SCREAMTEST PRODUCER

Edited transcript of the Live Chat with Screamtest producer on Wednesday, April 4th 2001

Interviewer: Tonight we are chatting to the executive producer of scream test, hi how are you?
Rotting Corpse: I'm very well thank you

Interviewer: How did the idea for Scream test come up, were you involved in that?
Rotting Corpse: It was developed by a producer working for us in our London office and we further developed the show from here.

Interviewer: Did you think scream test was going to be as popular as it became?
Rotting Corpse: We were hopeful but relieved that everyone seemed to enjoy watching it.

Interviewer: hey: Are the special effects created?
Rotting Corpse: Yes some effects are created each program and some things we could not explain.

Interviewer: Crumpet: Will it be worth making a Scream Test II?
Rotting Corpse: this is the decision of the Ten Network and we will have to see what they think.

Interviewer: RedDragon: Nice Job on the show, How did you choose the locations and why?
Rotting Corpse: We did a search on locations to find places that had good stories attached and also were good for filming purposes.

Interviewer: Doggie: when the contestants were in the rooms, were they all in 1 room at the same time or were they done individually?
Rotting Corpse: They were all in different rooms at the same time and were rotated once every hour or so.

Interviewer: AuSSurfer: did u yourself see anything paranormal??
Rotting Corpse: Yes, at the QV hospital the power plugs in the video machines in ward 1 kept coming out of the sockets, when we left the room.

Interviewer: RedDragon: Where did you get the Psychics? Do you believe in paranormal stuff?
Rotting Corpse: We cast the psychics from following interviews with about 40 people. I was undecided when we started the program but have to admit that things happened which we could not explain.

Interviewer: Lilspook: Would you ever endure a scream test challenge yourself?
Rotting Corpse: No I would not have gone into most of the rooms myself. It was cold, uncomfortable and genuinely spooky for the most part.

Interviewer: samissogay: How do you choose the contestants?
Rotting Corpse: We advertised on our web site and on radio and videotapes were sent in. Some of these tapes can be played on the site. We chose from the forms that were filled in as well as the videos.

Interviewer: Kimber: Do you think that the show could have a lasting psychological impact on any of the contestants?
Rotting Corpse: The contestants were aware of the situations that they were letting themselves into and we were careful to monitor them throughout the night. The psychic’s role included counselling of the contestants and we followed up with them after the programs to ensure they were ok.

Interviewer: DeJaVu: What was in the shower room (psychically) that really freaked ALL of the contestants out?
Rotting Corpse: Supposedly a man or a male spirit sits on top of the shower cubicles and observes people who come into the shower block. Debbie had an EMF reading of close to 100 despite there being no heavy electrical power supply in the room.

Interviewer: INver: what was the scariest unexplained experience you had while shooting this series?
Rotting Corpse: Probably the music that we heard in the stairs at Queen Victoria hospital, I was in the van at the time it happened and know that we were not playing any music as a special effect for the entire night. We cannot explain it and the crew were genuinely scared by the experience.

Interviewer: carlos_daman: what did u consider the scariest site?
Rotting Corpse: The Quarantine station without a doubt, although all of the locations were scary to some extent.

Interviewer: RedDragon: Why are the contestants asked to shower immediately after they are on the show?
Rotting Corpse: They were not, the shower block was just a location for them to go into as part of the program.

Interviewer: ghostly_chick: Will the ten network release videos of the series?
Rotting Corpse: Probably not.

Interviewer: geron: Since shooting the series, have any "strange" occurrences plagued you, your staff or your family??
Rotting Corpse: Our editing facilities have had a lot of problems during the editing of the program and Ruth offered to help cleanse our building.

Interviewer: Louie: You met the contestants before and after, which one do you think was the most affected by the whole ordeal?
Rotting Corpse: I was overseas when the grand final was filmed and did not see everyone once they had completed the program. I think all of them were affected but as you saw in the last two programs the affect was completely different for each person.

Interviewer: chaney: How did you source the locations? was it by word of mouth or stories?
Rotting Corpse: Through research initially, both web and phone. Then by recommendations as the team started to visit some of the locations and meet people involved in the world of paranormal or those who had an interest in the history of the locations.

