Don't Panic Films

26/01/2025

I’m selling photos! If you’re interested in one, DM me directly, versus on this account, otherwise I may not see it!

https://www.facebook.com/share/1U7p4UkP5t/?

08/09/2024

Hey all, our team Thrill Me Squad is looking for some lead creative positions! Are you a Cinematographer, Field Sound Specialist, or Makeup FX Artist who thrives on screams and spine-tingling scares? I’m assembling a killer crew for the Atlanta Horror Society's Sinema Film Challenge, where we have just 13 days to conjure up a 5-8 minute horror short that’ll haunt viewers long after the credits roll. Think campy, creepy, and a whole lot of fun—like Night of the Creeps but with our own twist! 🧟‍♂️
We have a collection of writers, a director, and actors already but our go to's for DP, sound, and make up aren't available and we could use the help! Our priority is to not only make something fun but to have fun and make friends along the way. (corny? yes but true)
If you’ve got the guts (and the guts effects), let’s make some horror hilarity together. Slide into my DMs if you’re ready to raise the dead...or at least a few hairs! 🕸️👻💀

The Buried Alive Sinema Challenge was developed as a fun motivational film making competition for local artists. We understand how hard it is too complete a film in a single weekend…especially a horror film, an animation, or any kind of film that requires a little more special fx or technical love...

11/08/2024

Heyyo, I registered for the Atlanta Buried Alive Sinema 13-day filmmaking challenge! I have no idea what September will look like during those 13 days, and honestly, I’m flying blind—I don’t even have a crew or any collaborators yet! But that’s what makes it so thrilling, right? I’m diving in headfirst, hoping to have a blast and create something fun along the way.

I think this can be a really fun opportunity to make something fun, and If you’re interested in helping out, whether from afar or right here in Atlanta, please reach out! I adore making stuff with friends, and this could be a great opportunity to create something campy, hilarious, and totally in the spirit of Night of the Creeps—because, let’s be real, serious films just aren’t my style.

So, if this sounds like your kind of project, check out the link and get in touch.

Registration Form is Required Click Here

06/03/2024

Demo of a brand-new song from Bowen Staines, entitled "Raven Heart", recorded live on the roof of the Arctic Endeavor, Upernavik, Greenland - 6/29/11Studio v...

05/11/2023

11/01/2023

We have a brand-new music video out for SÓLSTAFIR, and it’s A BLOODY GOOD TIME — CHECK IT OUT!!

— OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE —

“Dionysus” was produced and filmed in Reykjavík, Iceland between August — October 2021, and edited at the Don’t Panic Films studio in Boston, Massachusetts. While the video was originally shot in 8K, the finished product was scanned in its entirety onto 35mm filmstock for release. At its core, the music video for “Dionysus” is an allegory for the inner-violence and tragedy of substance abuse, and for the struggle with that endless twilight of codependent love, inherent.

While the majority of filming for “Dionysus” was completed in a single day, the pre-production process began nearly six months earlier. The idea for the high-pressure blood cannons came up fairly early on, with Sólstafir vocalist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason and I going back and forth over the best (and safest) way to build them— the main issue, of course, being that I would eventually have to fly from Boston to Iceland carrying a large, metal switchboard with dozens of red and black wires leading into multiple tubes of industrial-grade PVC piping inside my checked luggage. The day came, and it went about as well as you’d expect. I was allowed into Iceland purely through the mercy of a single border agent who happened to be a huge Sólstafir fan— he’d seen every video, and thus, understood I was being honest when I explained that the contents of my suitcase would be used to cover the band with 80-litres of blood in a few short days.

Things finally clicked for me the next morning, however, when I discovered via one of the local media outlets that the Icelandic SWAT team
(Víkingasveitin) had actually been dispatched to the Keflavik Airport for what ended up being a false-alarm. I’d completely forgotten, as I walked out of the airport and hitched a ride into Reykjavík with Sólstafir guitarist Sæþór Marius Sæþórsson, that there had been a large bus with blacked-out windows idling outside the terminal— and I remembered actually thinking, for a moment: “…is Iron Maiden playing?...” Nope. Bomb Squad.

