David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
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kindtraveler.bsky.social
David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
@kindtraveler.bsky.social
320 followers 290 following 390 posts
Filmmaker, storyteller, friend. Just trying to make the world a little better.

(And maybe a little more mysterious... )

https://www.youtube.com/@cinegeek
https://www.swordandcloak.com/
No Gen-AI ever.
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kindtraveler.bsky.social
David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak @kindtraveler.bsky.social · 15d
Enjoy our new Horror Short: PRELUDE TO THE WITCH the first chapter in our new Urban Folk-Horror Anthology: BEYOND THIS HAUNTED CITY!

#swordandcloakproductions
#BeyondTheseHauntedStreets
#IndieHorror
#ChicagoHorror
#RogersParkChicago
#FolkHorror
#UrbanHorror
#UrbanWeird
#CosmicHorror
#IndieFilm
PRELUDE TO THE WITCH - Beyond This Haunted City: episode #1 (Folk Horror short film)
YouTube video by Sword & Cloak
www.youtube.com
kindtraveler.bsky.social
For BEYOND THESE HAUNTED STREETS, I wanted the Title to feel old-school, so used a fish tank as a simple form of "cloud tank", like was used in CE3K, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Ghostbusters.
#practicalFX
#BeyondTheseHauntedStreets
#indiefilmmaking
#cloudtank
November 11, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
cheryllynneaton.bsky.social
I'm not surprised to see men being dragged for "virtue reading." Reading is the only form of entertainment that is still free. Of course businesses would shame you for it. Put down that library card and pay for a streaming service, sir!
November 10, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
patwahlerauthor.bsky.social
She's not wrong.
Text: can priests bless stuff other than water? i just think holy guacamole should *mean* something -BootsMcGoot
November 5, 2025 at 9:07 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
The Best Horror Films of the 21st Century - I was hoping to talk about these films too:

The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015)
A History of the Occult (2020)
Frailty
The Cabin in the Woods
Absentia

<1 of 2>

#BestHorrorFilmsofthe21stCentury
#IndieHorror
#HorrorMovies
#HorrorCommunity
November 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Enjoy our new Horror Short: PRELUDE TO THE WITCH the first chapter in our new Urban Folk-Horror Anthology: BEYOND THIS HAUNTED CITY!

#swordandcloakproductions
#BeyondTheseHauntedStreets
#IndieHorror
#ChicagoHorror
#RogersParkChicago
#FolkHorror
#UrbanHorror
#UrbanWeird
#CosmicHorror
#IndieFilm
PRELUDE TO THE WITCH - Beyond This Haunted City: episode #1 (Folk Horror short film)
YouTube video by Sword & Cloak
www.youtube.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:31 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
New Project:
BEYOND THIS HAUNTED CITY – A Folk-Horror Anthology
Follow, Subscribe & Join us!

<1of 4>

#swordandcloakproductions
#BeyondTheseHauntedStreets
#IndieHorror
#ChicagoHorror
#RogersParkChicago
#FolkHorror
#UrbanHorror
#UrbanWeird
#CosmicHorror
#IndieFilm
October 30, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
ricdesi.dpad.fm
Hey everyone, here's a real simple way to disable "Super Resolution" on your channels:

• YouTube Studio
• Settings
• Channel
• Advanced settings
• Uncheck "Let YouTube enhance visual quality"
• Uncheck "Let YouTube enhance audio quality"
October 29, 2025 at 10:56 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
HOLY COW! Our short film, The Underpass, was featured in a news story about improvements to the location where it was filmed!

#RogersParkChicago
#ChicagoHorror
#UrbanHorror
#HorrorCommunity
#IndieHorrorFilm
Taking the horror out of a Rogers Park viaduct's murals
For "The Underpass," a 10-minute horror movie short, the cobwebs and peeling paint was the right ambiance. But it wasn't the right vibe for pedestrians, so a few artists flipped the script.
chicago.suntimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Arthur Mosby (DC Cathro) is pursued by an evil curse, and the darkest magic, in Sword & Cloak Productions' new short film: PRELUDE TO THE WITCH! On YouTube tomorrow, 10/20, Halloween Eve! Please Like & Share!

#IndieHorror
#IndieHorrorMovies
#ChicagoHorror
#HorrorCommunity
#HorrorMovies
#FolkHorror
Underneath an elevated train track at night, a corn-husk doll lies on the pavement. There is a scrap of colored fabric around its neck, and many dark and painful looking thorns stick out of it's body. In the background we can see the Arthur Mosby fleeing the scene. But is it too late to escape?
October 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Walter Mosby (DC Cathro) sees a cryptic message as he rides the train, in Sword & Clock Productions' new short film PRELUDE TO THE WITCH! Premiering on YT Thursday, 10/20, Halloween! Please Like and Share!

#IndieHorror
#IndieHorrorMovies
#ChicagoHorror
#HorrorCommunity
#HorrorMovies
#FolkHorror
October 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
The Truth about Chicago:

Every morning, as I cycle to work, I wave to multiple pairs of ordinary citizens standing on street corners with orange whistles trying to protect children walking to school from being abducted by masked government thugs.

Cuz that's life now.

#ICEChicago
#RogersPark
October 28, 2025 at 1:55 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
In our new Short Film: PRELUDE TO THE WITCH, DC Cathro stars Walter Mosby, an academic who is forced to believe in a terrible evil. Premiering this Thursday, 10/20, Halloween Eve!

