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Your new movie Medicated
- in a few words, what is it about?
Medicated tells a story of a mental
patient who is sucked into a fight for the world
domination after taking part in a weird medical experiment. But is it all
really happening or is it just his sick imagination?
What were your sources of inspiration when writing
Medicated? Together
with my co-writer and co-director Ville Väisänen, we had an initial idea of the “Lord of the Dimensions”,
and then began to write the rest of the story around it. I don't really
recall if there was any single factor that inspired us to make this
particular movie. But the fantasy genre and horror comedies have always been
our source of inspiration. What
can you tell us about your co-writer and co-director Ville Väisänen, and
what was your collaboration like? Me and Ville have made numerous short films together. This was our first
full-length movie and the collaboration worked seamlessly. I focused more
on the story and the characters, while Ville focused on the special
effects and the visuals. Do talk about Medicated's
approach to horror! Medicated
is more of a horror comedy than a pure horror film. This comedy aspect was
partly due to conscious choice, but of course, whenever we talk about
no-budget amateur movies, we will have some unintentional comics through
the movie. For example, the acquired props did not look as scary as we had
initially imagined, and in some occasions, we could not really get the
feeling of fear and horror from the actors – me included. What can you tell us about the
action aspects of your movie? Action
has always been a top priority in our films. We all love doing it because
it is lot of fun, and also it gives us a wide range of possibilities to
work with our creativity: what kind of fight choreography to use, what
special effects the action scene requires, what kind of comedy to add to it, what camera angles to use etc. And it is always fascinating to see the
end result from that wide mix of ingredients. Also, many of us do martial
arts, so why not do it also in front of the camera.
You of course also have to
talk about Medicated's
brand of comedy! Comedy,
to me, is the essence of a good movie. It is always worth adding some
comedy to the movie regardless whether the genre happens to be drama,
horror or fantasy. The comedy of the Medicated
is more physical and based
on action and characters. Meaning, for example, how to make characters
fall and roll over in a funny way, and what humorous expressions and lines
they use when they are interacting with each other. Also good editing and
phasing can give lot of comic relief to a scene. A few words about your overall
directorial approach to your story at hand? Well
there is the actual shooting part and the part that takes place outside
the shooting. During the latter you plan and prepare everything for the
shooting, for instance what you need to have on the set and what you want
to accomplish during the shoot. Then you go and shoot according to the
plan. It’s as simple as that. Well not really, but it is not rocket
science, you just have to know what you want. If you don’t, then you
are just depending on a good luck. You also
play the lead in Medicated
- so what can you tell us about Korppainen, and what did you draw upon to
bring him to life? And have you written him with yourself in mind from the
get-go? Although
Korppainen is a mental patient who sometimes has hallucinations of his
dead brother, he is still quite the usual type of guy compared to the
other characters in the movie. His is guiding the viewers through the
events of the film and at the same time he is searching meaning for his
miserable life. It was interesting to play that character, but I had even more
fun when I played his brother Kartsa, who was a real crazy guy.
Do talk about the rest of your cast, and why
exactly these people? Most
of the cast in the movie were the same who have been involved in almost
all of the previous Cala Company
productions. So we have a long history
together and by now we already know what kind of roles fit the different
actors best. So in the end, it is mostly finding the roles that best
support their natural qualities and traits. This also makes the acting
much easier. A few words about the shoot as
such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The
on-set shooting of our films happens always in a very fast phase. The
reason for this is that we usually have already a very strong vision of
what we want to see on screen and therefore we can finish the
shots quite fast.
Another
reason for the fast pace is that we often try to shoot at least one
whole scene during a day. This “one day for one scene”-style shooting
helps a lot in practical things and arrangements. In addition, especially
when shooting outdoors, you have to be quick, because in Finland the
natural light varies a lot during the day.
Filming
on the set is often fun, but sometimes due to schedule pressure, many
things have to be done at such a fast pace that you don’t have as much
time for enjoying the shoot as you would like.
Tapio with Ville Väisänen |
The $64-question of
course, where can your movie be seen? Currently
only on YouTube. Of course, we always try to take part in various
competitions and events as they appear, so whenever possible, we try to be
there. Anything you can
tell us about audience and critical reception of Medicated? The
film has received mostly positive feedback and we are of course very
pleased about it. In fact, I am particularly proud of the fact that no one
has pointed out that the film would have any tedious or boring moments. It
is often a big challenge for an amateur movie, especially this long, to be
well paced and fascinating throughout the whole movie. Any
future projects you'd like to share?
We
are currently working on our new film, The ManKing (working title), which
is set to be ready by this summer. The film is shorter and there have been
far fewer people making it compared to Medicated, but even though it is
not as complex a project, we still believe it to be as good as Medicated!
Stay tuned!
What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject? Everything
has been learned by doing, meaning no actual schools have been attended. I
became interested in making movies at a young age already and it has
slowly grown into a more serious hobby. What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Medicated? We
have made numerous short films before Medicated. However, most of them
have been significantly shorter and less ambitious than this one, but they
are still all great! Unfortunately, they are mainly not viewable by the
public, but you can find one, our Christmas special The Jingle Hell,
also on YouTube.
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Information
about Medicated can been found here:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9025650/
Medicated is available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnHnie1v550
The
Jingle Hell is also on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEkPufH1h2M
Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have just forgotten to ask? It's
great to have people like you who cherish amateur movies and support their
makers! Keep up the good work! Thanks
for the interview!
Thank
you too! It was fun!
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