Jared Johnson Interview

From Woodworking to Halloween Haunts and Zombie Mayhem:

Jared Johnson’s Star is Just on the Rise

By Kevin Nickelson

While our first impressions of horror films as children are generally similar (that breathless reaction to the thrill moment and the Adrenalin accompanying it), each of us can take away from the experience a special pull toward one particular aspect of the production. For some, the acting takes on a fascination that leads them to pursue it as a career. Others, like me, become particularly vested in how a film is assembled. This drove me to want to write about, and review, film from the critic’s observant eye as I now do these many years later. Still, others are fixated on what comprises that gore effect, or the gruesome creature makeup whose end result scared the crap out of said little tyke once. It is people like Jared Johnson who exemplify the latter to the ultimate degree. Jared, a resident FX artist, woodworker and horror fiction writer for myindieproductions.com and founder of the small practical effects company Diehard Horror, is the kid who stared at the blood spurts and asked himself the question “how did they do that?” Without further ado, I bring you an email give and take between two monster movie kids who go agog over that how that beheading was done on film. Here is my chat with that star on the rise in both the writing and effects arena, Jared Johnson.

KN: Let’s discuss your childhood for a moment. Was there a particular point where you saw a film and an effect being done where you said “I want or need to know how this works! Yeah!” and just decided you will become an effects artist?

JJ: Ah yes, my childhood. There are a select few moments when I was very young where I’d seen certain films that terrified that hell out of me. Child’s Play, Puppet Master, and Pet Sematary being a select few. The majority of my younger teen years were spent in the basement of my Dad’s house where I set up a few recliners, a VCR and a 13” tube TV. A couple of friends and I spent many summer nights and weekends down there featuring a plethora of horror films we’d rent from the video store. It was around this time where I really took interest in the “movie magic”.

My interests in films like Ghoulies, Jason and The Argonauts and Puppet Master were very memorable for their stop motion animation. Friday the 13th was a big film for me for the makeup FX. Bad Taste and Night Of The Creeps were the two most inspiring films, though, ultimately for me. I have always been a big fan of murderous extraterrestrial films and I was taken away by the plethora of creature designs, props and practical FX that were executed on such a small budget. Bad Taste was a film that was mastered with household items and imagination. If I had to narrow it down to one film it would definitely be Peter Jackson‘s Bad Taste where I said “Yes, I want to do this!”

KN: At what point did you decide to work with haunted displays to scare the holy heck out of adults and kids alike?

JJ: I was still in high school when I started doing Make Up FX for local Haunted Houses, mainly zombies. A lot of my stuff then was heavily influenced by Dawn Of The Dead, which is still my favorite zombie look. One of my favorite haunted house gags was a guillotine I built. I’d lay there on the floor for hours with my head covered in blood in a basket. The occasional blink was all it took to scare the hell out of some people.

KN: In 2009 you opened up your own practical effects shop called Diehard Horror. I would think this was a way to both fan your creative passions and make some cash at the same time. How did Diehard come about for you?

JJ: In the midst of October, 2009 I started to get more traffic than years prior from people asking for different makeup FX for their cosplay or enhancements to their costumes for occasions like weekend costume competitions, haunts and for Halloween. I found myself really embracing and learning a lot of techniques using silicone, Derma-tac adhesives, blending makeup, and making my own blood. That year I really found my niche with the makeup FX and felt I had a real passion for it. Parallel with that happening, I was learning the trade of woodworking from my Dad.

The very first project I designed using wood was a display stand for Jason hockey masks. It was this project where I decided I needed to make a name for what I was doing. At this point, I was a diehard fan of anything and everything horror so the name for my potential business came easy. Making money from it is just a bonus for me. I’d still be happy creating props and FX even if I didn’t get paid for it.

KN: 15 years of experience using silicone, latex, makeup and now woodworking and clay. You seem to have a preference for the material over the computer-generated image. Is there something alluring about the actual creation of the effect, an art to it per se?

JJ: There is definitely an art in creation from scratch in any form. It’s an achievement and sense of inner accomplishment when creating a tangible object from imagination. Practical effects will always trump computer-generated effects. When seeing practical effects on film the realism is there. CGI is a craft as well and I can imagine there is a lot that goes in to it, but it hasn’t been much of an interest to me. Modeling for 3D printing is something computer aided that I do take an interest in, though, but that’s the extent.

KN: Your MyIndie bio mentions that you do a lot of foam and resin cosplay weapons. With the level that cosplay is at today, being performed at conventions around the world, has this resulted in quite a few orders coming your way? Is this a switch from the kid who looked up to others now being in a position of having others start looking to him?

