House on Black Lake Filmed Book Trailer - Ramey confronts Alexandra on stairwell

House on Black Lake - Actors Wade Russell and Anastasia Blackwell - Filmed at Chateau Tivoli in San Francisco - Photograph by David Wilson
House on Black Lake - Actors Wade Russell and Anastasia Blackwell - Filmed at Chateau Tivoli in San Francisco - Photograph by David Wilson
House on Black Lake - trailer filmed at Chateau Tivoli B&B in San Francisco -photograh by David Wilson
House on Black Lake - filmed at Chateau Tivoli B&B in San Francisco Alexandra (actress Anastasia Blackwell) dressed in the french gypsy look of the underground, makes her way down the strairs of the house.
House on Black Lake - filmed in Chateau Tivoli B&B San Francisco - David Wilson Photographer - Ruth Sandeley (Morla Gorrondona)
Ramey (Wade Russell) enters the house fresh from branding. David Wilson Photographer
The genesis of House on Black Lake Lake did not come in a dream, as did Stephanie Mayers, Twilight, although many dreams conbributed to its execution. The beginning of my story began with an actual experience not unlike that of Alexandra's. I was a newly separated mother invited to holiday at the summer home of friends. On the night of our arrival, my son and I were rowed out to stay in a decaying house on an island in the middle of the lake. The remainder of my stay was steeped in drama and mystery, and when I returned I told the story again and again, until one night years later I told the story to a man who would encourage me to set the story to paper.
In a seaside bar in Venice Beach, California the elderly poet, who was a muse to younger writers, told me to go home and describe how it felt to be rowed across the lake to the house on the island. The story would take its own shape once I started, he told me. When I returned to my home in the San Francisco Bay Area, I fell while watering a plant and landed in bed or on crutches for over a month. I felt terribly sorry for myself, and began to write The House on Black Lake. As the old man advised, the story did take on its own life, in a way I could not have possibly imagined. None of the scenes were designed by me - they all came unbidden. As example, I dreamt that a handsome French looking man approached me in an antique store, and as I admired a French armoire he said," just because it says its French it doesn't mean it actually is" - then he said the name Labat's. There are endless stories and anecdotes for nearly all of the scenes in the book. They are all interwoven with experiences, and yet separate, with a life of their own.
What has surprised me most about setting out to write this book, is that it has rewritten the script of my own life. The journeys I have taken to bring truth to the book have enriched my life with incredible experiences, and many new friends who are still in my life. Goethe's quote about boldness having power and magic is true - if you have something inside that aches to be brought to life - begin it now!
A.
Jesse Spencer, Frazer Bradshaw and I have been working together to tighen the lastest draft of the trailer. We've added more voice -over and are reworking the music. It's really tightening up and I think I'm close to achieving what I set out to accomplish. Overall, I would say it lends itself to becoming a film, but first things first!
I've recently found a great book designer, Robert Aulicino of Aulicino Design, a former designer with Random House for over twenty years. He plans to use the original artwork created by myself and David Wilson for the cover, while adding intriguing titles and completing the layout for the interior of the book. The manuscript is in the hands of Maggie Schuhy, who's giving it a final copy editing in preparation for print.
Every aspect of the process is a form of art, and I've been fortunate to have collaborated with great artists throughout my journey on this project. Every individual has helped illuminate the world of Black Lake.
A.
When Alexandra and Sammy arrive at the Sandeley’s house on Black lake, they are bombarded my moths from the carriage lights straddling the front doors to the luxurious mansion. At the end of their journey, when they escape from the house at daybreak, the carriage lights are switched off and the bodies of the moths who beat themselves to death seeking light, lie dead, in heaps on the floor.
The metamorphosis has begun.
The struggle between the forces of good and evil are rich in story telling and folklore throughout the world. Parables, fables and fairy tales depict characters struggling to gain control over a repressive environment. Much of art and literature, past and present,could be interpreted as the expression of the soul's struggle to free itself from hostile forces. In the face of tyranny, self expression will find its way into any creative medium available, and it is often clothed in symbolism.
Witches, cruel stepmothers, wolves, evil kings and queens and other beasts, all conspire to bring down the innocent. Often the protagonist must undergo a series of trials or transformations in order to achieve self actualization. Dorothy, in The Wizard of Oz, finds deliverance in the magic shoes she has won the right to wear through a series of trials. When she returns home, she is no longer the innocent girl - she now contains a strong sense of self. Cinderella also attains her freedom through a series of trials that lead her to fit into the glass slipper.
The movie Star Wars fully fleshes out how evil is formed, and the extreme need of the dark side to suck the light from the vibrant to absorb power. Darth Vader, in the trilogy of Star Wars, represents this force. Vader experienced unbearable loss, shame and guilt when, in a fit of rage, he caused the eventual death of his wife. The burned and charred remains of his once passionate and loving nature are covered by a hard black mask and his body put together with artificial limbs covered in black. The only emotions now felt by Darth Vidor are the toxic remains of his self exhumed body. He feeds off the fear of others, and has an insatiable need to control everything in his Universe. Through projective imagination he is capable of creating a vast army of supporters in harnessing the dark energy forces of the Universe.
Luke Skywalker conversely represents the light. He is the son of Darth Vader, but has been raised by another, so he is not contaminated. He has been taught to view Darth Vader as the enemy, as he represents the death of Democracy in the Universe. Luke Skywalker spends most of his formative years learning how to use his inner strengths to gain power over The Dark Ones. His education is taken in secrecy - and inside a safe haven he learns the Secrets of the Masters. By mastering his internal powers, he draws in the energy of the universe. In this final battle, Vader and his Master are destroyed and the union of Brother and Sister preserved- Democracy and Freedom for the Universe
Homer, in the Iliad and the Odyssey, spends seven years facing horrendous trials, growing and developing as a man, before he finally finds his way home. With every trial, it appears that Homer is a dead man, but he perseveres because the powers of passion and resolve are greater than the forces that seek to contain and destroy.
Stories of the struggle for personal freedom and self expression have been with us since the dawn of mankind. Both ancient and modern, they share the painful burden of the oppressed and the steps that must be taken for transformation to occur. The exposure to truth is the first step towards personal freedom. The journey begins with a commitment to oneself to begin the task of transformation.
The characters of Black Lake, are all moving along this continuum. One will fall into a pool of darkness, one will be sacrificed, and one will find redemption. All will be affected as each evolves - and so it is with all of humanity.
The following message from the past, from the desk of Goethe, has been my guiding light in the years I have worked on my book and remains a strong inspiration. In the moments I lack belief in a particular course of attact, I remind myself that it is boldness that creates opportunity. It is this lack of commitment and trust in herself that has kept protaganist, Alexandra, stuck and unable to move forward in he life . Her journey will teach her the power of commitment to oneself.
Until one is committed
there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one elementary truth
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genious, power and magic to it.
Begin in now.
Goethe