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Your new movie Casefile
293610 - in a few words, what is it about?
After
the discovery of a violent crime scene, two detectives interrogate a femme
fatale. Casefile
293610 is quite a bit of a genre-bender - was this your intention
from the get-go or did the approach just develop when writing? It
just sorta came about as I was writing it.
I had the basis for the script some time ago.
It wasn't until I was in pre-production did I realize the film noir
aspect of it. So I did a quick
re-write to flesh out that part of the story. What
were your sources of inspiration for writing Casefile
293610? I
can't say there was one specific source.
Probably the Twilight Zone or
Tales from the Crypt. A little bit of
Lost in there with the storytelling. I
love stories that go one way and suddenly pull the rug out from you at the
end. Then you go back and look
at it, and everything was right there from the beginning.
Casefile
293610 is rather non-linear in plot - so how easy or hard was it
to not just get lost in the story in the process? As
the writer it was pretty easy for me.
I tend to write like an editor so I knew where the cuts would be
and when the story would shift gears.
It just flowed in my head. It
wasn't until I was bringing people onboard to shoot that I realized just
how twisty the story was. Some
of the crew had a bit of trouble following it.
I put the story in chronological order for them and then it
clicked. Course, you put
it in order, then the story loses its appeal.
At least for me. What
can you tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand?
Basically,
I did the scene breakdown and tackled each section on its own.
All the scenes move the story forward.
I had a detailed shot list to make sure we were getting everything
that was needed. Do
talk about your cast, and why exactly these people? I've
worked with Kevin Kunkel on a few previous projects.
He's always very reliable and solid in his performances.
I knew he would be right for the part of the seasoned detective.
I had not worked with Lando Anderson before but I had seen some of
his work. He's got a quiet and
thoughtful approach to things. He
totally looked the part and played opposite Kevin perfectly.
This was a bit of a challenge for Amanda as she is the total
opposite of this character. She's
a very sweet and kind person, so playing a person with evil tendencies was
a push for her. And since the
whole short hung on her performance, I was a little worried.
But she nailed it. They
were all very professional and well prepared.
They all got the story and dug into their characters with no
problem. It made shooting and
editing a snap. What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? The
set was like a well oiled machine, which was a first for me.
We shot on a Friday evening and then all day Saturday.
We finished right on schedule.
Thankfully it was all in one location.
While we were shooting upstairs, some of the crew was prepping the
downstairs location. It's one
of the best shoots I've been on. Everyone
was focused and had a good time. Having
everything laid out in pre-production made it easier to see potential
pitfalls. The crew really
pulled together and got it done.
The
$64-question of course, when and where will the movie be released onto
general audiences? We're planning to do
a festival run for awhile, see where we can get into.
Our first public showing will be at the Sioux Empire Film Festival
on April 9th, 2016. It's fitting because it's
our home town. Any future projects you'd like to
share? I
have a couple of feature scripts that I'm toying with. I'm
in pre-production on a short right now that I'm hoping to get shot this
summer. I'm already planning
the next short after that, so I've always got something to work on.
I've been on a big kick of watching 70's cops movies.
I really like that style so one of the shorts will be in that vein.
The other will be more straight forward horror. What got you into making movies in the first
place, and did you receive any formal education on the subject? I
just always seemed to know that I wanted to make films.
I've always been into writing stories and watching movies.
When I went to college back in the late 1900's for television
production, I learned on a linear editing system.
I think that helped a lot with my writing and shooting.
I know what I want going in instead of finding it in the edit.
I've watched a ton of films and studied them over and over.
For me, that's the best practice. You can already see what works or
doesn't work.
What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Casefile
293610? Prior
to , I had just finished up a feature called Death Rot.
It was a big task. Maybe
more than I thought at first. But
the years of hard work have paid off on it as it should be hitting DVD later in the year. I worked on
a few shorts that were all learning lessons.
With each short, I try to add an element I want to learn like
budgeting or working with SAG or focusing on just one position at a time.
I also try to help out on other productions just learn how other
filmmakers work. I picked up
on the importance of storyboarding from Patrick Rea when I worked with him
on Howl of a Good Time. Every
project is still a learning process. But
overall, I feel Casefile
293610 is probably the best example of what I can do and
my style. Going through your filmography, one
can't help but notice you seem to come back to horror time and again - at
all a favourite genre of yours, and why (not)? I
love horror. I grew up in the
80's during the glorious heyday of horror.
Reading Fangoria and comic books.
I still gravitate to horror over any other genre.
I've shot a few dramatic shorts, but I'm clueless when it comes to
marketing them. With horror, I
just seem to know what to do and where to go.
I do have a western in mind, but of course it's going to have
horror elements. How would
you describe yourself as a director? I'm
very collaborative. I like
getting ideas from others. It's
hard to know everything, so that's why picking the right crew is
important. I'll listen to
everyone's idea. When
shooting, if someone comes to me with an idea, I say as long as it serves
the story, let's try it. Then
can see how it plays out in the edit.
Plus it keeps everyone involved in the process. I
like working with experts in their area.
When we were doing the music, I talked with composer Timothy Andrew
Edwards for a while about the overall story and the feel I was going for.
He came back with a score that was way better than I had wanted.
It would have been detrimental to the story for me to micro-manage
his work. Work with good
people is my advice. Filmmakers who
inspire you?
Wes Craven is one of the
first directors I followed. Watched
all his stuff and read all the interviews.
From him, I branched out in the all the other masters.
Robert Rodriquez is a big one for me just because of how he likes
to do it all himself. He's
built his own studio just by being curious.
But of course, there's Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, Don Coscarelli,
Joe Dante, Bernard Rose, Joss Whedon... the list goes on and on. Your favourite movies? This
has always been a tough question for me because the list is always
changing. But normally it's
Raiders of the Lost
Ark, RoboCop (the original), Friday the 13ths (especially 3 and 4), Nightmare
on Elm Streets, Predator, The Exorcist, Gremlins... ...
and of course, films you really deplore? I'm
not a fan of the torture porn genre. I
tend to avoid those. There's
really not any films I deplore. I
can usually find something in every movie I liked, whether it be a line of
dialogue or the framing of a shot. I
try to look for positives. No
one sets out to make a bad movie. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
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You
can find information about Casefile
293610 on Facebook under "Warwolf Productions". I'm also about
ready to launch warwolfproductions.com.
Just need to get it finished. I
didn't create a FB page specifically for Casefile
293610 because I'm trying to
cut back on how many pages I manage. It
gets to be a lot of work updating them all. You can find trailers and
video from my previous work on my Vimeo page, "Warwolf Productions". Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Keep
your eyes open for Casefile
293610 coming to a festival near you.
And Death Rot on DVD in the near future.
Thanks!!! Thanks
for the interview!
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find Dominic Wieneke at adultvideouniverse.com
