Your upcoming movie Seize the Night - in a few words, what's
it going to be about?
Vampires, werewolves, guns and
government conspiracies! A fairly heady blend of horror, sci-fi and
action with a strong dose of thriller for good measure. How did the project come into
being, and what were your inspirations when dreaming it up? Well,
I decided I really wanted to make a film of my own after covering
FrightFest this year and judging at The British Horror Festival. To
do that to the best of my ability I needed a storyline and concept that
would really interest me. As I love vampires and werewolves it made
sense to me to make a film which included them. The film is influenced
by the likes of modern horror / action / sci-fi genre classics Blade,
Underworld, Dracula
2001, True Blood and
Razor Blade Smile. What
can you tell us about your screenwriter Richard Humphries, and why him,
and what's your collaboration like? I’ve
know Richard for a while, through the modern wonder of social media, and
worked with him on a couple of other concept projects. I knew that
as well as having the skill to translate a story into something workable
on screen Richard is himself a huge horror fan, in particular a werewolf
mega fan. He’s worked on quite a few indie horrors over in the US
and his level of commitment and passion towards what he does is second to
none. Even though we are thousands of miles apart we talk almost on
a daily basis. What can you tell us
about Seize the Night's approach to horror (as in suspense vs
sudden shocks, atmosphere vs all-out gore and the like)? It’s
all about the atmosphere and intrigue for me. I’m not big on gore
to be honest, I see it over-used way too much. Horror is not just
about gore and rot. Chills, atmosphere and suspense are far more
terrifying in my opinion. So for my film I’m only using blood
effects where absolutely entirely necessary and in a non-gratuitous way.
Emma with Carey Thring |
You
also play the lead in Seize the Night
- so did you dream up your
character with yourself in mind, and how much Emma Dark can we find in
Eva? Yes, I wear many
hats on this project! 100%, there is always something of myself in
the creative projects I undertake. I guess you could say Eva is how
I might be if I’d grown up as a fearsome warrior / assassin and then
been subjected to 20 years of caged torture. I’d be keeping my
calm as much as I could but when your world is falling down about your
ears you never know how you are going to react, which is what I wanted to
instil in Eva, she’s progressively become a volatile character. Anything you can tell us about the rest of your
cast yet?
Absolutely!
I have up and coming indie actor Carey Thring playing the lead male part of
werewolf pack alpha Tobias. Carey is no stranger to horror, playing
the lead part of Beaufort
Bladamir in indie horror short Audition and even having a part as a
crime scene photographer in The Hughes Brothers' From Hell feature
with Johnny Depp. Carey was an ideal choice to play the brooding
pack alpha with his wolfish looks and ability to transform his emotions
with ease.
I
also have uber cool monster actor Paul Ewen playing a character breaking
part of a human! Paul has played zombies across a wide range of
films including Cockneys vs Zombie and indeed and all manner of
screen monsters as an industry professional. I really wanted him to
have a speaking part in this short though to show how awesome he is as an
actor outside of playing a monster. Mark Sears, who I can bet hands
down is going to be appearing on the big screen as the next Hollywood
baddie, joins playing a part only known as ‘Operative 5’. I
can’t say too much about that in case I give the game away. We also
have some screen newcomers joining the cast including Chris Hampshire and
Sharon O’Brien-Lumley who have really blown me away with their level of
dedication and they are movie talent that I can see going on to many other
things.
Paul Ewen |
As
well as some truly awesome cast I have some fantastic crew members,
including top Hollywood stuntman of James
Bond, Superman and A Clockwork
Orange fame Roy Scammell. Roy is providing expert fight
co-ordination to our action scenes. I have special makeup effects
from Luke Smith FX, prosthetics from Steve Bosworth of Hobby FX and visual
post FX from Davy Simmons. Merlyn Roberts of Wyldewood Productions
is first assistant director, helping Donato Cinicolo - co-director and
Director of Photography. I am really blown away by the expert level
of talent involved in this short.
