Alfred Hitchcock, horror legend

Known as the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock is certainly one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His legacy lives on through the countless classics that film directors and producers, like Edward Bass, take inspiration from when making a film under the horror genre.

Edward Bass Image Credit: fameball.com

Raised by strict Catholic parents, Hitchcock described his childhood as sheltered and lonely. His parents would often resort to extreme punishment, such as sending him to the local police or letting him stand on the foot of the bed. As a result, themes of harsh treatment or wrongful accusations would appear on his films.

Edward Bass Image Credit: indiewire.com

Before becoming a filmmaker, Hitchcock was submitting short stories for The Henley Telegraph, gaining attention for writing twisted endings and disturbed characters. A few decades later, he moved to Hollywood and made films under various genres, including comedy and romance. It wasn’t until the 1950s when he started making a name for himself as a horror legend, producing classics such as Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and Vertigo (1958). His most famous film, Psycho, which solidified him as the Master of Suspense, was released in 1960.

Edward Bass Image Credit: telegraph.co.uk

Alfred Hitchcock developed many film styles that are still used today. He popularized the MacGuffin, a plot device wherein a detail greatly influences the plot or the character’s actions but is seemingly unimportant to the audience.

Hitchcock’s legacy inspired the film Hitchcock (2012) which stars acclaimed actors Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren, and tells the story behind the making of Psycho.

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Edward Bass: Where to take the femme fatale next

Film pundits would argue that no one has quite replaced Belle Gunness as the original femme fatale, despite countless Hollywood vixens who give off the vibe. Edward Bass, producer of the life movie of Belle Gunness, would even be hard-pressed to audition new players into this role.

Edward Bass Image Credit: theapricity.com

Some screenplays are written for stars, and some stars are meant to own a screenplay. It’s either there is a dearth of actresses to get the quills of screenwriters moving or the formula for the new femme fatale has not been discovered yet. After all, femininity is moving, and Belle Gunness’ serial killer mode in the early 1900s could pale in comparison with the utter wickedness of female misdeeds that followed.

Edward Bass Image Credit: bellethefilm.com

How Hollywood is shaping its new notion of the femme fatale is, of course, dependent on its market. This time around, female moviegoers are not easily shocked, but they are also easily bored. Producers like Edward Bass would want an upgrade and a modernization on Belle Gunness. The femme fatale is no longer bent on swallowing men whole, she is also working her way up the corporate ladder, conniving to take out the enemy, and sniffing down mediocrity.

Edward Bass Image Credit: Doug Olsen

In the millennial setting, she doesn’t even work underground. She rules from the surface of solid earth, as planted to her roots as the men who have tilled the ground she walks on with their dominance. She doesn’t even have to kill anyone to succeed.

Edward Bass is most recognized as the producer of the Golden Globe-nominated film Bobby (2006). To see his filmography, visit www.edwardbassfilms.com

Defanged: Edward Bass and today’s less frightening movie beasts

Edward Bass Image Credit: 4.bp.blogspot.com


Edward Bass is a producer who has mastered the technique for inspiring fear among his audience. His movies often play on a person’s deepest insecurities—fear of pain, of death, or of being placed in a precarious position. The fear of the unknown is also one of these fears, and he is not the only producer, director, or writer who incorporates this fear in the art of camerawork.


Ghosts and entities of the paranormal and of legend are often effective tools of bringing across a message laced with fear. The most popular characters include vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and witches. For producers like Edward Bass, these are film characters full of potential.




Edward Bass Image Credit: collider.com


However, recent years have seen a change in these concepts. Vampires have evolved to portray beings with a human-like conscience. Werewolves have also become kinder and in control, far from their established characters as violent, beastly creatures.


Genre often has a lot to do with it. Vampires and werewolves were often featured in adventure and horror films. They used to be frightening even in comedies. However, today’s creatures of the dark are no longer as terrifying.




Edward Bass Image Credit: wired.com


Count Dracula returns to his native Transylvania in Disney’s Hotel Transylvania, this time with a teenage daughter named Mavis. Mavis is being pursued by a teenage human boy named Jonathan—but far from plunging a stake through her undead heart, the pursuit falls on the romantic side. In Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, Barnabas Collins is portrayed as an imprisoned vampire who returns to straighten out his dysfunctional family.


Vampires being portrayed as fathers or patriarchs is indeed strange, detached from their original image of being soulless bloodsuckers who take lives without much ado.




Edward Bass Image Credit: pluggedin.com  


Read more about Edward Bass and his movies at www.edwardbassfilms.com.

Completing the circle: Edward Bass on fame, fortune, and disability

Some time ago, Edward Bass went beyond his role as a producer and set up Born Warriors, a network of talents for the handi-capable. Its stable of talents grew to include directors, writers, and filmmakers of every sort.

Edward Bass Image Credit: Bornwarriors.org

The organization had the purpose of eliminating the challenges posed by a highly mobile industry on talents of every sort. Over the course of Born Warriors’ existence, the organization has arranged collaborations between its members and the behemoths of the film industry, including Universal Pictures and Disney.

If there is anything that Born Warriors has set out to—and succeeded in—proving is that disability should never trump talent. Edward Bass has set up a system based on mutual interest instead of charity, and it has been more empowering than any philanthropic effort.

Edward Bass Image credit: Ralphmag.org

Born Warriors’ point has been proven by years of experience. Some of the world’s greatest leaders have been plagued by mental and emotional disorders, which are, in a way, more crippling than a lost limb. Abraham Lincoln was diagnosed of melancholia, a condition now known as depression.

