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Your new movie Shatter
- in a few words, what is it about?
I
would say it’s a psychological crime mystery that takes the viewer
through the parallel journey into one man’s sanity and another man's
insanity as they each struggle to find the key to unlock their own truths.
What were your
sources of inspiration when writing Shatter? A
lot of the inspiration stemmed from those old gumshoe detective films I
used to watch as a kid, and it wasn’t a genre I’d really had the
opportunity to work with yet. I thought if I could turn a stereotypical
crime mystery into some kind of psychological thriller with elements of
horror, drama, and comedy - it might unfold as an interesting film to
watch. If you see Shatter
and also have a fascination with directors like
David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky and David Cronenberg, you will probably be
able to tell that these directors and their films had a heavy influence on
the film’s style. I’ve also been a longtime fan of twist-endings and
take a lot of inspiration from M. Night Shyamalan here, whose films really
broke the mold for psychological horror, which is my favorite horror
sub-genre. What
can you tell us about your co-writer Donovan Schwartz (any relation by the
way), and what was your collaboration like? Yes,
actually! Donovan is my brother and we worked together as I felt his
thought process could hedge out my weaknesses as a writer. I tend to write
visually, just based off of ideas I see in my head, but I think my brother
has more of a knack for filling in the details, creating strange, but
interesting characters, and he was influential for a lot of the dialogue. He
had some great ideas to add idiosyncratic dimensions to the characters in
subtle ways, like this hardened detective using discounted, sparkly
deodorant, putting beer in his fruit loops, and using 'the world’s best
grandma cup' that he probably found at a garage sale. I think these are
great at showing how Detective Matthews is so focused on the details in
his cases, that he misses the ones that matter the most in his non-work
life. It’s these subtle little things that most people miss if they
really aren’t paying attention to what’s on the screen, but they’re
also hilarious little anecdotes into the character’s mindset. The film
is full of Easter eggs so you will probably see something you didn’t
notice before every time you watch it.
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With Shatter
being a cop movie of sorts, is that a genre all dear to you, and what can
you tell us about your approach to the genre? I
used to love gritty crime mystery films and have always wanted to attempt
to twist a noir crime mystery into something modern and unexpected. Shatter
is a bit of a tribute to those crime mysteries, as much as it is a
tribute to my fascination with surrealism and the directors that have
inspired me over the years. Red Glass Films (the studio) has an
alternative approach to most genre films in general, and I think we play
really well into that with Shatter
as well. We tried to bridge the lines
between cop movie, psychological thriller, horror film, dark drama, and
surrealism, mixed all into one bag. Shatter
is a film that plays with different layers of reality and the like - so do
talk about this narrative approach for a bit, and telling a story that
way, how hard (or easy for that matter) is it to not lose one's plot? I
think this goes way back to how my brother and I approached the script.
Since the movie, at its core, is supposed to be a mystery - we started
there. I also wanted to find a way to twist all the subgenres into an
ending that could tie everything together, but still leave an element of
the unkown. During the first pass, I was attempting to stitch a whole
bunch of little episodes into a non-linear storyline that in the end,
would be a very surreal trip into madness (or out of it). I was thinking
it would almost be like a madman’s dream. However, I think that once I
laid out all the pieces, my brother noticed that a lot of them fit
together in a way that loosely worked as a continuous storyline, and he
felt that might be better as a more coherent piece. Over the next year, we
were able to blend some elements of a linear and non-linear story together
in a way that I think managed to balance itself out in a way that would be
interesting from both perspectives.
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What
can you tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand? I
think my personal approach to this kind of thing is always a little bit of
a risk, because Red Glass Films
operates more like a film club where
people of different talents just hang out and make movies for fun, rather
than as a job. It has always been about giving back and giving people a
chance to try something new. Most of our actors are not classically
trained with many having little or no past experience at all. I always try
to encourage actors to take a lot of latitude in playing the character as
they see fit, because I want them to enjoy the process and also learn from
it. Plus, being at most a 2 crew, no-budget film, means I have to focus on
lighting, cinematography, and sound, since I have to both set-up and
monitor all of that on-set as well. Do
talk about Shatter's
key cast, and why exactly these people? Most
of the key cast were actors that I had previously worked with in the past,
so much of the film was written specifically around characters that I
thought they could play well. This was mainly due to the fact that we try
to script everything based on locations and actors that are available.
Often, it’s like when you judge a book by its cover. I meet an actor and
I think, that person looks like a stereotypical cop, and then I can make a
whole story about who they are in my head, just from watching them work,
and that’s often how characters start out for me. A few words
about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? Does neo-minimalism translate to film production?
That’s pretty much what we
had to work with on-set. I think at most we had a 3-person crew and only a
few times. Most of the time it was a 1-person crew, just to hold the boom
– and other times, we even had the boom on a light stand, and everything
was done with just the actors on-set. It definitely complicates getting
quality images and sound, but it’s the only resources I had at the time
to bring this film to life. Despite that, the atmosphere on-set was
usually pretty light and fun. I’m sure at the time, it still felt like
work to most of us, but looking back, I mostly remember the good times.
