Now Watching: Mr Jones (2013)

I haven't worked on a Halloween prop for myself in months years.  Between building haunted houses professionally, pursuing other artistic avenues, and the shortcomings of apartment living (namely, having no yard to haunt) I haven't felt that Halloween urge to make stuff for a couple of years now.

But this week... I don't know, something just shifted.  I'll probably investigate this further in a post down the road, but in short, I finally resolved myself to just make something, damnit!  I challenged myself to make even one (1) prop, just for myself.  After I made it, I could hang it on my wall, or give it to a friend for their yard, or leave it in the woods--the point is I will have made something, finally, after so long.  

I decided to make a scarecrow.  I'm still working on it.  I'll share once I'm done, I'm sure.

As I worked, I decided to switch on a film very dear to me: Mr. Jones.  In brief, it's a found footage horror movie shot from the perspective of a young couple attempting to film a documentary about a mysterious, infamous, and reclusive artist known only as Mr. Jones.  He creates these "scarecrows"--unsettling sculptures that serve an unknown purpose.

Wicked poster, right?!

By any objective metric, the movie is.... fine.  I think the acting is good.  The exposition is a bit clunky and heavy-handed at times.  The pacing is weird.  I really dig the concept and ultimately enjoy the story.  But my favorite part of this movie is the scarecrows. Check out the clip (1:30) below to see what I mean:

The scarecrows were created by Pumpkinrot. Karl Mueller (the director) says Rot made about 18 scarecrows for the production.

When I saw this movie, I was just beginning my yard haunter/Halloween prop journey.  This film inspired me to pursue my craft; to make creepy things and tell a spooky story by doing so.  It seemed like the obvious choice for me to put Mr. Jones on the TV as I busted out the branches and paper mache again after all this time.

I highly recommend giving this movie a shot. CriterionCast's James McCormick described it as "something like David Lynch directing a Lovecraftian film," and I think that's a pretty good description.  Plus, it's free on YouTube (with ads, but ad-free with YouTube Premium [or an ad-blocker])

More Mr Jones costume appreciation

About a year ago I posted about the outfit worn by the titular Mr. Jones, but I've recently come across a few more close-up shots of the costume.

IMDb lists the costume designer as Jocelyn Hublau. There's something old yet timeless to Mr. Jones; cobbled together yet meticulously intentional. I think Hublau nailed that. 

The only source I could find for these photos was (of all places) a Hungarian news site. Photographer unknown. 

“Wake up, Mr. Jones”

You have to stay behind

You have to put on the mask

You have to protect us

I really love the costume for Mr Jones.  The outfit seems quite unassuming but the image of his coat and mask have always stuck with me.

Click here to watch Mr. Jones on YouTube (free w/ ads)

Now Watching: Rot's Basement

After seeing many of Pumpkinrot's basement photos, I was reminded again and again of the basement scene from Mr. Jones.  I (half) jokingly commented that I'd love to see a found-footage-style walkthrough of his basement... and to my pleasant surprise, Rot delivered!

Click below to watch the little eight second clip he filmed.  It's exactly what I had envisioned!

Listening to: All I Need

The credits song from Mr. Jones (2013), the movie that finally made me start prop making. When I first started, I would have this song on repeat as I scavenged sticks and bound them with jute.  Right now, I'm listening to it as I plan and prepare for Halloween 2022. 

I think I'll make a standalone Mr. Jones blog post in the future.  Maybe even share some of my early works inspired by the film.

The Scarecrow Project

 Last year, I stumbled across a rather intriguing Instagram account: 

The Scarecrow Project

There isn't much info or description on the page or its posts, but from what I gather, an individual made these amazing scarecrows and placed them in roadside fields and other rural locations. (Great Pumpkin Project-style)  The posts' dates range from January 6th 2019 to March 2nd 2020.  I haven't seen any activity since.

Some of the descriptions give dates of the placement (as far back as 2016), the location, and the date they were discovered removed or vandalized.

"Date Placed: August 7, 2016
Date Missing: August 8, 2016
Location: Busy Road, Open Space Preserve and Wetland"

When I first encountered the account, my mind immediately jumped to Mr. Jones, a 2013 horror movie featuring a reclusive scarecrow maker who sends his sculptures to seemingly random people around the country.  Many (most? all?) of the scarecrows/totems seen the film were designed and/or constructed by Pumpkinrot (he made 18 in total).  

Indeed, some of The Scarecrow Project's pieces very closely resemble those of Mr. Jones. Just compare the below Scarecrow Project scarecrow (left) with one of Rot's (right):

"Date Placed: November 2, 2018 Date Missing: December 7, 2018 Location: Walking Trail Through Wooded Area."

Polaroid of one of Mr. Jones's scarecrows (Original blogpost by Rot) (Photo by Bean)

Who is/was behind this? Did Pumpkinrot create a cheeky little side project?  Is Mr. Jones real??  The Scarecrow Project remains a mystery. But hey, who doesn't love a good mystery?

More images at @thescarecrowproject

I will also add that I love this idea, and might even contribute to #thescarecrowproject in the future...