Posts Tagged ‘Eric Stanze’

When I see a really intriguing artist in the course of my web travels, my first thought is, “I must share this cool shit with everyone!” Well, when someone as talented as Jim Wayer (aka Wicked Illusions) falls right into my lap while I’m editing the webzine, that goes double!

You’ve seen Jim’s beautiful images in Nos’ Devil Inside features. From the pretty portraits to the dark undertones of the Used and Abused set and the creepy camp of the Transformation set that turned Nos into a hot, fur-encased werewolf, he has been a perfect visual foil for our resident gore whore’s thoughts. Once I started looking further into his work, I found not only some awesome creepiness, but also a selection of purely sexy imagery and portraits with personality and (refreshingly) just a bit of a whimsical eye. Below is a gallery with a taste of Jim’s Wicked Illusions. Visit his website WickedIllusions.com to see more and get information on how to book him (or click the logo).

A little background on Jim (from his website bio):
Wicked Illusions (a.k.a. Jim Wayer) is an award winning film maker who has taken his love for the visual dynamic into the realm of photography. A fairly new comer to the photography scene, he has already had his work published in Bizarre Magazine and Zivity, as well as here on the Lip Service webzine, and has been gaining the attention of many in the Alt/Fetish realm (which is where he feels the most at home).

Nothing shall stop him from bettering himself as an artist and experimenting into higher levels of insanity. So join his demented band of freaks or prepare yourself for battle! He also loves little puppies.

 

 
I had a chance to ask Jim a few questions and here’s what he had to say for himself …

Webmistress: How did you start getting interested in photography and who were your influences? I could ask the same about horror … and will … why dark themes and who influenced your style?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: Well my love for photography really spawned from my love of lighting. It all began with becoming a film maker and realizing how the lighting actually affected the mood that you felt when viewing the imagery. My main influences are filmmakers that expand the visual means of their films, which also is a reason I am attracted to horror, because you see this all the time in the genre. You get such beautiful imagery in films like Susperia and The Beyond, that you just don’t see in films like Big Momma’s House. Also, one of the many hats I wear is that of a Special FX artist, so I have a deep-rooted history and love with all things gory and scary!

 
WM: If you had to describe your work in a sentence or less, what would it be?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: The dark, sadistic side of beauty

 

WM: What is your process in creating images and where is the most crazy place you’ve gotten inspiration for a shoot?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: I have multiple processes for creating images. Sometimes, I know exactly what I want and spend hours of adjusting to capture that. Sometimes I have a broad idea of the feel that I want to go for, but let the shoot take on its own life. It’s very enjoyable for me when a shoot takes a turn that I didn’t expect and achieves a greater result! I get very bizarre inspirations from strange places. I tend to see the truths behind many things more than their face value. I see a flyer for a church picnic and what I see is a good marketing idea for the church to make some money. One of the recent bizarre inspirations came from seeing somebody drinking a tropical drink out of a coconut. Still have not planned that one out yet, but it’s coming!

 
WM: So, how dark are the recesses of your mind?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: Ha! I don’t know what you mean! The recesses of my mind are like bluebirds flying around in an open field…just sometimes they happen to land on a landmine.

 
WM: What would be a subject or scene you would not do, no matter what?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: I cannot say that there is a specific scene or image that I absolutely won’t do. There are certain subjects that I would never show in a certain light. For example, I would never show a child mutilated or abused simply to be shocking, however, if should that image was more about portraying the evilness of the person inflicting such pain on the kid, then I would be ok with it (of course all implied and not actually hurting a kid!).

One of the more horrifying subjects that I see is that of animal abuse and torture. I am a huge dog lover and seeing such subject matter always pisses me off. However, I also push myself in that way too. If I come across something that frightens me, I confront it and overcome my fear of it. Sometimes the way to overcome a fear of heights is to simply stand on a ledge 5 stories in the air. So there isn’t anything that I would absolutely never show, because I think all taboo subject matter can be shown in certain aspects, where it actually conveys an appropriate message.

 

WM: What is the most challenging subject you’ve done so far?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: The most challenging subject that I have come across is having to shoot sets that are, as I call them, “Normal photos”. I like shooting fashion photos, as long as I can have my visual feel to it. There are many places that I have come across that immediately dismiss photos because, god forbid, there are shadows!

I don’t care too much for the photos that are all soft and flat. I have a recent love for soft light, but still want to create a more three dimensional feel to a photo in regards of the subject and the scene around them.

 
WM: If logistics and budget were no object, what would your Holy Grail photo shoot be?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: Well, equipment wise, I’d have about three 27’ grip trucks packed to the brim. However, location wise, I would love to have free run of an abandoned, underground military base. I also would love to recreate the test towns that the government set up for nuclear bomb tests and have a whole mess of models, dressed up, and charred, posing as the mannequins.

