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Your new movie Abacus
- in a few words, what's it about?
Abacus
is about how high stakes can get in a situation where the outcome
is both uncertain and within the boundaries of your control. Everyone in
the film is a bad person and they are all connected, so as information
becomes more available to each person, their priorities and survival
instincts tend to shift. It’s an intense film. It’s all about the anxiety
of all of this and the need to save not only yourself but someone you
love.
What were your sources of inspiration when writing Abacus?
I know people are gonna say how much it reminds them of
Saw, however
Saw was not the inspiration for this film. The inspiration for the film
came from studying things like MK-Ultra and experiments done to humans,
red rooms and internet dark rooms where torture took place, and just the
thought of what would happen if you placed three people in a situation
like this. Sure there are comparisons to other films if you want to draw
those comparisons, but the idea for Abacus
was formed from just thought
exercises, and the original outline is somewhat different from what we
shot. It was way more into their hallucinations while in the room. What
was cut was the movie you see now, and I think it’s better this way.
What can you tell us about Abacus's
approach to the thriller genre?
I have always adored the thriller genre. My favorite films
swing more towards thriller. Se7en,
Session 9, Zodiac
are just a few of my favorite films. I wanted Abacus
to straddle the line between thriller, drama, horror and crime film.
There are elements of all those in this film while maintaining that
arthouse feel because it is an indie film after all. It’s a slow burn. If
you’re looking for something action packed, this isn’t the movie for you.
But if you’re looking for a story driven film, I feel this one will keep
your attention.
With Abacus
being mostly restricted to one location, what were your techniques to keep
your film visually interesting throughout? And what can you tell us about
that peculiar location to begin with? The location was actually
in a building a friend of mine was leasing. He had told me the building
had an elevator that no longer worked and that there was an abandoned
elevator shaft room. The minute I walked into the room, I saw the
potential. It was this creepy industrial room. Being that the majority of
the film takes place in the room, it was imperative to constantly try and
find ways of making the space look and feel dark and claustrophobic. The
scenes where we flashback open the film up a bit, so we keep it a bit
interesting, but the minute we get back in that room we are reminded of the
darkness that awaits these characters.
A few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand? So this film, much like my other films I’ve done was
outline only. So that means there was no script during the production of
the film itself. The film was shot in 2 and a half days. The first 2 days
were in the room and the half a day was 2 months later (all the flashback
scenes). I wrote down all the character histories and what would happen
over the course of the film for each character. I sent Jared, Keegan, and
Antonio their character bios, but the catch was none of the actors knew
the history outside their own character. On the day of shooting, I would
pull each actor into the room separately and tell them what they needed to
talk about in the scene and what definite things would happen. Then we
would run a rehearsal that wouldn’t reveal much except for the technical
stuff. So all the information that’s revealed is revealed in the moment.
Even the phone calls weren’t scripted at the time. I would go to another
room, call the phone and it was then the characters knew more about other
characters in the room. It was to enhance their reactions. I allowed my
actors to bring their art to the table and I believe it’s for that reason
we got some amazing performances out of everyone. By January of 2017 I had
a script for the phone calls and we recorded them then.
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Do talk about Abacus's cast, and why exactly these people?
Every actor in this film I’m friends with in real life. Keegan
Macy and
Jared Bankens have been in most of my films. We three work really well together
and we all continue to work together to this day. Antonio Saez I had met on a
short we shot months earlier and I loved working with him, so it was nice
to give him that role. He was new to acting so this film was essentially
like throwing him into the fire. Matt Story was in my very first film
Within Madness, so it was nice to work with him again, and Jerry Katz and I
became good friends and he’s a wonderful actor. For me, the cast and my
relationship with them is so important for getting the best on camera.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set
atmosphere? When we weren’t shooting, it was light-hearted. Just
friends getting together to shoot a film. It was fun. During the shoot,
during the takes, it was heavy and as the film got darker, the emotions
got darker. Antonio had a mental breakdown for one scene and it’s in the
movie. It was real. So real in fact we had to take a long break after and
I had to talk him off the ledge of emotions. It was wild but again that
process made the film better.
The $64-question of course, where can Abacus
be seen?
As of right now we are aiming to put it in theaters on limited
release, so hopefully in some bigger cities there, but for sure we know
October 22nd, 2024 will see the physical release. Pre-order announcement
to come soon and VOD soon after that.
Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Abacus?
So far, people have responded well to the film so hopefully that
continues. Obviously we will get haters but that’s any and every movie. I
tend to ignore those who have done nothing to show they can do any better.
Any future projects you'd like to share? Nothing at the
moment but I am working to get other things going so hopefully more on
that and other projects in the near future will be at hand.
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Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?
Instagram: @jmstelly, @anatomicafilms, @abacus.film
Facebook: Anatomica Films
YouTube: Anatomica Productions
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to
ask?
They
Are Watching hits Blu-ray on October 8th, 2024, pre-orders to go live
soon. That movie is already available on VOD thanks to Terror Films, and my
award winning film Call
of the Void comes out soon!
Thanks for the interview!
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