David Bird prepares an immersive live electronic score to the previously un-soundtracked 1999 horror film “The Blair Witch Project”, featuring contextual readings by Cole Hager, and a poignant percussive performance of Jessie Marino’s “Ritual I :: Commitment :: BiiM” by Ellery Trafford.
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Calling The Blair Witch Project a phenomenon is flirting with understatement. From the moment of its première at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival (where it screened as a midnight movie), Blair Witch was a full-steam word-of-mouth express, with people who’d just seen it grabbing those who hadn’t yet by their parkas and shaking them violently, insisting that they absolutely must. An innovative online marketing campaign—launched when the Internet was still a relatively new toy for the general public—followed, creating even more frantic wanna-see by making it appear as if the film were non-fiction. Found-footage horror, which had previously barely existed as a genre, became so popular that it’s still going strong 15 years later; there are movies in multiplexes right now that only exist because of The Blair Witch Project. Shot for an initial budget that’s been reported as less than $50,000, it grossed just shy of $250 million (closer to $350 million, adjusted for inflation), making it one of the most profitable films of all time.