Interviewer: RedDragon: Were any scenes cut out of the show that were genuinely frightening or interesting?
Rotting Corpse: Each program was recorded for a period of about 8 hours and with 4 contestants. There was a lot of material that could not be shown. The most interesting material appeared in the series but sitting and watching the full rushes reveals how scary the locations really are. You can see the longer version of the video diaries on the web site www.screamtest.tv

Interviewer: Bob_Smith: What where some of the haunted places that you didn't end up using in the show?
Rotting Corpse: The Camden Tunnel and the Camden Council Chambers. The Tunnel was too limited in terms of location for the show and the Council Chambers were very scary but very cramped.

Interviewer: dangerpowers: were u ever particularly worried about any of the contestants?
Rotting Corpse: Yes in the grand final all of the contestants had times when they were genuinely terrified and the psychics had to intervene we watched very carefully for signs of them being overly stressed and of course at any time they could ask to leave the room or be given help.

Interviewer: nikki_sydney: Did you manage to obtain any footage stills or recordings that you would deem unexplained? from any of the locations.
Rotting Corpse: Yes the music at Queen Victoria Hospital, and the Streak across the screen at Parramatta Orphanage. Also the photographs at Monte Cristo and Quarantine Station taken by Michael Williams.

Interviewer: BlueRaven: Regarding an article posted by the Truth, said something about religious authorities trying to influence the show... is this correct?
Rotting Corpse: You shouldn't believe what you read in the Truth BlueRaven !

Interviewer: screamer: Will this series be exported to other countries?
Rotting Corpse: Yes we have had interest in the format in Japan, UK and the US.

Interviewer: AeonFlux: Were you a sceptic or a believer before the show? And if you were a sceptic did it change your mind?
Rotting Corpse: I was open minded before the show but have become more of a believer as a result of being involved in the program.

Interviewer: RustyNail: Ok, so the contestants got scared in the show, what about the crew? How did they personally handle it?
Rotting Corpse: One of the producers had several bad experiences, particularly at Queen Vic Hospital. She was happy to go back to the next location however!

Interviewer: LiMPO: Are the "haunted" locations available for viewing by public? Did u have to get permission to enter the areas?
Rotting Corpse: Some of the locations are open to the public and details of the ghost tours are available on the screamtest.tv website. Studley Park is a privately owned property and we had to have permission to film there.

Interviewer: Rosie: Do you have any other paranormal type shows in mind or just this one?
Rotting Corpse: we have made a ghost related science program for the Learning Channel, which is a major US cable channel. We have several other programs in development also for US Cable.

Interviewer: duron: Would you consider doing the series in the same format if repeated?
Rotting Corpse: Yes, however we would add some new elements to the program and no, I will not tell you what they are now! BTW the hairnets in the grand final were required by the quarantine station management as the location is historic and it is designed to stop hair falling out at this historic place!

Interviewer: Guest49659: why not have a national comp one from each state ?
Rotting Corpse: Should further episodes be produced we would look at shooting at other locations around Australia.

Interviewer: Crumpet: How much did it Cost to do one Episode, and how long did it take to film?
Rotting Corpse: I cannot tell you the amount due to our contract with Ten, but I can say that it took 1 night to film each episode and about two weeks to shoot all of the briefing tapes that the contestants saw. It took about two or three weeks per program to edit as there was so much videotape.

Interviewer: BungleWeed: How were the psychics tested for the role of scream test psychics?
Rotting Corpse: We screen tested them on videotape and looked for people who were credible and would also be able to council contestants during the filming.

Interviewer: Suzi: Did the contestants know there were special effects before, during or after the show? They did not seem to be aware of these effects.
Rotting Corpse: The contestants were all told before taping that there would be special effects during the night and they they should record everything that would happen to them. Some of their reactions were to things that were not created by us.

Interviewer: robynbobbin_99: did you get the photo's back from the places that the contestants took? if yes was there anything on them?
Rotting Corpse: No, they contestants photo's did not reveal anything abnormal. The photo's taken by Mike Williams, our researcher, however did have some strange things in them and we showed these in the program.

