​  The Horror film genre is perhaps the most popular, not only in the US but worldwide. At its worst it can be redundant while at its best it’s invigorating. The massive public appreciation of the genre has led droves of actors, writers, and other film professionals into this lucrative and inventive area of cinema. Yes, there are tropes but the way that the creative individuals who make these films are able to come up with new twists on classic ideas; it keeps the public coming back in the same way that you might have a favorite type of restaurant but like to visit new ones to see what everyone is talking about. The continued success of these stories is based on the creator’s ability to add something new while retaining enough of the DNA to keep committed fans attracted.  Canadian actor James Preston Rogers has cultivated a very eclectic and impressive list of credits including drama (Frontier), comedy (Benjamin), and action (Face Off) to list just a few but never Horror…until he was approached by filmmaker Kevin Van Hook. Rogers explains, “I like to keep an even balance of types of films that I do. This helps avoid being typecast. It’s been said that it's better to be typecast than not cast at all. This is true. Fortunately, I have worked hard and developed a skill set that allows me to work in most genres of film, and I enjoy all of them. I'm working to be seen and as an ‘actor’ across the board, capable of doing any type of work. This also keeps me excited and hungry for the next project, and prohibits getting stale, stuck, and eventually losing the love for this industry in which is so dear to me.” When Van Hook proposed a very unusual role for James in his film Alpha Wolf, it intrigued the actor by offering him yet another color to add to his career. Appearing as Sheriff James Carradine in the film was not the entirety of Rogers involvement in this role.
  Alpha Wolf’s creator loved the classic werewolf story but felt that he had a unique idea to inject. The film depicts a couple who had moved into a secluded cabin in an attempt to salvage their relationship. They find their world torn apart when the husband transforms into a murderous werewolf. Things grow even more bizarre when the family dog leaps in to save the wife and…sorry, you’ll have to watch the film for the completely jaw dropping twist that occurs and transforms Alpha Wolf into the most unusual werewolf film yet. There are many layers to the story and the location itself is one. There’s something different about this town and its residents, the local sheriff’s department included. Rogers is perfectly cast as James Carradine, the Sheriff of this small town. He is a large man with long hair, who carries himself with an almost all-knowing confidence. Ambiguity surrounds the character while James portrays him with an implied omniscience. Kevin VanHook (comic book creator and a filmmaker) professes,
“James was always on my wish list for the role of the sheriff. He brought a lot of star power to the film. He’s known for his action, drama, and comedy work. He is an actor of immense size and talent. The role of Sheriff Carradine required many qualities that are rare in an actor. Perhaps most importantly, James had to hint at who he might be without giving too much away. He had to make a serious impact on the audience without convincing them exactly who or what he is, which is exactly what we needed to spark interest in the sequel. It’s a very fine line to walk and quite difficult to do…and James did it perfectly. When you see the film you think that there’s no one else who could have played this role.”  
  Sheriff Carradine is a vital character to the film but does not appear in the majority of the film. It’s an odd situation that an actor is brought aboard a production not solely for his contributions to it but to foreshadow his role in the sequel. While Vanhook new the role and his choice in the actor to play him was impressive, he had the intention of building the sequel around him rather than this initial production. A large portion of current horror productions operate under this method. James reveals, “The writing in the script was beautiful and the idea is so original; we all knew that the film was special. My role was key for the sequel so when I got on camera I needed to project for the sequel and yet not take away from the current film.  It was a new situation for me to be. Sheriff Carradine was in the movie at crucial points and I needed to make sure his presence was felt but I couldn’t give too much of it away.”
  A co-star with James in Alpha Wolf is Robert Mukes, known for his work in HBO’s “Westworld” and horror classic House of 1,000 Corpses. At 6’ 10” himself and with more than a decade and a half in the film industry, Mukes knows a lot about the demands of being an actor in physical roles. Mukes declares his admiration for Rogers after his experience working with him on Alpha Wolf stating, “I’m a big guy who been acting in films for quite some time now. James definitely has the acting skills to star alongside all of the great actors he has been working with, there’s ample proof in all of his varied performances that he has earned his place alongside so many notable actors. What truly impressed me was his timing, pace, and attention to detail. He can definitely hang right there with the very best whether it a combat scene of a comedic one. When it comes to action sequences, he is a true master. It was an absolute pleasure to work with an actor like James who seems to have it all.”
  James Preston Rogers has cultivated diversity for himself as an actor. By taking the unexpected and the obvious roles for a man of his physical stature, he has continued to challenge both his own skills and the preconceptions that both those in the TV/Film industry and the audience might have of him. Accepting this role in Alpha Wolf, one which is focused more on what will happen in the sequel rather than a character arc which occurs in the current film…it’s just more proof that this is an actor who likes to take a risk. He is investing in a long career, one which based on the amount of praise he has received and the established and recognizable (as well as those not as well-known) co-stars that he works alongside…is already well under way.

