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Your upcoming film Her Heart Still Beats - in a few words,
what is it about?
A man becomes possessed by his wife's eyes and struggles to cope
with the evil that comes over him. Your story is obviously at least
partly based on The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. How true
did you remain to your source, where did you veer off, and what does Poe
mean to you as a writer?
We open the film like The
Tell-Tale Heart in the same sense that the
main character is confessing to something he has done. Then after that
we take the story in our own direction, but we keep a few elements of
Poe's original idea throughout the film, like his obsession with the
eye and the sounds of the heartbeat. But really we just touch on
Poe's story but then take it in a more modern direction. It was really
important to me when making the film that I make it feel more like a
Christopher Di Nunzio piece and not just a Poe remake.
As a writer Poe
means a lot to me. In high school a teacher introduced me to this
story and I was hooked from there. I started reading more literature
and from there started getting into other forms of art, like
photography for example. Eventually I became involved in filmmaking so
in a sense I credit Poe and his stories for that. Any other sources of
inspiration? There wasn't much more inspiration than Poe,
but the equipment I
have in my hands now allowed me to create a film at the quality and
level that I have always wanted to. I just love creating stuff!
How did the whole project come into being
in the first place?
Jason Miller |
I was looking to make a high quality
piece to showcase my talent as
a filmmaker and to use it to help get more future projects off the
ground. Using the idea of Poe's story made sense to me because I have
always wanted to make a film adaptation of one of his stories and I
think of it as a tribute and a thank you to him. What can you tell us about your
producer Jason Miller, with whom you have worked quite a bit in the past? Well
I can tell you he is a great guy! He's also a very passionate
filmmaker and someone I can trust. I like working with Jason because
things always seem to move forward and never backwards. Also he's a
long time friend so we generally enjoy working on film projects
together. He also has a lot of patience! People should keep an eye out
for his his new film The Loudest Sound. It's coming out great and
should be out soon. How
would you describe your directorial approach to the subject?
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For
me it's all about rehearsals. That's where I give all my notes
to the actors. I feel the Actor/Director relationship is a 50/50 one.
They need to bring something to the table as well. Get it down in
rehearsal so on the set I'm just a supervisor. Making sure it all goes
as planned. I love rehearsal. For this film I thought a lot about the
mood of the characters. I always do but Fiore Leo's role as Ed Gallo
was a hard one, so getting that character down wasn't easy. He has a
lot going on in his head but he can't show much of it or it would be
too over the top and if he shows too little it's flat. I'm thankfuI I
had Fiore for this one. Not too many people can play that role. I
really wanted the film to play like a drama. I told the actors to
think of this film as a drama more than a horror film. The writing
sets the film up to be dark and creepy but if it didn't have good
acting I would have just trashed the whole movie. It would have been
bad.
Fiore Leo |
What
are we to expect from Her Heart Still Beats
in terms of violence
and gore? Not a lot. Sorry gore hounds. This plays more
like a dark thriller.
It's a creepy film. There is violence but the film is more about the
characters. A few words about Her Heart Still Beats'
cast and crew?
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Leighsa Burgin |
I loved working with all of them! I really
did. I have worked with
Fiore Leo & Leighsa Burgin before and I think they are so talented.
When I was casting the film I went right to them for the main roles.
They are great to work with and always bring their A-game. William
Bloomfield & John Martellucci where so easy going and they each added
something to their characters that brought the film up a level.
Michael Capozzi makes his acting debut in this film. What a natural
and he's such a funny guy. He reminds me a little bit of Robert De Niro. Don't talk smack till you see him! I lucked out with this cast.
When people see them they will see A-list performances. My crew,
James Sullivan (DP) and Chris Herbert (1st AC & Gaffer) worked so
hard on this film! It was great to watch, they believe in what they
do. Both will always have a place on my team. Martin Begue had to deal
with some problems with our Zoom H4n (Sound). But he stayed on top of
things and all the audio came out great! Justin Thibault. & Scott
Reardon pitched in and were a great help on set. The $64-question of course: When and
where will the film be out, tentatively? Late October or
early November. Me and Jason Miller will be hosting
a one day film festival with the main film being Her Heart Still Beats. So if you're in the Boston area keep a look out for that.
It's
going to be a great night. We'll be selling DVDs of the film right
when it's released as well. Any future
projects beyond Her Heart Still Beats?
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Yes! Like I
was saying this film was a showcase for other projects.
Me, Jason Miller and Nolan Yee, whom we've both collaborated with in
the past, are going to make three short films that will be packed as a
feature film. It's something we've wanted to do for a long time and it
looks like it's finally going to happen. All I can say about it right
now is that the films will have the same theme and they will be good! Your/your
film's website, Facebook, whatever else?
www.CreepyKidProductions.com
- You can watch the trailer for Her Heart Still Beats. And buy Livestock on DVD!
Creepy Kid Productions - Facebook -
http://www.facebook.com/#!/
CreepyKidProductions
Her Heart Still Beats
- Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Her-Heart-Still-Beats/263335193691613?sk=info Anything else
you are dying to mention and I have just forgotten to ask? I
would just like to thank my cast and crew again. If you read this
whole interview you would notice I had a lot of praise for them.
That's because they are so professional and talented. They made this
the easiest film to work on. I'm thankful for that. Thanks gang! And
thank you Mike for taking the time to interview me! To everyone out
there: Remember support Independent film! Thanks
for the interview!
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