Over the next week, the gents in Sólstafir learned how to play “Dionysus” at 272BPM— three-times the song’s normal speed— and because the video was to be filmed at extremely high frame rates, they would be required to perform the song at that speed live on the day of the shoot, in a single take. After thirty minutes of ProTools not working, and the coffee machine in the rehearsal space calling it a day, forever, things quickly started coming together— and we went from Addi leaving me a voicemail months earlier, like: “This.. Ok.. —This is extremely fast. I— I am not so optimistic that this is going to be possible, Bówen..”— to the guys absolutely nailing it within maybe two or three tries, if that, on the first day of practice. Good stuff, gentlemen. (Stick around for the credits, for more about that day of controlled chaos!)

We would be filming everything at the personal residence of legendary Icelandic filmmaker, Hrafn Gunnlaugsson— known for such films as ‘Hrafninn Flýgur’(1984), ‘Shadow of The Raven’(1988), and ‘Hvíti Víkingurinn’(1991). His house and entire seaside property is constructed (by him) largely from thousands of various sculptures and props from his films— “The Recycled House”, as it is known.

The first day of shooting was precisely that: we rocked through the whole thing in one twenty-hour day. It was cold, windy, and it poured rain sideways pretty much the whole time. Through the hospitality and watchful gaze of Hrafn, Sólstafir manager Erin Lynch heading up our production crew, and the expertise of Practical FX Specialist Gunnar Gunnarsson, we blasted through over 80-litres of blood in about twenty minutes. To protect the camera, I was wrapped in a big, plastic poncho in which I’d cut holes for the lens to poke through— which was then electrical-taped around my waist. I couldn’t see anything— and I mean, literally nothing— and when the blood started flying, I had to use the camera monitor as my eyes whenever I looked around, went anywhere, talked to anybody, or did anything for the rest of the day— which was somewhat *prohibitive* ..ehem.. easy, and unobtrusive. Truthfully, it was an awesome day, and lots of fun: The guys got a bloody great video, and I got a cold.

Final Notes: Everything in “Dionysus” was done for real: there are no motion graphics, no AfterEffects, and nothing artificial has been added to any of the performances seen in the finished product, whatsoever. I did the painting for the release artwork, comprised entirely of still images from the video. You are watching the final result of over a year of experimenting, planning, building, and finally, doing.

A heartfelt “Thank You!” to everyone involved in the making of Sólstafir’s “Dionysus”; A quick dedication to my father, Bill Staines, who
passed away before its completion— this is the first video I’ve ever done that he’s not been around to see; And, finally— To the guys in the band: Thank you for all your help, love, and unconditional trust. As always, it is a pleasure to create with you.

We hope that you enjoy watching this as much as we enjoyed making it.
Takk fyrir okkur.
-Bowen Staines
28.12.22
DontPanicIceland.com
solstafir.net
Season-Of-Mist.com

08/11/2022

Check out this amazing review we just received for our brand-new Voidkeeper EP, ‘Eternal Decay’!

Hey hey, happy Metal loving people, the band Voidkeeper was nice enough to reach out for a review and I absolutely had to oblige. Give this EP a listen, it's well worth it.