 
WM: On a similar vein, if you could do a portrait of anyone, who would it be and how would you present them?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: It would definitely be Masuimi Max. She has a look that would make a priest have to say 10 Hail Mary’s! I would either present her in a 70’s exploitation style battered victim way, or as a deranged psychopath. Seeing her in a ripped up straightjacket, splattered with blood and holding some form of blunt object.

 
WM: Beside photography, what are your creative passions?

WICKED ILLUSIONS: The two main artistic releases I have besides photography would be web/graphic design and film making. I find a strange pleasure in typing like a madman in this bizarre coding language and having it turn out all pretty like! A few recent examples of this are My Website, and the new Wicked Pixel Cinema webstore.

On the filmmaking front, I love being on set and simply being a part of such magnificent display of organized chaos! My first major film that I ever worked on was DEADWOOD PARK, where I was Key Grip. That movie also sucked me into joining Wicked Pixel Cinema. That’s when I declared that no matter what, I will be an artist for the rest of my life. Since then I wore many hats through the insane production of Eric Stanze’s current movie RATLINE and manage day to day operations at our studio. I also am happy to say that in two days I leave for New York to work in the Grip/Electric department on Jim Mickle’s film STAKE LAND!

Photo/credit information is as follows:

row 1 (left to right): “Used and Abused”  / Model: Nos; “Ugly America” (Merch Shot for Ugly Shyla’s T-Shirt)”  / Model: Nos; “Eating Pussy” (Original title) aka “Sweet Kitty” (Censored title)  /  Model: Nos; “Shut up and Listen!”  /  Model: Pandora Genocide

row 2 (left to right): “Sexy Domestic (Zivity Set Preview)”  /  Model: Pandora Genocide; “Infidelity”  /  Model: Pandora Genocide; “Gossip”  /  Model: Pandora Genocide; “Ghostly Seduction”  /  Model: Pandora Genocide

row 3 (left to right): “Flesheater”  /  Model: Pandora Genocide; portrait of filmmaker Eric Stanze of Wicked Pixel Cinema; “Elegant”  /  Model: Nos; “BUBBLE (Zivity Set Preview)” / Model: Kaila Marie

row 4 (left to right): “Breezy and Beautiful”  /  Model: Nos; “Vintage Beard”  /  Model: Jason Christ; Voyeur’s Delight”  /  Model: Sarah Swofford; Merch shot for Wicked Pixel Cinema’s Logo T-Shirt  /  Model: Pandora Genocide

Halloween is almost a week away and I’m sure many of you share the same love for this holiday as I do.  If you ask me, it’s the perfect holiday. Sure I love the little perks like buying a new bat covered table cloth or having the best excuse to buy a costume! But, the BEST part about Halloween is that it’s a day just for you. You don’t have to go to someone’s house and eat an awkward dinner or spend money on other people. You’re supposed to dress up and indulge in yourself! It’s also a time that my favorite film genre really shines. Well, at least it used to be anyway….

This fall Hollywood seems to have “dropped the ball” once again.  Instead of opening highly anticipated  movies like  TRICK R TREAT,  NIGHT OF THE DEMONS and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET around Halloween, they’ve bumped those projects straight to DVD or opted for an April release, ’cause who wants to see scary movies around Halloween?

Some critics are saying that the reason NIGHT OF THE DEMONS got pushed to April is that it’s a terrible film and would do poorly. Now I’ll have to admit that as a HUGE fan of the original, the remake looks pretty silly from the trailers. However, the producer in me is screaming, “Halloween is the ONLY time this film would make money!”

And you know what’s gonna happen…. April will roll around and the movie will flop. Perfect. Everyone who was involved in the film and was counting on it to show some type of success will be back to the drawing board.

It’s hard to imagine that after decades of turning a profit, studios still doubt horror films. They seem to have this perception that horror is all campy and outdated, that nobody really wants to pay to see these films.

Fucking stupid.

I doubt it’s gonna change anytime soon. All we can do as fans is continue to prove the naysayers wrong.  We have to support the filmmakers and actors we love … no matter what time of year or what format their films come out in.  Someday studios will tire of/be unable to sink millions of dollars into stupid Sandra Bullock movies and horror directors won’t have to scrap for every penny. Someday.

Enjoy Halloween Lippy fans! Rent your favorite scary movie this week!

*heart*

Nos

http://twitter.com/GOREWHORENOS

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nos/107382796833

http://www.wickedpixel.com/cinemaedge/ (The CINEMA EDGE AWARDS are still accepting films!)

Hello Lip Service worshippers! You’ve probably seen my guest  articles popping up on the webzine this past month. Today I’m gonna take you on a tour of my life!