JJ: The cosplay industry is insane right now! It’s such a pleasure seeing people take a passion in becoming their favorite slasher, superhero, protagonist, etc. It’s been a lot of fun making resin and foam weapons for them. Making the weapon is like the icing on the cake for any cosplay and making one convention-safe while retaining the quality of the actual real deal is very fulfilling. I will always be that kid who looks up to others. There is always something new to learn and an abundance of other great artists to look up to and share tips with. I’m more than humbled to help anyone who is looking to pursue their dreams of prop making. Paying my knowledge forward is uplifting to me.

KN: In what must be a prize submission entry for the most dyed-in-the-wool fanaticism contest, you took 18 years and cultivated a museum of horror and prop replicas in your home! It is supposed to be one of the biggest collections in the world, I am told. What led you to do this and were there any folks who said “My god! What are you doing?” along the way?

JJ: The past 18 years of collecting, buying, selling, and trading has definitely been one of my stronger passions. There is something more to it then just having a nice collection. The main idea behind what I’ve collected is driven by supporting fellow indie artists. I couldn’t be more stern on the fact that supporting another artist to succeed in their passion is moving to me. What comes around goes around in the hobby. Buying another artists work and putting it on display isn’t just that. It’s putting a piece of their sweat, frustration, heart, pride, joy, and disappointment on display. It’s the deepest form of appreciation for an artist. As far as my personal collection is concerned, it’s not the biggest collection in the world as a whole.

It’s definitely not a screen used prop collection as I actually only own two screen used props. However, I feel it can compete with any indie artist collections out there. It’s wall to wall full of indie props, paintings, and masks and, for that, i’m proud of it.

KN: You’ve mentioned John Carl Buechler and KNB Effects in a previous interview for MyIndie. Buechler was the first SFX artist to make the transition to director. He told Premiere Magazine once, “if you can pull a performance out of a piece of latex, you can do it with actors…”. Does this mean we can see you in the director’s chair one day soon?

JJ: I love John Carl Buechler. He’s such a huge inspiration and one of the the kindest people I’ve met from the industry. When someone with his credentials can be as humble as he is, that goes a long way for me. Believe me, we talked about Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go To College, Cellar Dweller and Troll. I’m not sure yet if I have the personality to be a director but the thought has crossed my mind more than once. I think it’d be a riot.

KN: You’ve lately gone into writing with three shorts in your Terror Bay Series. For a lot of artists branching into new ventures after success in their initial forte, this is often a sign that they feel they’ve gone as far as they can in their field and want to try something new. Is this your feeling or are you just wanting to add the words “multi-talented” with “artist” before your name on the business card?

JJ: Multi-talented artist is a pretty big word for my business card, haha! I have a long ways to go before I’ve “mastered” the art of special FX. Writing has always been my sub-conscious longing. I went to college for creative writing. I’ve been writing little horror stories and scripts since middle school. That came from indulging in a whole lot of reading in this lifetime. Goosebumps, Hardy Boys, Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark were my younger years and, though I still love those books dearly, my reading matured with my age into mainly the works of Robert McCammon, Cormac McCarthy and Stephen King. I’ve never been limited to those authors and am open to reading just about anything. The Terror Bay Series is just the beginning for my writing!

KN: Loved the first three stories in the series, each with commonalities. Three seemingly disparate stories weaved together around the same location and two of the three even in the same time frame. The first one is, especially a favorite with its vampire bat-like creature that infects the Theo character. Then it morphs into demonology and the occult in the second and third pieces. All with the densely forested locale in Michigan. For me, the best monster stories take place in the dank chill and darkness of the forest. Going all the way back to the Universal Wolf Man series in the forties. You touch on themes of isolation and inevitability of death as well. What drew you to use this environment and these subjects?

JJ: Living in the upper peninsula of Michigan my whole life, there has always been a sense of seclusion here. The area is vast with forest and fresh lakes. The environment of the stories in the Terror Bay Series is very directly related to my home town. This area, like other areas, has its urban legends, folklore, and whispers of the occult. I felt that there was a story to be told of the general area.

When I was younger I would hear scary stories of the creatures in the woods, or the haunted abandoned house and there was always that part of me that really wished those things were real. Not for the repercussions of something terrifying being real but being able to live through the experience of something unexplained. Those things just weren’t real, so that was my drive for this story. The “what if” this awful thing existed, putting a town through dread, and evil in its true form leaving very little room for hope. The inevitability of death to some of my strong main characters isn’t only for the twist, but for the preconceived notion that good will prevail which isn’t always the case. No one is safe in Terror Bay!