At what age did you see yourself as a filmmaker?
I'm not sure I see
myself as a filmmaker even now! I think of myself
more as having an insatiable addiction to
stories, and fancy myself being able to tell
them. Certainly my earliest interest in film
didn't lie in producing or directing. I actually
wanted to be an actor, and the truth is that
sometimes the bug still comes knocking.
Did you see
yourself doing horror films?
I
didn't see myself ever making a horror film until
I took a genre studies class in university. I
watched all the American classics, like 'Texas
Chainsaw' , 'Hills Have Eyes' , 'Halloween' , you
name it. And I think this made me appreciate the
horror genre more. But it wasn't until I saw the
deceptively simplistic Asian horror films like
'Ring' and 'Audition' that I thought I might be
capable of making a horror film.
What inspired
you to write 'Watch Me'?
I think
getting more exposure to Asian films slowly got
me interested in actually writing and directing a
horror film. I'd grown up in Asia, but I watched
mostly comedies or action flicks. My thinking
about directing started, I think, when I watched
'Volcano High' at the Melbourne International
Film Festival. 'Volcano High' wasn't a horror,
but it really blew me away in terms of the
quality of films that were coming out of Japan
and Korea. I started watching a lot of Japanese
and Korean films, amongst them horror. And I
think I got really inspired by the Asian horror
aesthetic, because it was so simplistic and yet
was infinitely scarier, I felt, than the 'Texas
Chainsaw' or 'Halloween' re-makes or what have
you. And this really made me take a new look at
horror, and whether I could actually film one.
Did you get
investors interested?
The thought of
getting investors barely even crossed my mind.
Sam, the producer, and I wrote the script in the
space of two months, we were itching to start
filming and couldn't possibly have waited through
the agony of scrounging up funding. Besides, who
in their right mind would fund the first feature
horror film of a young documentary producer? We
decided to spare ourselves the heartache and just
let me have my first go at directing a full
length film.
How long was
pre-production?
We had a
two month pre-production period, where we ran
through rehearsals and also bent ourselves
backwards dressing various locations.
Was there any
familiar faces in the cult horror film industry
that came for the audition?
No, we
got to meet all new faces. We had some great
people show up though. The closest to cult horror
to show up was one guy who had made snuff films
his area of expertise, so to speak. He started
telling us where all the best snuff film sites
are, and how we could avoid having our computers
tracked by the police when we went on them. To
this day I don't know whether he was just in
character or that was his real self. He was kind
of like a real life Taku, actually!
What
did you do for Tanya McHenry's audition to make
you convinced that you wanted to cast her as an
evil killing spirit from the internet email?
I think
it was the combination of her lanky frame and
pale skin. That skin, we knew, would look even
whiter under a mane of fire-engine red hair.
She'd also done quite a bit of modeling so we
knew she'd be comfortable with her body, with
experimenting with different walks and contorted
movements. The great thing was her willingness to
undergo make up and hair dye in order to look
"freaky". Not many girls are willing to
get made over into a demonic or ugly reinvention
of themselves.
What was it
like working with Sam Voutas as he had a perfect
look for an internet scumbag?
Sam was a
great asset, and not only for his scumbag looks!
His filmmaking background was really invaluable,
and because we've worked together so much in the
past it was pretty fluid, we knew how to
compensate each other. I think he's a great
actor, and we both enjoyed letting him out of the
director's chair so he could focus primarily on
acting.
Can you tell
us any details or memorable experiences shooting
the film that you will always cherish?
I don't
know about cherishing, but I knew that as the
shoot progressed Sam Voutas and Frances
Marrington did develop a good rapport, strangely
enough through their stomachs. Often during
dialogue Sam's stomach would rumble so loudly it
would get picked up on the mic, and then Frances'
stomach would reply! So sometimes it became quite
comical trying to do takes when the two leads
were having a gastronomic dialogue. We joked that
we had 4 actors on set instead of 2.
What was the
toughest scene to shoot?
There were a
couple of scenes that were a little tricky,
partly because of my insistence on doing them in
one shot. The one where Redhead appears behind
the sheet when Jared goes to replug his computer,
for instance, we had to do over ten takes just to
get the timing right. But I think for the lead,
Frances, no doubt the torture scene was the
hardest. She really did have her eyes taped open
and her mouth gagged, so that her eyes were
tearing and her mouth was numb. She was a tough
cookie.
A scene I will
always remember is the bathroom scene when
Marrington is in the bathtub and so is McHenry as
it had to be choreographed perfectly. Did you
have to do many retakes as this was a strong
scene?
