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Your upcoming movie The Flytipper - in a few words, what's it
going to be about?
It's a British comedy horror about a road side
rubbish monster that comes to life and takes revenge on some naive
builders who illegally dump their waste. With The Flytipper being a
monster movie, is that a genre you're at all fond of, and some of your
genre favourites? Yes, I grew up
watching Tremors, Aliens, Predator, Braindead and
Evil Dead. I was alway
fascinated with practical effects from a young age and what I was watching
had been crafted in a workshop. Those early viewings were probably what
made me get into prop making. (Other) sources of inspiration when
dreaming up The Flytipper? I
always wanted to make a monster movie but I was unsure of what my monster
was. I knew it had to be practical but I didn't want it to just look like
bloke in a suit. I came up with The Flytipper after walking through my
local forest and seeing some dumped fly-tipped rubbish. It all fell into
place very quickly and I wrote the film around the monster. I've always
done comedy so making the monster look ridiculous seemed like the right
thing to do. You claim somewhere
that you "want to make the goriest, most ridiculous and entertaining
short horror film you’ve ever seen" - so do talk about your movie's
approach to horror and humour for a bit? Yeah
I'm unsure if I've been drinking when I wrote that. I may have been. I
really want to make a great British monster short for sure. With a
background in comedy, I'm unsure if I'll stick to your archetypal horror
tropes but I'll do my best to cover everything in a shit tone of blood. You of course
have to talk about your movie's monster for, and how much of a say do you
have in its design and creation?
Well I
originally designed the structure and the early look and feel of the
monster. Those designs are still very much alive today. I've just been
fortunate to have two brilliant designer friends who have helped turn my
scraps of drawings into something absurd, terrifying and downright
bonkers. We have released pictures of the monster now as part of our
crowdfunder so please do have a look. We are building the monster at the
moment and we are sticking to the original designs to an extent, but we'll
also ramp it up. I'd hate to show exactly what my monster looks like
before we've even shot the film. That would be terrible! What can you tell us
about your movie's overall look and feel? I'm
quite keen on playing the film straight and the comedy will come from the
dialogue and the performances. The more real we keep the world our
characters live in, the more we have to play with when they begin to get
picked off one by one by a monster that's part shopping trolley. Anything you
can tell us about your projected cast yet, and why exactly these people? We
are casting at the minute. I have a good idea of who I'd like to play each
character. We are seeing some fantastic actors for the parts and I've been
blown away by the response the casting call has had. People seem really
keen to work on the project which is fantastic. As
far as I know, you're presently running a fundraiser for The Flytipper
- so please do talk about your campaign! Yes
we are. The Flytipper is not reallly the film to take to private investors
so crowdfunding seemed like a good place. At time of writing, we are 8
days in and have raised 36% So we're not doing to bad. This film is for
people like me who grew up watching those splatter films. I'm hoping, and
trying, to connect with that community and hope that they can chuck in a
few quid to help raise the film to another level. We've had a great start
and I hope I can keep it that way. It's also like having a full time job
and I don't think I slept for about 4 weeks. The prep was crazy, as is the
campaign itself. It just such a mental thing to do. One minute I'm over
the moon from all the generosity that we've received, and the next minute
I'm 2 steps away from a full blown break down! I fully believe that
crowdfunding should come with a health warning.
http://igg.me/at/theflytipper Once the
budget's in place, what's the schedule - and even if it might be waaay too
early to ask, when will the film be released onto the general public,
however tentatifely?
It's a very quick
turnaround. We shoot on the last weekend of April for 4 days. So as well
as running a crowdfund, I'm of course helping the producer to put the film
together. We've got such a great team that the guys are doing a cracking
job getting the ball rolling. Thank god for teamwork. We hope to have a
finished film by late May or early June. Any future projects beyond The
Flytipper? When The Flytipper is
doing the festival circuit, I'll get to work on a new project. I have one
in mind that I've partially written the script for. It's a short comedy
horror with actors and stop motion. It's very silly and could be a lot of
fun. It's another practical effects film. What got you into filmmaking in the first
place, and did you receive any formal education on the subject? And
what
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The Flytipper?
I've worked predominately as a comedy
actor for 12 years. 6 years ago I started a small production company
called Dogged Films. We make sketches, short films and mockumentarirs on
YouTube. We've done pretty well out of it and it's definitely opened up
some doors for us.
I've always mucked about with cameras
and filming equipment. I'm a self taught filmmaker which has its
advantages and disadvantages. YouTube is such a powerful tool these days.
A great place for education if you want to learn about the ins and outs of
filmmaking. I've been doing it all for 10 years now so I'm more than ready
to step it up a gear.
Filmmakers who inspire you?
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John
Carpenter and Lloyd Kaufman are great inspiration. Those are guys that
went out and did what they wanted to do. For me, in the last few year, Ben
Wheatley has been my main inspiration. I fucking love that guy. Everything
he and Amy Jump touch turns into gold dust. He's a fantastic filmmaker and
someone to inspire to be like. My first viewing of Kill
List blew my mind. Your favourite movies?
Tremors, Predator, Alien,
Aliens, The Thing, They
Live. You get the idea. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, IndieGoGo, whatever else?
Here's the link to the crowdfunder:
http://igg.me/at/theflytipper
Link to Dogged Films:
YouTube.com/doggedfilms
Thanks
for the interview!
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