​  When it comes to the holidays, there are sensory triggers that immediately transport us back to that special time; it might be the smell of treats, seeing snow, or the sounds of bells. Sound editor and Foley editor YuXin Boon consumes herself with the auditory scenery and triggers that help place the viewing audience in the emotional blanket of both Christmas and romance on her work in “Enchanted Christmas.” Boon’s role is to be the guide for our ears in the story of Laura Trudeau (played by Alexa PenaVega) who returns to her home of Utah to oversee the renovation of a hotel which is being restored for a Christmas Eve benefit dance competition. Laura left years earlier following personal tragedy and upon her return comes face to face with Ricardo Archuleta (played by Carlos PenaVega), the boy who jilted her for a professional dance career, the star of the dance benefit, and her old love. Trudeau is pulled between old love, new love, and her personal/professional life. Amongst the emotional whirlwind, the hotel construction, and the dance competition, there was a deluge of sonic atmosphere for YuXin to present, organize, and clarify. It’s not until you are made aware of the impact of the sound scape in a film that you fully appreciate how vital it is to create the emotional experience the filmmakers seek to manifest.
  Working under the direction of Supervising Sound Editor Erick Jolley for this Hallmark Channel presentation, Boon was in charge of more than simply creating the sound of winter. Yes, it takes place in Utah so there is that component but just as importantly, she was in charge of what can only be referred to as “ear candy.” Her work created an ambience that is subtle but distinguished with creative details. YuXin explains, “My favorite part of working on ‘Enchanted Christmas’ was exploring creative details to provide a three-dimensional background for the audience. I essentially filled the background with sound from multiple directions of things that were not visible in the shot. It’s a very creative role. For example, for scenes in which the family is decorating the Christmas tree in the living room, I put sounds of distant traffic from the right window, campfire from the fireplace at the left, and a clock ticking at the back. None of these were shown in the scene. By overviewing the outside shot from the house and the kitchen shot in the same house, I found that there was a fireplace between the living room and kitchen. Headlights were visible in the window from a passing car. Based on the props I found in different scenes of the same house, I recreated the background of the scene with visible and invisible details. With creative editing, I built a believable living room scene for the audience. Most of us take these background and peripheral stimuli for granted but it’s my job to make sure they are there so you can take them for granted.”
  Of course there’s the sound of Winter. The story takes place in Utah during winter so there would be no believability if the sounds of the season in this climate weren’t present. Based on scenes and camera angles, Boon created the cold winter background from different perspectives whether from a distant view or close shot. Jolley asked her to do some sound design for the surround sound and add the ambience that would work for the scenes. To impart the blustery winter wonderland, YuXin focused on sound libraries. Achieving the proper sound often required combining several specific wind and air ambience recordings. Boon found herself making presets for certain scenes of the same locations (in the film) and then adding creative components such as a dog barking, birds chirping, etc. based on the movements and time presented in the scenes. Her work subconsciously communicates a subtext to the viewer. Boon describes, “When the shot of main character’s house changed from outside to inside, I used the same traffic and wind sounds to state that two scenes were shot in the same neighborhood. But I processed the traffic and wind with equalizer to cut the high frequencies in order to make them sound as if they were coming from the other side of the wall. I utilized the same method on the scene of dance performance when the characters walked from the main stage to the back stage. I used an equalizer to reduce the high frequencies and panned the ambience to the right (because the main stage was behind a curtain and at the right side of backstage). I created the sound of the scene that characters talked in the backstage while the performance was still going on at the main stage.”
  The alertness and attention to detail in the actions of a scene is a requirement in her profession and Boon performs it with an astounding level of detail. Her approach in sound editing is to see three perspectives of the same scene: the action you focus on, the background action, and the action taking place off screen. To illustrate, for the construction scenes at the hotel in “Enchanted Christmas” she overviewed the workers movements and assigned particular construction sounds to each of them like sawing, drilling, and hammering. For the scenes which depicted the workers walking around with their tools but not actually working, she still layered electric sawing and drilling ambience (with an EQ), but at a lower volume, to sound as if they were coming from off in the distance. For one exterior construction scene, minor details like a truck engine sound at the rear speakers encourages the audience believe that there are workers unloading the truck behind them, tough they are never seen.
  In the magical realm of TV and Film, everything is important in transferring believability. The work of YuXin on this production and every production in which she is involved may not be the most obvious or attention getting but that is the most vital part of it. For a naturally detail oriented individual like YuXin the fun of her work is noticing that which might easily be overlooked. She basks in finding the right air and room tone ambience for similar scenes and giving different textures to these scenes. The lodge in which much of the story takes place has several halls and rooms that required distinguishing to show the difference in room size, spaciousness, and location. The main lobby is larger in size with a tall ceiling, marble floor and less furniture. Using a sound library, YuXin matched the room tone with a big hall for more reverberation and echo. For a conference room, she chose the ambience of a middle size room to contrast the dryer and more solid hall because that room had carpet and more furniture. This time-consuming process requires constant comparison to discover the exact template to be used.
  “Enchanted Christmas” is just as much about the love of dancing as about love itself. The two lead actors are professional dancers (as are many of the other performers in the film) and the requirements on the Foley artists and Boon were quite substantial because of this. Recorded over ten days at DPS studio, Foley artist Steve Walter copied the twist, drag, and thread moves exhibited onscreen by the actors. Boon spent a week editing all the Foley like cloth, props, and footsteps. While the dancing is integral to the story of “Enchanted Christmas” it’s just one part of the many auditory aspects that editor YuXin Boon contends with in order to give every viewer the complete experience of being in the world of Laura Trudeau.