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Your new film Mutilation
Man - in a few words, what is it about?
Our
film is a thriller/horror film about a masked man who makes his way into a
quiet neighborhood bringing nothing but torture and pain along with him.
The police are on the hunt for someone with no identity, the only evidence
of his existence is the mess he leaves behind. When he enters the home of
Roy and Jessica, they have no idea what's in store for them. As the story
unravels you find that there may be more motive behind the mans action's
than either of them could ever imagine. The
silent killer of Mutilation
Man and his cool, almost laid-back demeanour contribute much to
the utterly chilling effect of the film. How did that character evolve -
and what does it all have to do with alarm clocks?
We've always liked 'silent killer' aspect of this film. We wanted his
body language to do the talking.
As far as this character's wardrobe and body language goes, it was more
of a tribute to the horror films we grew up watching in the 80's.
In the film, Detective Rowe pieces together that the alarm clocks found
at previous crime scenes indicated the time that passed while the
villain's sister was dying.
A
total of four actors (you two included) are listed in Mutilation
Man's credits to have played the film's villain. Why is that?
The
main villain character (face time) was played by Jaime Seibert. Due to
scheduling, we had to pull in another actor, Paul Zurcher, to help play
some profile & back of the head shots. He shaved his head for the
part! All the other close up shots that didn't involve the characters face
and head were played by the two of us due to scheduling. Derek and I
would gather other b-roll shots late at night after everyone had left. If
we had spare time, I'd toss on the outfit and we'd shoot the scenes of the
villain picking up a tool, or the gloved hand gripping the axe, or the
villain's boots walking, stuff like that. Your
sources of inspiration when writing Mutilation
Man? We wanted to shoot a film that reminded us of
the older horror films we watched when growing up. So we got together on
week nights and weekends after work and started writing our script taking
that approach. How would you describe your directorial
approach? And as co-directors, as you have been for many years now, how do
you share responsibilities, and do you step on each others toes very
often?
Stephen Twardokus |
As co-directors, we have always worked well
together. We will go over the scenes together, usually acting them out
with each other. Then we will write up a shot list & do storyboards
together. We would always seem to be on the same page when discussing the
scene(s). If one of us would suddenly come up with something different to
shoot in the moment, we would chat about it quickly and work it in,
without ever really stepping on each others toes.
Though more built on psychological tension,
Mutilation Man
does get pretty violent at times. How did you go about those
scenes, and was there ever a line you simply refused to cross?
The
film does get pretty violent at times, however, the scenes are pretty much
exactly what we wanted. Even if we had a bigger budget, and could have
pulled off bigger, more violent scenes using bigger FX, I don't think we
would have.
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Sabrina Carmichael |
What
can you tell us about your principal cast, and how did you get them to be
in your film?
Jon Gale |
Well Stephen Twardokus (Roy) and Jon Gale
(Detective Rowe) have been good friends of ours for a while now. They have
been in / helped out on some of our past film projects. We all work well
together. Sabrina Carmichael (Jessica) and Jaime Seibert (The Villain)
were both cast. We held casting sessions for weeks before we found them.
They were great! How did the project come into being in the
first place? To be honest, we just wanted to make another
film. 2 years had passed since our last film, we were getting antsy!
Since horror films are susceptible to
sequels, and Mutilation
Man is sort of open-ended: Will there ever be Mutilation Man II?
We
left it open for a possible sequel. Right now we each have several other
projects in the works. Would we revisit our story for Mutilation
Man in
the future? Depending on the response we get from part one, we would
consider a part 2 for sure. Let's
go back to the beginning of your careers. What got you into filmmaking in
the first place, and did you receive any formal education on the subject?
Well Derek was actually looking into a different career at the time but
our dad talked to him about going after a dream rather than settling for a
job he didn't really want. He used to make short films in our home town
and loved doing them, so he left home to pursue his dream of being a
director.
As for myself (Shane) I worked factory work growing up, and always
found myself entertained after work by watching movies, especially the
behind the scenes segments. I wanted to get into the film industry, work
behind the camera. I worked and saved money. I packed up my car and drove
out to LA one month after Derek moved out there.
As for our education in the 'biz', we both landed jobs at several
film/television studios working various productions. On our spare time
from working these production jobs, we started writing/filming our own
projects.
Before
going into indie-filmmaking, you have worked on quite a few positions on
quite a number of films and TV-shows. Why don't you talk about those
experiences for a bit, and why did you take the plunge into directing a
film, and how does indie filmmaking compare to working on a studio-backed
picture or show?
Shane - I worked on an animated production as a production assistant
upon first moving to Los Angeles. Although animation is not what I wanted
to pursue, the studio at the time only had that position open. I took it.
Met some great people during the production. One of whom, ended up at a
different studio, a TV/film studio, after that production ended, she
referred me, and was hired there. My first gig was however, another
animated production! When that ended, I was able to latch on to some of
the TV/film productions the studio was producing. I ended up shooting
behind the scenes for some of the projects, and became production
coordinator / office manager for each show that came down the pipeline. As
for our own indie productions, they differ from studio backed projects in
many ways. The biggest is budget. We need to get creative. When I worked
for the studio, one day I'd be on set with an A-list cast, locations are
blocked off by police, grip trucks line the street, hundreds of people are
all busy with various jobs... Then I go home and set up for our film, and
the crew member I have is also my co-director, my brother! One of the
basic laws in no/low-budget filmmaking is - write what you can shoot.
