Brentwood-based Mark Constance, previously assistant director of the Boston baseball homage “Fever Pitch,” has started work on “The Sensation of Sight,” shooting in Peterborough this week. The offbeat mid-life crisis/ghost story stars David Strathairn, veteran of 70 films and recently named best actor at the Venice Film Festival for his portrayal of Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night and Good Luck.” Buzz McLaughlin is the executive producer and also writer Aaron Weiderspahn’s partner under the banner of Either/Or Films, based in the Monadnock region. The film’s producers include Constance, Strathairn and Los Angeles-based Darren Moorman and Madelaine Ryan. Other players in “The Sensation of Sight” include Ian Somerhalder from ABC’s “Lost”; Daniel Gillies from the Steven Spielberg–produced mini series “Into the West”; Scott Wilson (“The Last Samurai”); Jane Adams (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”); Ann Cusack (“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”); Joseph Mazzello (“Jurassic Park”); and Elizabeth Waterston (“Law and Order”).

“Septic Scenes,” a film contest and television show designed to encourage responsible ownership of septic systems, is offering $1,000 for the best 2-5 minute film on the topic. The New Hampshire Estuaries Project, which is sponsoring the contest, will edit together the winning videos and several honorable mentions in a 30-minute septic system “variety show” that will air on Community Access TV in the 42 communities of New Hampshire’s coastal watershed, so they’re looking for a winning combination of education and entertainment. Second and third place prizes of $500 and $200 sweeten the pot. All details are at www.nhep.unh.edu, but hurry because the deadline is Friday, Oct. 28.

The Victorian-era Music Hall in Portsmouth can be pretty spooky when it wants to be, and it really will be on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. when the Alloy Orchestra brings to life Lon Chaney’s 1925 eerie classic “The Phantom of the Opera.”

The Boston-based three-man ensemble, internationally renowned for writing and performing live music to accompany classic silent films, doesn’t just create soundtracks to go with movies. Their inventive compositions, using synthesizers and found-percussion, serve as a visceral conduit between the action on the screen and the audience, making viewers’ hearts thump with the passion of the Russian Revolution, or their chests constrict to the sounds of radio signals from Mars.

Half the anticipation this time around is for a new 35mm print of “Phantom,” restored by orchestra co-founder Ken Winokur. For the first time in seven decades, the film can be seen with the “Bal Masque” sequence intact (which leads to an electrifying image of him perched atop the shoulders of a giant statue on the roof of the Paris Opera House, scarlet cape billowing around him). Winokur also enlisted a network of specialists to replicate more than 200 tint changes and reproduce hand-colored frames using the nearly forgotten Handschiegl stencil technique.

Feel free to dress for the occasion. Tickets are $10 for general admission, and they can be reserved in advance through the box office at 603-436-2400 or www.themusichall.org

The New Hampshire Film Expo honored several filmmakers with awards at the fifth annual event, which included four dozen film screenings along with panel discussions, roundtables and workshops. Awards went to: “Tunde” by Ron Wyman of Portsmouth for best documentary; “Heart of the Beholder” by Ken Tipton of Toluca Lake, Calif., for best feature; “Day Shift” by Carolina Paiz of Hollywood, Calif., for best short comedy; “The Listeners” by Michael Gillis and Lars Trodson of Rollinsford and Eliot for best short drama; “S.Katz V.P.” by Stefan Glidden of Rochester for best student film; “Joyride” by Out of Our Mind Studios of Winston-Salem, N.C., for best animation; and “The Winter’s Edge” by Rock Shaink Jr. and Tim Anderson of Keene for best screenplay.