Hailing from the northeastern reaches of the United States, Voidkeeper calls Boston, Massachusetts homebase for their wicked and groovy musical stylings. Though it’s been a while since I've had the pleasure of reviewing a metal band, I'm happy to break it back in with these talented guys. Claiming on their Bandcamp page (https://voidkeeper.bandcamp.com) to be “A brutal combo of classic death, black and doom metal. Catchy grooves, blackened melodies, and punishing death riffs.” Personally I think this is the best description you can ask for, on top of just having a brutal and raw feel to the music Voidkeeper offers some funky rhythms that I don’t often hear bands of their genre put out while blending their vocalist into the sound in a way that makes the demonic guttural vocals one of the instruments of their chaotic symphony.
The EP I have the pleasure of reviewing is “Eternal Decay” released this year, it comes with a fresh take on the metal scene and a masterful example of the way mixing can change the sound entirely. (We’ll get to that in a bit) We start this album off with “King Ov the Locusts”, which already shows us the Doom and Black Metal influence right away with purely epic rhythms coursing behind the blood curdling vocals that we hear throughout. Towards the beginning I definitely do feel the building of a swarm with the soundscape they start to weave early on eventually turning it into an epic coursing rhythm that will feed into the second track and one of my personal favorites, “Bog Monster”.
While I'm sure lyrically they’ve made some art, my ear isn’t quite fine tuned to Black Metal vocals so I really try to feel out the emotions the band is putting out and creating within their songs.Showing us a little of that guitar solo action towards the very end of this banger of a track, the lead up to that moment throws out the feeling of a struggle. The wails and screams that blend so expertly into the rhythms of the track are what shine through to me before the solo section, as mentioned earlier. Voidkeeper took a different route with vocals than I notice most bands do, while you may hear the vocalist a little more as a frontman than blended in and synched up in a perfect harmony with the band. Though it may not be the idea, “Bog Monster” seems to me to be an eerie call out to the void in denial of what’s coming.
With “Tears Ov the Witch '' coming in next, we fall back into a more coursing melody that sends you soaring along with the track as we hear those iconic blackened wails that define Voidkeeper’s vocal style. I was lucky enough to be able to talk with the drummer from Voidkeeper, Mark Andrew about the idea behind the EP and the overall initial vibes I was getting. From what I was told the general idea behind “Eternal Decay” as an EP was the inherent fall into insanity and the process of mental decay which is well displayed throughout.
“Tears-” carries into “Celestial Tombs Ov the Fallen Ones”, This part of the album sets in the groove along with some nice heavy chugging sections that carry along that vibe of spreading insanity. It’s the playful type of groovy guitar work that leads right into some slamming riffs that highlights the brutal hybrid this band is working to create. This track does a great job of bringing the energy up to 11 and bringing together all of the exciting elements displayed in the previous tracks. Voidkeeper's built a snowball of an EP, from start to finish this stuff is absolutely electric. I appreciated that the entire band was there along with the ripping guitar solo towards the finish, it is a beautiful symphony of chaos that you absolutely must experience for yourself.
Bringing us to our last track, sharing the name of the EP “Eternal Decay” caught me off guard in a good way. After “Celestial Tombs Ov the Fallen Ones”, I was expecting them to dial it up even more and slam down the EP into fiery cinders but I was left checking my spotify to see if the album had switched over. Surprisingly no, “Eternal Decay” is an artful and somber cherry topper to this kickass EP. Taking us on a path of acceptance and finality the dreamy guitar opener does lead us into some solid chugging riffs but we don’t lose our somber melody. Trading off between the two Voidkeeper uses their guttural vocals to show a glaring comparison to the ballad-esque guitarwork we hear. Another note I made about this track was the fight behind the vocals has been toned down, of course I was told this track was one of acceptance of the insanity but even without the cliff notes i’m still soaking up the message effortlessly. Without repeating myself too much, I have to say this final track really takes you on a push and pull of the fight and then acceptance over and over until the final solo work from the guitar that fades off into the end of this fantastic EP.
It’s wonderful to be back reviewing these talented musicians doing what they do best, and I can’t wait to see what Voidkeeper has in store for us next on the horizon. For now, this has been Riley Green with yet another fantastic batch of tunes for your listening ears. Stay weird, stay true, stay metal.

17/07/2022

'Eternal Decay' is the debut album from American blackened doom/death metal band VoidKeeper released in 2022.01 King Ov The Locusts 0:0002 Bog Monster 04:080...

15/06/2022

Our band ~VOIDKEEPER~ released our debut album, ‘ETERNAL DECAY’, this afternoon! We are SO proud of it, and you can stream/purchase the whole album via the link below. Thank you all so much for always continuing to support independent artists, venues, labels, and musicians during these last few years. It’s so important!