There is no studio backing your project here... You have a friend who owns
a house? Great, write it in! You have a friend who works graveyard shift
at a bread warehouse who has full access? Great, write that location in!
Now for the creative part. How can you make this look like a bigger film?
I love it. All in all, I have a blast on our indie film projects. We get
as creative as we can, with what we have access to.
Derek - I worked at a production company that did a number of TV shows
and I was the Assistant to the Production Manager. It was a lot of fun and
I got to learn a lot of how to shoot working there. I was even used as the
cameraman or sound guy on several of the shows. That same production
company owned a Sound Stage and they had me as their stage manager. I got
to meet so many good people and got even more training by talking with
them and helping on set up and tear down of the productions. I worked on
Scare Tactics for its first season and that was probably the most fun I
had on a set. I would watch the special effects guys on that show make up
some crazy stuff to scare people. I worked on several big features and I
had a great time but I know I don't have that at home so it's hard to
compare. I would love to make a feature with money so I can get even
better shots or scenes but the one thing that indie films have over studio
is, you are in total control of what you are making. There are no
producers jumping in telling you how they think it should go. I also know
that you can make large budget looking shots but you really have to put
some thought into how you and the one other guy (brother) can do to make
it work with just the two of you. Like Shane said we write to what we know
and what we can do, I feel that is playing it safe but when it comes to
shooting we have always pushed our limits and make each scene bigger than
what it was written without changing the story we are telling. If our
efforts fail, go back to the fail safe way we first thought of.
A few words about your first feature, Human
Behavior? It was a learning experience. Instead of
testing the water with a short film we decided to jump in head first and
make a feature so we could get an idea of what it takes. It was hard but
we set out to make a sellable feature for DVD and we did it.
You have also worked on quite a few
anthology films and shot quite a few shorts. Why don't you talk about
those for a bit?
Our project Visions of Horror, which is a
compilation of short horror films, came about one night after a Fangoria's
Weekend of Horror in Los Angeles. Shane met Tiffany Shepis, Denise Gossett
and several other horror enthusiasts that weekend, who all ended up
working on the project. We had this idea of making a compilation of short
films and putting them on a DVD. We needed a host, so we pitched the idea
to Tiffany Shepis. She was game. Denise Gossett runs Shriekfest Film Festival, with her connections, she recommended several short films that
made it in the compilation. Visions of Horror ended up getting picked up
by Virgil Films & Entertainment distribution company. Any other films of yours you'd like to
talk about? Any future projects?
Shane - My short film Everyday Joe starring Jason Charles Miller &
Persia White is available on Amazon as a digital download to rent or own.
I'm currently in pre-production on two thriller/horror features titled Infectus
& Garden of Faces, both of which I'm looking to
produce/direct in Maine.
I'm also currently writing a script for a low-budget feature thriller
film with my partner Megan Lynn, which we plan to shoot right here in the
Los Angeles area.
Derek - My next feature is titled Revenant. Stephen
Twardokus (Mutilation
Man) is starring in it and he also wrote the
screenplay for the film. This film has been one of the best experiences I
have had on a film thus far. It will be out early 2012.
Most of your films are
of the horror variety. Is this a genre especially dear to you, and why? We
love the horror genre because thats what we grew up watching. We both like
other film genres... Comedy & Drama. But we live comedy and drama on a
daily basis. Horror is something you don't get to do on a daily basis.
It's fun making things up, escaping your reality for a while. Directors
who inspire you?
Derek - Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson mainly for Peter's early
career cause he always pushed the limits.
Shane - Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Don Coscarelli, Spielberg, David
Cronenberg, Joe Dante, James Cameron, Stuart Gordon to name a few.
Your favourite movies?
Derek - John Carpenter's The Thing, Jaws, Pumpkin
Head, Halloween, and
Poltergeist.
Shane - John Carpenter's The Thing, Terminator, Evil
Dead, Pumpkin Head, Aliens, Friday The 13th films,
Jaws, Halloween,
Intruder, Shocker, Darkman, The Fly (1986).
...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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Derek - Don't really dislike any movie cause movies in general are art
so how they decided to tell it, whether I agree with it or not, its a form
of art and expression from that person. Everyone has their own taste and I
am sure there will be people that will not enjoy Mutilation
Man or any
other film in that genre. I don't agree with how some films are shot or
acted but who am I to say they did it wrong.
Shane - I agree with my brother 100%.
Your website,
Facebook, whatever else?
Derek Cole - www.crcentertainment.com
Shane Cole - www.maskedfilms.com
(Twitter / Youtube / links on front page)
Mutilation Man Twitter - @MutilationMan
Mutilation Man Youtube - www.youtube.com/user/mfeaturefilm
Anything else you are dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? The
release date for MUTILATION MAN is December 6th, please look for it and
check it out. Distributed by Midnight Releasing - www.midnightreleasing.com. Thanks for
the interview!
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