First a little background story …

I was raised in the third most haunted city in America A.K.A.  Decatur, IL. (Google “Haunted Decatur” it’s pretty messed up.) I moved to Saint Louis, MO at the age of 16 and started making films with Wicked Pixel Cinema at the age of 18, under the name Jessie Seitz. My work began behind the camera as a P.A. and quickly evolved into making behind-the-scenes documentaries. Never being one to take on too little, my big break came when I co-wrote the movie DEADWOOD PARK with filmmaker/producer Eric Stanze. During the production of DEADWOOD I was an associate producer and production designer. I also made a full length documentary about the making of the movie called WELCOME TO EIDOLON CROSSING: THE MAKING OF DEADWOOD PARK. -Crazy long title but oh-so worth a look! (You can download it on Amazon.com the MOMENT you get done reading this.)

Somewhere along the line, I decided it would be fun to jump in front of the camera too! I’ve been in a few amazing exploitation flicks, graced the pages of BIZARRE and GOTHIC BEAUTY more than once, and been able to work with some of the most sought after alt photographers, like LITHIUM PICNIC and Chad Michael Ward.

I have a good life.

But it took a lot of hard work to get here and it takes even more hard work to keep moving forward. So it is on this note that I give you a week in my life …

September 16th – 18th:  FLU

Despite washing my hands every 6 seconds and drinking gallons of orange juice, I fell prey to the tummy flu.  Being sick sucks hard-core, but it’s even worse when you have deadlines, people to see, and an overall LIFE to take care of.  It did, however, give me an excuse to lay in bed and watch movies.

I chose the original LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, DRILLER KILLER, ANGEL HEART, and about 20 hours worth of THE SIMPSONS.

September 19th. CORRUPTED THE YOUTH.

After being stuck in my house for 3 days, I had a touch of the cabin fever. I decided to take in a movie at ye olde movie theater.  The next movie to go on was SORORITY ROW. Two underage girls were trying to get in, but the almighty ticket seller was on some sort of moral high horse that day and wouldn’t let them in without an adult. Well, I just so happen to be of “adult” age and fully endorse young folks watching slasher films … so I got ‘em in with my i.d.  - I also fully enjoyed this movie and found it to be one of the best horror comedies to come out in a long time.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on work. This included editing on my feature film called FIVE. (More in a later post.) I also had to approve and send photos in for a ZIVITY set.  ZIVITY is a really beautiful website that showcases the very best in erotic art. If you’re old enough, you should check it out: zivity.com/models/Nos – I have new sets going up this week too!

September 20th: THE PHOTO SHOOT

Sunday started off crazy. Everyone – and I do mean everyone - was getting their photo taken today. While I was waiting for Jim Wayer of WICKED ILLUSIONS to wrap with the lovely Pandora Genocide, I worked on promoting the CINEMA EDGE AWARDS.

The CINEMA EDGE AWARDS is a pretty cool contest for independent filmmakers seeking distribution. The prize is a deal with VCI ENTERTAINMENT and landing some great exposure. Click on the above link to check in out.

After posting on every social network site known to man, I start getting ready for my turn in front of the camera.  I always get great stuff when working with Jim. His photography, under WICKED ILLUSIONS, has really taken off this year and I’m so proud of him! Today we decided to go for a whole grunge theme. I wore a sheer, puffy skirt with a white tank top and a toilet charm necklace I found at:  http://www.myspace.com/binge_and_purge_stl .

It was a pretty relaxed concept shoot but the results where amazing! I really love when a project just pulls together like this.

After the shoot wrapped, I went home and watched THE GODFATHER part 1 with my special someone and ate pizza.

September 20th: THE DAY FROM HELL

Monday was a day I should have just skipped. My “other” day job is that of a hairstylist. We got really slammed right after lunch and, naturally, I got some overly picky male who needed his hair thinned. I got a little carried away with my sheers and managed to carve a rather large hole in my left middle finger. It didn’t bleed at first, so I kept cutting. About the time he said it looked good, I noticed my hand was covered in blood. I quickly wrapped it in a towel and rang him out. When I got back to my station, there was blood all over the floor and my sheers. I then saw what appeared to be a blonde tuft of hair sticking out from the teeth of the sheers. Then I remembered the client didn’t have blonde hair … it dawned on me that this little tuft was in fact my SKIN. I almost passed out.

All in a days work for this little gore whore!

I’ll be starting a new Blacklist Feature column, The Devil Inside, in the October 7 edition of the webzine and look forward to sharing more of my adventures with you.

A few of the photos by Wicked Illusions and more peeks into my week

When you’re not reading my new Blacklist column, feel free to stalk me at the following:

TWITTER: twitter.com/GOREWHORENOS

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/pages/Nos/107382796833

Myspace: myspace.com/nos13

And my own website is going to debut THIS Halloween!

myblackumbrella.com

Thanks for reading!

I love you all <3

Nos