Your movie Who is
Delsin? - in a few words, what is it about?
Who is
Delsin?
is about a war reporter who was captured by insurgents during
the first Gulf War and swears he was rescued by a real life super hero, a
man who could deflect bullets. The US government claims he is crazy,
that the military saved him. So the reporter goes on a crusade to prove he
is not crazy, that a mythological being does exist.
However,
that is the plot. The underlying theme of the film is to explore the
possibility that things exist that we cannot explain AND to
explore whether or not eternal life would be a gift or a curse.
The
film's whole superhero background - is the comicbook world at all
something you can personally relate to? Likewise, where did the whole
pseudomythological and conspiracy theory influences stem from?
We
originally wrote a real action science fiction film about a man known as
Delsin who can live forever; exploring what a man would be capable of with
such a power. But there was no chance it was ever going to be made. No way
we could have raised that type of money. It was a Lord of the Rings-type
movie.
So
a few months after we wrote it and laughed at ourselves for spending time
on a project that would never be made, we joined a team in the 48 Hour
Film Fest. We drew mockumentary as our genre and we decided to craft a
film around a reporter interviewing a man who could live forever and
the curse he thought it was. You can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpZEoizE54k.
The
film turned out great, especially for a 48 Hour project, and inspired us
to turn it into a feature, using some of the story Delsin character from
my previous script.
(Other)
sources of inspirations when writing Who
is Delsin? The
original Matrix. The plot for the original billion dollar movie was
inspired by The Matrix – how that film challenged us to take a
look at what we think is real. We wanted to write a film that rewrote the
story of creation, which is what a part of Who is
Delsin?
does. We are
sure some people will be pissed at that, but whatever … not our concern.
What made you pick the documentary
approach for your movie - and your thoughts about the
"mockumentary" and found footage subgenre as such?
Well,
we explained the “mockumentary” reason earlier – inspired by a
chance genre pull in the 48 Hour Film Fest. We then decided on our
particular format of mixing found footage and standard documentary because
we are big fans of shows like Ancient Aliens. We wanted to create our own
Ancient Aliens. We wanted to create our own Bigfoot. But we also
love found footage films, so we combined the two.
We
think what sets our film apart is that it is obvious the film is not real,
yet we try to blur the lines between reality and fantasy anyway. We want
you to believe that perhaps this could happen. To do so, we don’t make
up history, but simply tweak it. From the cave drawings that are found to
the Egyptian myths to the Biblical stories, these are all real events or
tales that we took and then tweaked every so slightly so that we could fit
our character, Mon Protecteur/Delsin, into them.
Do
talk about your interviewees for a bit, and how easy/hard was it to line
them up - and to what extent were their lines scripted/ad-libbed?
We
learned one lesson – a good script and simply asking the celebrities to
do the film can work out.
As
for the lines, we simply sent them a one-page summary of their story and
bolded key facts they had to hit and had them make it their own.
What
can you tell us about your key cast, and why exactly these people?
Gregg
Hale: Just in case people tried to say we “ripped” The
Blair Witch Project, we
figured getting the producer of that film in our film was a nod of
approval. We don’t think we are similar to The
Blair Witch Project outside of genre,
but wanted to make sure we covered our asses just in case.
Lloyd
Kaufman: He created the Toxic
Avenger! It was just a case of us being big
fans and wanting him in it.
Steven
Bauer: We wanted a Latin actor to pretend that in real life he was offered
the role of Mon Protecteur to add validity to the reality of the film.
Joe
Gannascoli: Joe is highly underrated when it comes to his importance in
pop culture history. His Sopranos-character set the wheels in motion for
the end of that series – the family war. So if you are trying to create
a new pop culture icon, it seemed fitting to include a pop culture icon.
Do
talk about your actual shoot and the on-set atmorphere for a bit?
The
actual production was nothing like any other film we have produced. We
wanted an authentic documentary feel, so we shot it just as if we were
shooting a doc. All of our interviews were shot on separate days on
separate sets and even in numerous states to ensure the film never had a
staged feeling. We shot around 20 interviews within a year time period.
All
of the found footage scenes were shot using Go Pros or the 5D with a wide
angle lens keeping the image sharp as if they were consumer brand cameras;
which they are.
We
allowed Ricky and Emilio to improv most of their scenes utilizing their
characters and the history of the character Delsin as their guides. A
different approach that worked out in our favor. No conversations were
completely scripted allowing the actors to have genuine reactions to each
other.
What
can you tell us about critical and audience reception of your movie so
far? We get a kick out
of when people think it is real, especially people in Tampa, since we claim
the massing murder took place in Tampa! At one viewing we even had a
longtime reporter ask us how he missed that story considering he covers
the news. Any future projects you'd like to share?
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We
are working on some new documentaries that we plan on shooting by the end
of the year. What
got you into filmmaking to begin with, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject?
We
actually started out at public access shooting short skits and a live
television show. That was 14 years ago and we have never stopped since.
We wouldn't know what do with ourselves
if we were not constantly creating.
I've read somewhere that one of you is a
licensed blimp pilot, the other a bocce ball champion. You of course have
to talk about those talents of yours for a bit! Ha!
You've been on our IMDb-pages … we used to like to produce comedies when
we were younger, so had a little fun with out IMDb-pages back then! Pete
has won local tournaments, but that is it. And no, no blimp pilot in the
family! Thanks
for the interview!
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