I'm glad
this came out as a strong scene. It wasn't so
much the choreography that we had to get right as
the timing. We needed to make it feel like Tess
is in the bathtub alone, and then you drift,
drift, drift until you realize that there's
someone in the bath with her. It was that feeling
of safety and then shock we had to create, and
even though it was a large claw foot bath it
still took some maneuvering to fit both of them
in.
What film
festivals did the film play at and what were the
responses?
The
film's played at the Atlanta, Phoenix, and Freak
Show horror festivals, and is due to play at the
Melbourne Underground Film Festival later this
year. The feedback has come less from the
festivals and more from the reviewers and general
public who all generally seem to really enjoy the
film and get a good scare.
It it being
distributed to DVD as we speak?
Funny you
ask, because we're in the middle of negotiating a
DVD deal at the moment, I won't say who until
it's all inked and done. But the goal has always
been to get it out onto DVD, it's an entertaining
little film that people should enjoy on a Friday
night in with a bowl of popcorn and the lights
out.
Will there be
a sequel? I hope there will be.
I would
love to do a sequel as long as there's the demand
for it. So if lots of people watch the movie and
say, hey, we'd like to find out Redhead's back
story, who killed her? Or why the hell is Taku
called "freakboy" anyway? I'd be more
than happy to sit down and come out with a
prequel or sequel. I think a lot of the
characters in the film can have a lot more twists
and turns.
Its not so
much in common that there are women horror film
directors or writers like you. Do you hope there
will be more of them to show equal rights in the
industry?
Definitely. It's a
weird thing being a female horror
director/writer, if I can call myself that. While
there are several women's film festivals out
there, a lot of them seem to subscribe to the
traditional view of the female filmmaker, as in
women should make films about emotions, chick
flicks, or dramas and romantic comedies. When you
come out with a film where you're slicing and
dicing, and there's all this violence and blood,
it's a little like you're the mousy, bespectacled
girl in overalls and scuffed shoes at the local
debutante party, where everyone else is dressed
up in frocks and ribbons. You're just not the
"nice girl" on the block, you know?
Whereas
boys, it's expected that they're into violence
and horror and blood and guts. But nice girls,
they're just not supposed to like that sort of
thing.
Are you making
any more horror films?
I'm
working on a few ideas at the moment, and hope
that after Watch Me I might be able to sort out
some sort of up front distribution deal for the
next film. Sam and I are toying with the idea of
a China set horror, either zombie or serial
killer, we'll see which gets developed quicker!
Now for some
fun stuff: What are your favourite horror films?
I'd be
lying if I didn't include the Japanese 'Grudge'
and 'Ring' series. 'Audition' also has to go down
as one of the hardest to sit through films I've
ever seen! Argento's 'Sleepless' and 'Suspiria'
have prominent places on my shelf, and certain
Spanish thrillers, such as Alejandro Amenabar's
'Thesis' and Guillermo del Toro's debut film
'Cronos' I definitely feel are amongst the most
memorable and thought provoking horrors I've
seen. I'm also a sucker for films with any kick
ass female leads in them, so the 'Alien' series
and 'The Descent' are chalked up there on my
feminist fan board.
If you were a
legendary filmmaker for one day whether she was
alive or dead who would she be?
You know,
this is a really interesting question, and not
because of who I would want to be but because I
really don't know how to answer it. And I think
that's part of the answer, that I can't think of
anyone because my mind draws a blank when I try
and come up with legendary female filmmakers.
Historically there's Ida Lupino and Alice Guy,
but to be honest I haven't even seen their films,
much less thought about being in their shoes. I
think that's a depressing but realistic depiction
of the drought of truly influential women
filmmakers.
But if I
could widen the circle to include actresses, then
beyond a doubt I would love to be Katherine
Hepburn for a day. To me she epitomizes the woman
who always did things her way and was completely
unapologetic and unabashed about it, in both her
personal and creative life. Which even today
takes a lot more balls than most people realize!
What is your idea of
perfect happiness?
Without
sounding too cynical, I think perfect happiness
doesn't exist, or if it did it would be a type of
poisoned chalice. We all need a bit of
unhappiness and pain to remind us of what it is
to be happy, and fulfilled. So I guess perfect
happiness would be sipping cocktails on a sunny
beach, but knowing that the next day you're on a
plane back to sub zero, urban conditions. That
way your enjoyment would be at its zenith,
knowing that tomorrow it will be over and you'll
be longing for today.
What are your
ambitions in life?
Wow, now
we're really getting to the nitty gritty! I'd
definitely like to make more horror films. Now
that I've gotten my feet wet I want to try and
make something bigger and better. Outside of
that, I just hope I can hold onto the luxury and
opportunities to be creative and continue to tell
stories, either through film or through writing. |