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Your new movie The First Date
- in a few words, what is it about?
The First Date
is a quirky little 5 minute horror/comedy short about a
man who gets far more than he bargains for whilst on a blind date.
Did you personally have any bad blind date experiences
you'd like to share, and did any of those somehow sneak into your script
(I hope not literally though)?
Haha. Sadly my life isn't that interesting! I've had a couple of dates
with people I initially met on the world wide web, but nothing as lively
as this particular date.
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing The
First Date?
I wouldn't say any one thing directly inspired it. I'm sure
sub-conciously there are certain ideas that crept into the back of my
head, whether it be a home grown indie film like 100 Bloody Acres
or something twisted like Evil Feed. I think individuals
inspire me more than their work. A few guys that come to mind are Chris
McInroy, Drew Macdonald, Jason Kupfer and Richard Powell (just to name a
few).
How would you describe The First
Date's brand of humour?
Dark (haha). Dark is certainly the word for it. I'm well aware that it
might not resonate with everyone (looking at my dear mother when I say
that, haha) but the intention was certainly to make it graphic but to keep
it fun at the same time.
You also have to talk about The
First Date's gruesome bits for a bit, and how were they achieved? Ooooo,
tough one to answer without spoilers but I'll do my best. Everything fx-wise that you see in the film was conceived practically. Leigh Madden is a
local makeup and effects artist where I live (in Adelaide, South
Australia) and an absolute godsend. He has his own business called Madden
FX (check out the Facebook page), and from early on I knew I wanted
him and his team to be a part of the project. He's incredibly creative,
full of experience and really easy to collaborate with. I was blown away
by the quality of those effects.
What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand? As far as direction goes, I wanted to let the actors
play with the idea as much as possible. I made a concentrated effort to
keep the mystery of the situation front and centre. I want people to ask
those questions after the fact. It's only my second time directing and
despite having my shot listing and a feel for the general tone of the
piece, the specifics weren't necessarily set in stone. Even down to the
re-casting of The Chef at the last minute. That role was originally set to
be played by my DP, Marc Clement (whose also an actor) but due to the
logistics of it all we were forced to look elsewhere and thankfully the
wonderful Anton Schrama came on board last minute! Do talk about your key cast, and why exactly these
people? I lucked out big time with both cast and crew.
After writing and producing my debut short film After Hours in
Florida in early 2016, I returned home to Australia and looked to get this
second project off the ground. I used my powers of networking to reach out
to the local film community here in Adelaide and I was fortunate enough to
garner some interest from a number of really lovely people. From there I
met Marc and my AD Stef. I cast Chad as the lead, and I'd previously
worked with a couple of others from the cast and crew so I knew a few
people. I was very fortunate. What can you tell us about the shoot as such,
and the on-set atmosphere?
The shoot was actually quite stressful despite things appearing to run
fairly smoothly. I'm sure everyone probably says that, but I sort of end
up getting caught up in my own head at times (this is why we have ADs
haha). The on-set atmopshere felt good and we were fortunate enough to be
able to shoot in a well respected establishment called The House Of
Chow. It was a city location that I had my heart set on from the
outset. The $64-question of course,
where can The First Date be
seen?
The First Date is currently doing the festival rounds (or at least
we're hoping to). We've submitted to something like 30 different festivals
so it's all pretty much a waiting game now. Hopefully we will have some
reviews rolling in shortly and the world premiere of the film will be on
November 25th in
Melbourne, Australia at MonsterFest. The wider release won't be
for twelve months.
Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of The First Date
yet? You just so happen to be the first cab off the rank
here at (re)Search my Trash, Mike! (Haha). I've put some feelers out there
though and people definitely seem keen to check it out so I'll keep you
posted on future reviews.
Any future projects you'd like to share? Funny you
should ask, I'm currently in the early pre-production stages for my next
short film The Body. It ventures into crime/comedy territory and
it's driven mostly by dialogue, which is something new for me. We're hoping
to shoot toward the middle of next year. What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? I'd like to say I was one of those
people that knew from an early age that I wanted to get involved in film
making, but that'd be a lie (haha). My only training comes in the form of
watching and learning. Initially I started collecting films and
memorabilia around 7 or 8 years ago, that led to AdamTheMovieGod
(my five year long website) where I wound up writing about and critiquing
films. So I guess you could say that venturing into the industry, albeit
through dipping toes in the waters of short film making, is yet another
extension of that initial interest. I can now safely call myself a
cinephile though! What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to The First Date? My
debut short was After Hours, a mystery/thriller starring the
supremely talented Bill Oberst jr [Bill
Oberst jr interview - click here] and directed by the
wonderful Michael Aguiar (The
Laughing Mask) [Michael
Aguiar interview - click here]. That simply came about through
sheer luck. I'd previously reviewed Michael's debut feature film and we
got talking, he respected my constructive feedback, asked me if I'd
written anything, I told him that I had, he read it and enjoyed it, and
before I knew it casting calls were being held on the other side of the
world for characters I'd written at the end of 2015 in my office in
Adelaide, South Australia... pretty surreral stuff. The film can be found
on the new horror anthology Welcome To Hell, distributed by Wild
Eye Releasing. From there I got involved with some producing, namely
on low budget creature feature Don't Fuck In The Woods by Shawn
Burkett [Shawn Burkett
interviw - click here], and more prominently Terrifier written
and directed by Damien Leone. I also directed a couple of sixty second
shorts that will be appearing on Tony Newton's anthology 60 Seconds To
Die 2 which is due to be released soon. How
would you describe yourself as a director?
Haha... interesting, I actually have no idea how to answer that. I like
to think I'm easy to talk to and that I treat everyone with respect on and
off the set but I suppose you'd have to ask those who've worked with me in
order to get to the crux of it. Filmmakers
who inspire you? Filmmakers who inspire me hey? Wow, way
too many to name so let's just go with the ones I can think of off the top
of my head. Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Mickey
Keating and John Hughes. Your favourite movies? I
have over 2,500 films, so how long have you got? (Haha.) Based on
re-watchability factor let's go with anything Tarantino, American
Psycho, Bully, Drive, Darling, Timecrimes,
Tape, and Home Alone. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? It takes a lot for
me to throw out terms like “hate” or “despise” because most things
have some merit in one way or another. I always try to find the positives
though there has been a couple of films that I felt served absolutely no
purpose, A Serbian Film is the main one that comes to mind. Certain
micro-budget films can be deemed almost unwatchable I suppose, mostly due
to inferior technical execution. I'd say I find certain films overrated if
anything. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Little Miss
Sunshine, Silver Linings Playbook, The Ice Storm and the
Harry Potter series are just a few.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
My film related
website is www.adamthemoviegod.com,
please feel free to send my your films if you want them reviewed people! I
have an IMDb page and my Facebook is under “Adam Paul Weber”, reach
out and say hi.
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Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I'm
pretty sure you've covered everything Mike, very thorough and professional
I must say! Thanks
for the interview!
Thank you for asking.
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