Vickie Sampson
Stories (1/0)
The Owl and the Scream Master
It was a dark and stormy night... Not really, but it was dark and the light from the moon created just enough blue to create a mysterious glow, outlining the apex of my very steep roof. The perfect setting for a scary movie, one like director Wes Craven ("Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream") would have directed. As a sound editor, I worked with Wes on four of his films. Despite the content he created, he was the sweetest, non-scary and most gentlemanly man. He loved birds, especially raptors and owls. We would send each other stories and photos of birds we encountered. It was sweet and endearing. He photographed them on his porch in the Hollywood Hills and told me that certain birds would come visit him often. He felt a spiritual connection to them, probably because they could fly away whenever they wanted. Wes was sheltered as a boy - not allowed to watch TV or go to see films. It's ironic to me that he became a filmmaker. Or is it? Being denied something makes the desire for it even stronger. He told me that at, Wheaton College, away from his parents' stern rules, he absorbed every movie and every experience he could. Interesting that "Nightmare on Elm Street" was about a killer who kills his victims by invading their dreams. He had big dreams. Wes became designated as a horror director and when he tried to direct a different genre, an uplifting film "Music of the Heart" starring Meryl Streep, his fan base didn't respond to it. He told me later, when we worked on "Scream 4" together that it made him rather sad that he was pigeon-holed as a horror director. I recently learned that he started out as a sound editor, after a messenger job in New York City. As a sound editor myself, I was always impressed with his "sound" sensibilities. He recognized what sounded right to him, both morally and aurally. When we worked together, he always deferred to me for my contribution to the soundscape of the film and would only interject this thoughts when he had an idea, and even then, very respectfully. This was unlike a lot of directors I worked with who just wanted to ramrod themselves over any underling, no matter how important that "underling" was. Wes did not do that. He often shared his photos with me that he would take on the set, while directing. In fact, some of his on set photos hang in the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in Hollywood, which is part of the Motion Picture Academy. He had an amazing eye for contrast, color, composition and story-telling. His photographs told a story. That 1/150th of a second told a whole story.
By Vickie Sampson2 years ago in Humans