What can you tell us about the intended look
and feel of Seize the Night? Imagine
your typical glossy Hollywood sci-fi action film, industrial landscapes,
focused lighting and then add a bit of British grittiness. That’s
my vision, until it’s filmed, edited and graded of course! Do talk about your
co-director Donato Cinicolo for a bit, and why him? I
met Donato back in 2013 at the London Film and Comic Convention when he
was supporting our fight co-ordinator Roy Scammell, who was signing on the
day. I worked with Donato a couple of times after that on various
film themed photo shoots. He expressed and interest in working on a
vampire short back then and knowing he’s very well versed in all aspects
of filmmaking, including being one of the founders of the St Albans Film
Festival, I approached him for a crew role on my film. Having a
great eye for cinematography Donato is also director of photography on Seize the Night. As
far as I know, you're currently running a fundraiser for Seize the Night
- so what can you tell us about your campaign? I
am yes. As the concept grew I realised that I really needed some
backing to help support covering the costs of making the film. From
necessary expenses like shoot catering, money towards travel costs,
location hire, additional props and costume, equipment hire etc. to
promotional costs it all adds up fast and certainly isn’t cheap!
Having a strong fan base I decided to go down the crowdfunding route and
offer my fans and backers of the film some perks for donating that I
thought would really grab them. The response has been pretty good so
far and will certainly cover some of the very basic costs but I’m really
hoping to meet my funding goal of £2,500 to really give this short the
wow factor and give it that bit of extra promotion to get everyone’s
hard work on the project out there.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/seize-the-night
Once
your funds are raised, what's the schedule, and even if it might be
waaayyy too early to ask, any idea when and where the movie might be
released yet? We are
filming the main scenes mid-January actually, so come on funders, get
donating! :-) I’d like the finished product to be ready sometime
at the end of Feb to mid March in an ideal world so I can start submitting
to festivals. The plan is to get it on the festival circuit first
before sending out DVDs or making it publicly viewable anywhere. Any future projects beyond
Seize the Night? Always!
In front of the camera I have a few projects coming up including a cameo
on Dani Thompson’s Bad Moon Rising [Dani
Thompson interview - click here]. I also have another
short film I’ve already made to edit and release but that’s top secret
for now. All being well I’d like to see myself and the team making
a sequel to Seize the Night
or possibly, with private investment, an
adaption of the story into a feature. Your initial claim to fame was as a model -
so what can you tell us about that aspect of your career? Yes,
well, I’ve been a model for around 6 years. I started out with
creative and portfolio shoots, mainly in the alternative genre, got
published a few times in books, magazine, a calendar etc. I then
went on to do some catalogue fashion work, won World Goth Day’s ‘Best
Model’ 2013, and then from there went into more of the video related
work. I’ve got a strong fan base and am fairly well known on the
alternative scene. I’ve worked with some top photographers and
have some amazing images to show for all my hard work, and trust me, I
have worked very hard indeed over these 6 years. Out of all the
fancy glamorous bits and bobs that have come out of that my top moment was
appearing in a Dario Argento-related witchcraft spread in Haunted: After
Dark magazine, directly on the page before an interview with my absolute
favourite horror author Shaun Hutson. That made me very happy
indeed! I decided to sideline the modelling though pretty much in
pursuit of more creative things, such as filmmaking which I find more
rewarding.
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You
have also made a name of yourself in horror cycles as a prolific
interviewer - care to elaborate? Indeed
I have! I started this partly because modelling just didn’t cut it
for me anymore, partly because I wanted to prove I’m more than just a
face and partly because who wouldn’t want to talk to the absolutely
wonderful people I’ve interviewed and worked with on those projects.