#IndieHorror
#IndieHorrorMovies
#ChicagoHorror
#HorrorCommunity
#HorrorMovies
#FolkHorror
DC Cathro as Walter Mosby, a greying academic with a grey beard stands on a shadowy subway platform talking to his phone with a worried brow.
October 27, 2025 at 8:18 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century: GET OUT (2017) In Jordan Peel's directorial debut a young black man meets his white girlfriend's parents & learns a horrible secret. Ira Levin-like paranoia & sharp social commentary.
#BestHorrorFilmsofthe21stCentury
#IndieHorror
#HorrorMovies
#HorrorCommunity
In a wooded area, Daniel Kaluuya looks warily at another young black man in a straw hat in the foreground.
October 27, 2025 at 7:41 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
NEW MOVIE: PRELUDE TO THE WITCH, as well as the launch of a New Project! Coming this Thursday, 10/20, Halloween Eve! Can't wait for you see it. If you want to support, please Like & Share!

#IndieHorror
#IndieHorrorMovies
#ChicagoHorror
#HorrorCommunity
#HorrorMovies
#FolkHorror
#CosmicHorror
The shadowy and majestic front entrance to The Chicago Public Library at night, lit only by the old-style streetlamps. Above it the words "PRELUDE TO THE WITCH"!
October 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
scumbelievable.bsky.social
Del Toro, they could never make me hate you
hypervisible.blacksky.app Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 22d
“I am not interested, nor will I ever be interested. I'm 61, and I hope to be able to remain uninterested in using it at all until I croak. ... The other day, somebody wrote me an email, said, ‘What is your stance on AI?’ And my answer was very short. I said, ‘I'd rather die.’” 🫡
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro says 'I'd rather die' than use generative AI
Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains.
www.npr.org
October 24, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
thetriibe.com
This story is being published in collaboration with indie investigative newsroom @unraveledpress.com and alt-weekly @chicagoreader.com.

thetriibe.com/2025/10/live...
LIVE: Organizers take anti-ICE protests to Gary/Chicago International Airport, the site of deportation flights • The TRiiBE
From 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. today, organizers are leading an anti-ICE demonstration at the Gary/Chicago International Airport, a joint civil-military public airport in Northwest Indiana.
thetriibe.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:41 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century: I SAW THE TV GLOW : Jane Schoenbrun's personal existential/identity horror follows 2 troubled H. S. students who bond over a TV show that drives them to question reality & identity.

#BestHorrorFilmsofthe21stCentury
#QueerHorror
#HorrorMovies
#HorrorCommunity
On a dark lawn, an old wooden console TV gouts flames, both form it's top and from the illuminated insides through the broken tube at its center. Sinister.
October 24, 2025 at 2:11 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century: THE VVITCH (2015): Robert Eggers' historical Folk Horror film follows a Puritan family who are preyed upon by an evil force in the woods. Iconic and resonate.

#BestHorrorFilmsofthe21stCentury
#FolkHorror
#HorrorMovies
#HorrorCommunity
Dressed in 17th century peasant clothing, a teenage girl and a younger boy sit in a field of dead grass and ragged tree stumps, on the edge of a dark pool of water. A dark forest looms behind them.
October 23, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
markhamillofficial.bsky.social
"Destruction of federal property is a federal crime-18 U.S. Code § 1361 defines it as willfully injuring or committing any depredation of U.S. gov't property-Damage exceeding $1k is a felony w/ a fine-up to 10 yrs in prison or both"

Meanwhile-took me forever to get permits to repaint my mailbox.
October 23, 2025 at 4:42 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
I love this apartment building in my neighborhood. They are totally winning at Halloween!

#halloweenchicago
#Halloween2025
#RogersParkChicago
October 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017) - Shin'ichirō Ueda's in hilarious & heartfelt meta-horror-comedy a crew trying to film a zombie movie is attacked by real zombies, but... AVOID SPOILERS!
#Best21stcenturyhorror
#J-Horror
#IndieHorror
#HorrorCommunity
#horrormovies
October 22, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
heebiebeebies.bsky.social
I cannot recommend you enough to install the Wikipedia app on your devices and use it like you would any search engine. Nowadays they even have tabs so you can open many articles at once.

And, if you can, please donate to the foundation. It has survived the internet enshittification that way.
emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social Emanuel Maiberg @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social · 29d
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
Best Horror Movies of the 21st Century: SESSION 9 (2001) Brad Anderson's psychological horror film follows an asbestos abatement crew working at an abandoned mental asylum, who experience frightening events. An indie horror fav!

#Best21stcenturyhorror
#IndieHorror
#HorrorCommunity
#horrormovies
October 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by David Schmidt - Sword & Cloak
edzitron.com
archive.ph/MTcOJ
October 16, 2025 at 4:33 AM
kindtraveler.bsky.social
"For the Library Haunted House, we'd love to have a cemetery."

"What's our budget?"

"Pretty much whatever you can find around here."

"We have cardboard boxes? I'll see what I can do..."
:)
#halloweenchicago
#Halloween2025
#DIYHalloween
#loyolalibrarychicago
#RogersParkChicago
#LibrariesHalloween
A set of unpainted Gothic tombstones made of cardboard boxes, including such details as Gothic arches, crosses, and Edward Gorey-esque death's heads leaned up against a large filing cabinet.
October 10, 2025 at 4:38 PM