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Your new movie Nailed
Down - in a few words, what is it about?
It's a psychological suspense thriller about (the character) Jason Hugo
dealing with his pain. What
were your sources of inspiration when writing Nailed
Down? This was a very personal film. Much
frustration and anger due to a specific trust betrayal from a now ex
friend. Trust is a very important thing to me and so to betray that is
huge. As for what we find later in the film, that was about feelings of
what if this happened, what would I have done. To be quite honest, neither protagonist of
Nailed Down is
exactly an angel - so to what extent could you identify with either of
them? Well, heh, this is tough without giving too much away,
but I identify more with why Jason had to do the things he does. He has a
heart, but his mind and heart are pulled in two different directions and
there is the struggle. Nailed
Down isn't a movie that exactly holds back when it comes to
violence - so do talk about the gruesome bits in your movie for a bit, and
how were they achieved? The violence was actually scaled
back from what I originally intended. I wanted it to be a brutal torture
film, but I knew it would take away from the story which was important to
me to tell. As far as how, well we were on zero budget so we were limited
anyway. I had the luck of having Autumn Barefoot on this and we talked
about things like a fake hand, then we did what was best i thought when
showing the nails, we cut the nails and molded them on with latex then
added blood. Since I wanted to scale back, I decided I didn't want to show
every finger etc. I showed a little of nothing and gave the audience the
"money shot" if you will just as a payoff to show what was
actually happening.
What can you tell us about your
overall directorial approach to your story at hand? This
was my first feature movie, but I did do a short in 2010 called Demonikas
which helped me learn. The way I like to direct is just have a positive
atmosphere, I like to know what other's ideas for stuff are for their
character. I like to let them play with the lines and make it their own. I
understand the reason to go verbatim by script, but I feel if they can
play with the lines they bring the character to life more, they become
more human. In turn you can hate them or love them even more. Do
talk about your key cast, and why exactly these people? I
had gone through many cast changes. Scheduling and personality meshes are
big deals. I'll work with anyone until it becomes apparent it will not
work out. As for the final cast. Wesley Hinkle has been a friend of mine
since high school. We took Chorus together and were in a couple of plays,
I new he had something special and wanted to bring him in. Kenn Parks is a
stage actor with a broad skill range. Warren Ray is a veteran actor and an
accomplished musician. Crazy on the ideas and they work. Cristina Mullins
is also an accomplished actress and musician. She was in a local film here
called Overtime with John Wells and pro wrestler/actor Al Snow. Christie
Troxell is also a stage actress and Elijah is a friend that has wanted to
get into acting for a while. They are all unique with their skills and I
felt they played off each other well. I couldn't had asked for better on
my first feature! What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? I
like to keep it fun, but on the business at hand before it goes overboard.
I like to have a family atmosphere on set.
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of your movie yet? It
really hasn't played out yet, we're currently working on setting that up,
plus doing some festivals through the next year. I did finally get a cast
and crew showing together just this past weekend. Everyone seemed to enjoy
it. We are are technical on the critique so I'm a bit harsh on myself, but
then you have to be. Any
future projects you'd like to share? I wasn't planning to
share them, but I guess I will. I will be doing a short called Mother of
the Beast, it'll be a story about the birth of Cthulhu based on the
writing of H.P. Lovecraft since some of that is now public domain. As for
my next full feature, I'm resurrecting a project I've been working on for
the last two years called The Beautifully Disturbed. It's about 3 girls
that are vigilante assassins that kill men that hurt women. It's tongue
and cheek and will be a genre bender. I won't reveal that part. I've
had people say it was genius though. Feels good that people like it. We'll
be looking at crowd funding that unless we find a personal investor.
What got you into filmmaking in the
first place, and did you receive any formal training on the subject? No
training at all LOL. I can from the school of Rodriguez, Tarantino and
Smith. Just do it. I mean you have to teach yourself things and be willing
to learn and hone in on the craft to do it right, but yeah I'm that
"Walmart" film maker guy.
What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Nailed
Down? Demonikas is the only ting I did before
Nailed
Down. Later I did a sequel called Demonikas: The Coven while
editing Nailed
Down. Both have been shown on Hart D Fisher's American
Horror Roku channel. How
would you describe yourself as a director? That's an
excellent question! Two words. Green and sudent! Though I consider myself
more of a storyteller. Filmmakers
who inspire you? Man there are so many! As you saw, I
dedicated Nailed
Down to Wes Craven, so him. Rob Zombie is huge for me!
John Carpenter, Romero, Kubrick, Adam Green, Kevin Smith, Rodriguez,
Tarantino & Jimmyo Burril that did Chainsaw
Sally. Which btw was what
The Beautifully Disturbed was inspired by. Lately I've been loving Lar Von
Trier's work. Antichrist and
Nymphomaniac I & II are amazing films!
Your favourite movies? Antichrist,
Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm
Street, House of
1,000 Corpses, Texas Chainsaw
Massacre, The Shining,
The Empire Strikes Back, I can go on! ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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This question
intrigues me more actually. I used to be a film snob, but once I started
making Nailed
Down, I had a high level of respect for anyone that could
get their film made. It's not easy to make a really good film, hell mine
has so many flaws to it, but it was an amazing experience. So I don't
deplore or hate any movie, sure everyone has some they like less, but I
wouldn't name them, it's unfair. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
I'm on Facebook by my name, search Nailed Down Movie for my film, my
website is
http://officialharleymorris.weebly.com/
And please go to
leglesscorpsefilms.com
for mine and other independent films they have!
Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
just want to say, thank you and everyone else for their support, this is a
dream come true to have my work out there for others to see. Art is a big
part of who I am, film is an extension of that and I'm glad I can share it
with everyone! Thanks
for the interview! Thanks for having me!
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