Interviewer: elljay: Is the photo taken in the shower block available on the net?
Rotting Corpse: If it is not on the site already we will put it up tomorrow.

Interviewer: evan: why did you feel the need to add effects?
Rotting Corpse: Would you propose doing an hour TV show were you didn't know if anything was going to happen!! We felt that the addition of the effects would heighten the awareness of the contestants for genuinely paranormal occurrences but also provide the audience with first hand experience of people dealing with fear.

Interviewer: samissogay: I think the series was very popular. Can we vote for you guys to make a second series? :)
Rotting Corpse: Yes please do, call the Channel Ten switchboard :)

Interviewer: Guest47422: What are the factors that may prevent another series?
Rotting Corpse: There is a lot of reality TV currently on TV and no one is sure how long the popularity will last.

Interviewer: ladycentaur: will the message board and website stay up and running?
Rotting Corpse: Yes we intend to continue both the board and the site for the time being as the chat room in particular has become popular and seems to have created a lot of new friends.

Interviewer: Bart-Simpson: did the producers figure out where that music was coming from?
Rotting Corpse: No, we isolate the sound in the audio mix of the program and couldn't explain it. 1 suggestion was that it could be RF leakage but this could not have been the case as it appeared on three different cameras

Interviewer: charmed_one: could u tell what tune was playing?
Rotting Corpse: No, but it sounded like an Arabic tune and like early 1900's

Interviewer: thelove: Did those showers in the last episode really turn on by themselves??
Rotting Corpse: OK you have us there! It was the producers playing tricks on the contestants.

Interviewer: iamdman: Did any contestants lose control of their bodily functions?
Rotting Corpse: Not that I’m aware of, or that they told us

Interviewer: RustyNail: Is there any valid research to be done now with all the hours?
Rotting Corpse: The program was a popular entertainment format and whilst we recorded things on a variety of camera's and utilized contestants as part of an experiment, I don't think there were sufficient controls in place for it to be used as genuine scientific research.

Interviewer: Darkclouds1: Are you happy with the way the show turned out? Could you see some improvements?
Rotting Corpse: Yes we were very happy with the show but of course any producer that says that something is perfect would be a liar.

Interviewer: Gel: I know the show had been very popular but has there been any negative feedback
Rotting Corpse: Not that has been reported to us.

Interviewer: Happy^_^Grass: will there be a desktop theme available?
Rotting Corpse: Hadn't planned to but that’s a great idea and will pass it onto the online folk.

Interviewer: DanComps: Would there ever be a chance of a Celebrity Scream Test?
Rotting Corpse: We are thinking of getting Burt Newton in a hair-raising situation... Just kidding. No we haven't thought of putting celebs into these sorts of situations. I'm not sure that they would take the risk!

Interviewer: psycho2000: how would someone audition to be on the next series
Rotting Corpse: Ok, we would announce any subsequent series and provide and email address to register interest. We have been noticing a number of people on the scream board who have expressed interest and left their email details. We would also announce it on the web site so keep an eye out.

Interviewer: doppleganger: Will there be a list of events that occurred during the filming and a concurrent list of special effects that could be attributed to the crew?
Rotting Corpse: We had not planned to do this and such a list would not really make sense without seeing it in context of the videotape of the program.

Interviewer: BATTLE: do u have ideas for locations of the next series
Rotting Corpse: Yes we have some additional ideas of locations in Victoria and Qld but are always open to suggestions.

Interviewer: Darkclouds1: Will further episodes try more to prove the paranormal or be just more of a scream-fest?
Rotting Corpse: As you would guess it is impossible to predict when the paranormal is going to appear on video tape and we would continue to actively look for genuine situations as well as providing an entertaining format for people to watch.

Interviewer: Thanks for the chat tonight, what are your final words to the chatters here?
Rotting Corpse: Thanks for all of your support during the series, the experience of a program with a web component that provided feedback so close to the program going to air was a really interesting experience. There were a lot of really helpful suggestions and comments in the chat room and on the boards. I look forward to seeing you again on our next program, good luck

Interviewer: Remember to check out http://bigpond.com/chat for the next lot of chats and for previous chat transcripts.