It’s a great opportunity to do something fun with really amazing and
interesting people and have something to share back to your fan base at
the end of the day. So what got you into
acting and directing, what can you tell us about your film and video work
prior to Seize the Night? The
Kim Wilde vamp / ghoul / horror music video I had a lead role in, Everytime I See You I Go Wild, was what really did it for me, acting-wise. Although I really can’t say the part was entirely ‘me’
bar the vampiric side, it did open my eyes to what was potentially out
there for me. I mean that’s pretty damn neat to have been part of,
and to have as much screen time as I did… I was pretty gobsmacked
by the end result. And I was 33 when we filmed that bear in mind,
not a freshfaced young thing just starting out with ten years to ‘make
it’. Then I thought, you know what, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)
was 30 when she started out as a horror actress, stuff it, I’m going to
roll with this and see where it goes. And that’s what
I’ve been doing since, rolling with things and seeing where they go,
pushing myself and testing my creativity. In all your work,
you never seem to stray too far from the horror genre - coincidence, or is
horror a genre dear to you and why (not)? Since
as far back as I can remember I’ve always loved horror. I used to
have rubber spiders and skeletons as a kid and love anything Halloween
like and witchy. My parents used to own a butchers shop and as a
small child I’d often enter the walk-in freezer (which is pretty big
when you are tiny) and look at the dead animals, hoping to find a
‘whole’ one to pet. That could have been an influencing factor
in my love of horror ;-). That’s never really changed, I read the
local library dry of horror fiction as a teenager and even this year I
counted I’ve read 20+ horror novels across 2014. That said I also
love sci-fi, particularly dark sci-fi and fantasy and thriller for good
measure. I started to properly get into film at around 18 when I
could get away with buying as many 18 rated horror films as I liked with
valid ID (I looked quite a bit younger than my age).
How would you
describe yourself as an actress and director? I
have a creative vision, a vision for myself in the parts I want to play
and that’s pretty much the tough woman. Despite my outwardly elfin
like appearance I have a pretty tough mind and that’s really where I
want to take my acting. I suspect I will never fall into the part of
the classic trembling scream queen because it simply isn’t me.
Give me a Vasquez (Aliens) like role any day of the week! Once upon
a time I did actually lift weights and do martial arts and my physique
wasn’t far off hers. Film direction wise to date I’ve pretty
much been a perfectionist, you won’t see much of my creative work out
there but I’ve done quite a few corporate videos before. I usually
wear many hats on my projects, it would actually be quite nice to
‘just’ be an actress or ‘just’ be a director on someone else’s
film, perhaps later in the year. Actresses,
filmmakers, whoever else that inspire you? As
far as actresses go, definitely strong women or at least actresses who
play strong women. In no particular order Jessica Lange, Milla
Jovovich, Grace Jones, Ali Larter. As far as filmmakers go the list
is endless but to name the one person I think is unique, that has made a
huge difference on the Hollywood film scene that has to be without a
shadow of a doubt Quentin Tarantino. His work is distinctive, hard
hitting, uncompromising and on often surprising. Your
favourite movies?
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Oh
gosh, there are so many, I won’t be able to list them! I don’t
have particular favourite films as there are so many I like. I’ll
give your readers the name of one film that they probably won’t have
heard of but definitely should watch if they like horror - Death Line
(a.k.a.
Raw Meat). I’m not usually a fan of 70’s films bar the horror
classics, but this film is pure genius. The subject matter is
relevant if you live in London and will have you watching over your
shoulder standing alone on a tube platform late at night. It has one
particular long panning shot in it that is absolutely sublime and
completely grisly at the same time. Definitely ahead of it’s time.
Minnnndd the doors! ... and of course, films you really
deplore?
Hmm, I’m not
sure I have any coming to mind to be honest. Not because there
aren’t any but because I tend to forget entirely about films I really
don’t like, and, should I have them on DVD they invariably end up down
the local charity shop! Your/your movie's website, Facebook, IndieGoGo,
whatever else?
Facebook
- https://www.facebook.com/seizethenightfilm
IndieGoGo
- https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/seize-the-night
Twitter
- https://twitter.com/EmDarkOfficial,
https://twitter.com/SeizeNight
Thanks for the
interview!
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