Daniel Day Lewis in the Last of the Mohicans, is pointed to as one of the great method actors of our time. He totally immersed himself in the role actually killing and skinning his own food, learning the crafts of the Mohican tribe, and carrying a rifle with him everywhere during the shoot. Before the filming ever began he lived for six months in the woods and continued to do so throughout the shoot. By believing he was the character he was portraying, he convinced the audience as well as his co-stars who also gave more realistic and believable performances.
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The Blair Witch Project (1998), is considered to be one of the most frightening movies ever made. The main reason for this was that both on screen and off the movie seemed real in so many ways it was easy for people to believe it was a real documentary. The story is about three journalist students who are making a documentary about the myth of the Blair Witch. Over the course of the movie, they come to realize they are being followed by something although we never quite know what. By the end of the movie all three students have gone missing.
Although most people believe the movie is all make believe at the beginning, many leave at least doubtful if not convinced it was a true documentary disguised as fiction. The three actors are very believable in terms of their mounting fear, disorientation, obsession and ultimately descent into complete terror. One reason this movie feels so real is that it is shot hand to hand so it is easy for the audience to become engaged by the process and to feel they are part of the story since they are able to share the viewpoint of whomever is shooting at the time.
There was also notorious forced method acting that occurred during the filming to make the actors exhausted, frightened and anxious and a bit disoriented to get a performance consistent with the story. The three actors were made to sleep in a tent in the woods and the director purposely set up situations using scary noises, voices, things thrown at the tent, shaking the tent when all were asleep, leaving notes for the actors and other ways to make them break down. Much of the fear seen on screen is real fear as at one point one of the actors reported they had developed trouble knowing what was real and what was not. The actors received a 35 page summary of the myth behind the Blair Witch and nothing else and they weren’t always informed ahead of time when one of the really terrifying scenes was going to occur.
The filming and results of forced method acting made the story so believable audiences found they were not sure if the film was fiction or a real life documentary. The actions of the director both on and off film contributed to the real life sense audiences came away with. To add to the growing cult like following, the creative team set up a website where they published supposed real documents about the Blair Witch and those who were involved with her as friend of victim. The director went so far as to have the stars in hiding after filming was completed. He then circulated rumors they had been kidnapped. He even had posters printed asking for information on the three missing students which he posted at the Cannes Film Festival.
Sometimes it is not just what happens onscreen that makes a story seem real and believable. Sometimes those responsible for various aspects of film production, advertising and marketing become involved in creating a situation that results in the belief a fabricated story is completely true.
