnel

Cast

• Marilyn Manson – Lewis Carroll
• Lily Cole – Alice
• Evan Rachel Wood - Alice (Speculated)
• Tilda Swinton –

Crew

• Marilyn Manson – director, producer, writer, score
• Alain de la Mata – producer
• Geoffrey Cox – writer
• Anthony de Silva – writer
• Lewis Carroll – writer (Adaption of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass)
• Madonna Wayne Gacy – score (May no longer be involved)
• Tim Skold – score
• Benoît Debie – cinematography
• Steven Klein – art department