In Hollywood, icons have had conditions that would have otherwise impaired their ability to thrive in the industry. Multi-awarded actors Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss are among the artists said to have been afflicted with various forms of depression.

Like Walt Disney, actors Tom Cruise and George Burns were diagnosed with dyslexia, the condition associated with learning disabilities. Despite their conditions, they have emerged as talented thespians, producers, and filmmakers.

Edward Bass Image credit: Edwardbassfilms.com

For more information about Edward Bass, log on to EdwardBassFilms.com.

Edward Bass: Going beyond the Ponzi scheme

Edward Bass image credit: thebestthingieverdid.com

Before Bernard Madoff, there was Charles Ponzi, the proponent of the infamous get-rich-fast scheme that has become one of the world’s greatest financial scams. However, acclaimed filmmaker Edward Bass has chosen not to delve exclusively into the genius of the Ponzi scheme. He has opted to offer a character study of one of the most notorious con-men of all time.

Edward Bass image credit: geektyrant.com

Unlike what happened in Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar that has left an ambiguous impression of FBI’s powerful head, Ponzi will tackle Charles’ secret life outside the carefully orchestrated financial chicanery in order to paint a picture of a delusional, yet likable man who doesn’t appear 100% evil.

Legend tells that Charles boarded the gravy train when he was still young. He told his first victim to lend him $20 and that he would return $30 in 90 days. Succeeding in this intriguing offer, Charles went off to victimize another and the Ponzi scheme came into fruition.

Producer Edward Bass says, “It's amazing to me, that today, 9 out of 10 people know what a Ponzi scheme is, but don't realize there was Charles Ponzi. And furthermore, people have fallen for these same cons over and over."

The film can be dubbed as a significant literature unraveling the true character of a man with a propensity to fabricate facts about his life. Some of the issues that the film would explore are Charles’ motivation behind the fraudulent act, his family, and how he felt about his success story gone wrong.

Edward Bass image credit: edwardbassfilms.com

Edward Bass’ upcoming film is produced in cooperation with Victorino Noval Productions. For more details, visit www.edwardbassfilms.com.

Born Warriors: Edward Bass, producer, extends a helping hand

Edward Bass Image Credit: edwardbassfilms.com


Edward Bass, a producer of numerous films, has been in the show business long enough to understand what fame means to the many people braving the rough waters of the multimillion-dollar industry of movie making. It is, for most, a life-and-death situation. Career death has given new meanings for the terms revival, resurrection, and reboot; the comparisons are not mere accidents. Along the same line, stars of the screen, though alive in other respects, seem to lose their shine after some time.


And then, there are those whose careers in show business are hampered by real-world infirmities—literally life-threatening conditions that hinder their climb to filmic success. Victory for them is the ever-present stock of success stories, one that ends in rising music and thundering applause. For Edward Bass, as a producer, this dream should be as achievable as any.



 
 Edward Bass Image Credit: hestem.ac.uk


And so, Born Warriors was conceived. This is not charity, it is empowerment. Born Warriors is not all about fundraising luncheons and black-tie balls of Hollywood’s benevolent culture. Rather, it is about building a network of the similarly-situated handi-capable talent: a veritable stable of writers, filmmakers, actors, and artists. All of them might have lost the use of one limb or another, but their talents remain complete and
unblemished.



 
 Edward Bass Image Credit: edwardbassfilms.com


The network operates as most organizations do. It provides a chance to pay it forward, and in the process remove obstacles that, for most handi-capable talents, are insurmountable. The entire effort puts sheer talent ahead of any other consideration.


To learn more about Edward Bass as a producer and the founder of Born Warriors, log on to www.edwardbassfilms.com.

Tribute to a master: Edward Bass on the genius of Alfred Hitchcock

Edward Bass has had the opportunity to work with a number of directors in his several years in the film industry. He refuses to take favorites, but he lifts his hat to Sir Alfred Hitchcock, considered as one of the most legendary filmmakers in movie history.

From Edward Bass

Alfred Hitchcock was an English director and producer, recognized as the man who revolutionized the suspense-thriller genre. He has over 50 titles credited to his name, including the classic films Psycho, Notorious, Frenzy, and Family Plot, among others. Britain’s Daily Telegraph calls him the “greatest filmmaker” in the British Isles, with his work changing the shape of modern international cinema.

From Edward Bass

For Edward Bass, one of Hitchcock’s most remarkable aspects was his precision—a trait honed through actual practice. At a young age, Hitchcock was a prolific writer, contributing short fictional pieces to The Henley Telegraph. He joined the film industry as an illustrator of title cards, and soon he learned editing, scripting and art direction. With hard work and dedication, he eventually landed a directorial job for highly-acclaimed movies that earned him recognition first in Britain, and then in Hollywood.

From Edward Bass

Alfred Hitchcock was known for his brilliance in cinematography, and for his excellent use of cinematic devices to capture the emotions of his audience. For one, he popularized shots that imitated the movements of the human eye, allowing him to increase the viewers’ involvement in the movie. He also used plot decoys called MacGuffins to create a variety of effects, an influence seen even in works by George Lucas and Quentin Tarantino.

Modern filmmakers like Edward Bass look up to Alfred Hitchcock for his genius, and for showing audiences that a movie is more about the art and the craft, than it is about the stars. Check out Mr. Bass’ works at www.edwardbassfilms.com.