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Shatter? We
only had a very small test audience, and the reviews were generally
positive. Shatter
obviously has a lot of limitations, so I think it’s
hard to judge it technically, but I think it stacks up okay against a lot
of low-budget films in the same weight class. I always take reviews with a
grain (or 2) of salt, because I’m mostly amazed that the film that
actually came together. I think a lot of people would be surprised when
you are fully aware of the limitations we had to work around to get it
finished. I guess the million dollar question now is will anyone else
watch it, and will it be totally trashed, or is it the kind of film that
you appreciate more and more over time, or after you’ve seen it twice? Any
future projects you'd like to share? I
think I’m definitely winding down on filmmaking these days. Because
filmmaking is both time consuming and costly, life is constantly getting
in the way of making progress. Plus, our social presence is just lacking
and I don’t think I have been able to network enough for people to see
what our production studio is really about. On the side, Red Glass Films
has been working on some animations and I had the idea for a surreal
series that was based on a bunch of short clips of strange occurrences
that I’d like to do. I’m not sure if I could handle another no budget
feature film in its entirety though – at least not without a budget and
additional team members. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject?
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This
is already going to sound like a therapy session…haha. It definitely
stems from my childhood. When I was about 10 years old, my dad had
purchased a home video camera and he let me use it one day. They were
doing construction in my neighborhood at the time, which required
underground blasting and I remember taking the camera out to film it. It
was my first shot, and I caught the giant eruption of dirt from the
dynamite blast on film. When I got home, everyone sat around the TV and
watched what I had filmed that day in person. When the emotion from what I
experienced live transferred to the people who watched what I recorded, I
was hooked. At that point, I wanted to show people all the crazy ideas I
saw in my head, since I have always had a propensity for creating stories.
I wanted to see if other people would “feel” the same emotions I felt
when I first saw a new idea in my mind. I never did get any formal
training on it though, but I did attend college for game art and design,
so that has definitely had an impact on how I approach filmmaking as well. What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Shatter? I
love to explore the fringes of what people are expecting with one toe
dipped in the realm of surrealism, so it’s kind of strange, but in a
normal kind of way. If anyone out there has followed the work I’ve done
through Red Glass Films, you’d see that one of my core traits is taking
your standard genre film and trying to twist it into a story you don’t
quite expect. I started getting serious about films back in 2005 and
it’s amazing now to see just how many streaming services are playing
with genres that bend your expectations these days. It wasn’t very
popular just 10 years ago. How
would you describe yourself as a director? Casual
Friday? I fund these films on my own with spare money I save here and
there. I mostly do it for fun and I also just want to create a playground
of sorts where people can enjoy the filmmaking process and yet still
dedicate time to something bigger… like, for example, a feature film
that very few people get to say they were ever a part of. This way the
aura on-set is generally positive, even on the hard days. At the same time
though, I’m a bit of a perfectionist in what I see on-screen, and
there’s times when we can do 5-10 takes, even if the actors are 100%
on-point. I always have to juggle that though with the limited lighting
and time we generally have to film a whole sequence for continuity, as we
only had 1 camera.
Filmmakers
who inspire you? Definitely
directors like David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky and David Cronenberg, as well
as M. Night Shyamalan, George A. Romero and Guillermo del Toro… to name a
few. Your favourite movies? Oh
man, so many! I love cinema and it would be so hard to pick just a few,
because, just like my mood, I like different films mostly depending on how
I feel. Sometimes I want thrills, sometimes drama, sometimes action. Some
movies though really stick with me… The Ring (American version) was one
of them, mostly for the acting and cinematography. The Sixth Sense has my
all-time favorite twist. Let the Right One In (Swedish) really connected
with me as well. And of course Lost Highway (1997) is one of my favorite
films of all-time. There’s so many more though, I could discuss it all
day. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I’m
sure I’ve seen a few, but it’s really rare for me to completely hate a
film. I think it’s rare for a director to not pour their soul into a
film’s vision, and I understand that whether it comes out as intended or
not isn’t always in their hands. I know what it takes to make a film
with nothing, so I can look beyond a lot of the flaws that drive most
people mad. I think the worst films for me though are the ones that have
little creativity beyond the general idea, which end up containing mostly
mind-numbing dialog and b-roll footage.
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Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
Shatter webpage and
socials:
https://midnightreleasing.com/filmcatalog/shatter/
https://www.facebook.com/ShatterTheMovie
Studio website and socials:
http://redglassfilms.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/RedGlassFilms
https://www.instagram.com/redglassfilms/
https://twitter.com/redglassfilms
https://www.facebook.com/fearwantsyou
Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I
would just want to thank you for the opportunity to share. I think the
hardest part about making a movie isn’t making it, but getting it out
there, getting people to see it, and seeing if it really stands the test
of time….especially when you’re trying something unexpected.
Thanks
for the interview!
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