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Your movie Pareidolia
- in a few words, what is it about?
It’s about 13 minutes long. No spoilers…
How did the project fall together in the first
place? I
was approached by Stuart Morriss [Stuart
Morriss interview - click here] shortly after screening a film I directed
(The Understudy) at the Misty Moon International Film Festival. I called
to enquire about arranging a public screening for Cult of VHS, a
documentary I helped produce and that was when he asked if I’d be
interested in directing a short film with Diane Franklin. I was extremely
humbled, I’d never been approached for a project before. I remembered
Diane from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Freddy’s
Nightmares, and the offer came at a time when I’d just had a project
fall through for TV – so I jumped on board straight away. I found out
recently it was actually Jen Morriss (Mrs. Moon) who suggested me for the
project – so thanks Jen! Pareidolia
was written by your own father Aiden Truss - so honestly what was your
collaboration like, and how did that come about even? My dad is a brilliant writer and he was the first person I thought of when
Stuart asked if I knew any writers. We’d never really worked on anything
creatively before; I remember a lot of meetings at the pub. My father
likes to go into his own world and I respect that, we all need that
creative sanctum to go to and escape the real world. Once my father began
to flesh out the concept and characters, I sat with him to discuss how I
could translate his ideas practically on film. I think we were pretty much
in sync throughout the whole process, especially when it came to
inspiration – he grew up watching late night horror classics on TV and
VHS, and I grew up with him passing that down to me. I don’t think many
films can say they’ve had a father and son ‘writer/director’ on a
project, so that made this experience all the more personal for me. Do
talk about Pareidolia's
approach to horror!
From
the very start, I knew I wanted to create something that would stay with
people – the concept for pareidolia was perfect as it’s something most
people can relate to. The next thing to do was to turn that idea on its
head. Maybe there is something there, watching us…stalking us…
I
was really inspired by Lights Out, Laura Hasn’t Slept and Portrait of God when it came to my approach, these short films
really delivered in terms of scares and suspense. As we were working Diane
Franklin, I really wanted to make sure we gave this film a ‘classic
horror’ feel too, a nod to those films that myself, my father and Stuart
grew up with. Taking something old and making it brand new.
A few words about your overall
directorial approach to your story at hand?
This
is the first time I’ve directed a narrative piece in a few years (having
worked on two feature documentaries), and the first time working with
actors of such high calibre. Diane for one has a background in Hollywood
movies – I found that incredibly daunting. Like, who the hell am I to
direct Diane Franklin? That’s nuts! The same goes for Graham Cole [Graham
Cole interview - click here],
Carolyn Pickles [Carolyn
Pickles interview - click here], Dawn Perllman and Sandy Johnson
[Sandy Johnson interview -
click here] – between them, these
guys have worked with Richard Donner, John Carpenter, Roman
Polanski… insane!
Thankfully,
the entire cast were incredibly welcoming and shared such enthusiasm for
Dad’s script and the project. It spurred us all on as one huge team!
Some
of my directorial methods were a little unorthodox, but I’m still
learning and feeding off the cast and crew – I’m always welcome to
feedback and ideas from everyone. I could see the film in my head, editing
mentally – working out key beats, transitions and sound cues.
What can you
tell us about Pareidolia's
cast, and why exactly these people?
We shot with Graham Cole first, his arrival to Scrimm Cottage (little nod to
mine and Jake West’s favourite horror film, Phantasm), and he made my
life so much easier on set. He completely got the part of Father Cavanagh
and you could tell he absolutely loved playing the role, after every take
he’d burst into song – maybe Pareidolia
should have been a musical?
Stuart and I have known Graham for years, there was no one else we wanted
in this role.
Day
2 was Diane Franklin and Carolyn Pickles – my word…they were on fire.
Their chemistry was brilliant on screen and off, I learnt a lot from
filming with them. I think they sensed I was a little nervous filming
their dialogue scenes – thankfully Carolyn is a director’s dream. We
could bounce ideas off of one another and she made me laugh a lot.
Diane
too, she was very patient with me and at one point we went for a little
walk to go through the upcoming scenes and to talk about how she liked to
be directed – bearing in mind we had less than a day to film all of her
scenes, so the clock was ticking. In my head, I’m trying to get the
best out of Diane without compromising creatively or cutting corners for
time’s sake. Once we moved to the bedroom scenes, I really felt like
myself, Diane and the crew were REALLY in sync. It was incredible! It was
movie magic, and when we filmed the finale, I knew in my gut we had
something special.
Joe
Acres who plays Jonty, absolutely steals every scene he’s in. I’ve
worked with Joe for almost twenty years and I knew he would be perfect for
the role. He knows I love him very dearly and I probably won’t ever make
a film without him in it!
Dawn
Perllman and Sandy Johnson are more examples of having such incredible and
seasoned talent to work with that basically make my life easier as a
director. I was very fortunate to work with every single one of them!
Do talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere!
We had so much fun. We honestly felt like a family. Uncle Stu was keeping an
eye on everything. There was nothing but trust and respect on the set. If
we weren’t working, we were laughing – and that’s the most important
thing! Enjoying the whole process from start to finish. The crew still
quote lines from the film to me when we’re at the pub or working on
post-production.
The
only time it was serious was when myself, the DOP (James Dean) and our
production assistant (Alex Pearce) slept on location over night at the
Ostrich in Robertsbridge – and James tried to murder me. It was his
first time away from his parental responsibilities and I ruined it by
snoring all night. At breakfast, James listed the number of ways he wanted
to kill me (If you’re reading this James, I’m sorry).
The $64-question of
course, where can Pareidolia
be seen? Pareidolia
is heading into the festival
circuit as we speak, so do keep an eye out on social media for when and
where we’ll be showing! Anything you can tell
us about audience and critical reception of Pareidolia yet? You
have to be super careful here, I think. We’ve had so many kind words
about the film, hell - two people I know stopped watching as it got too
scary for them – sounds like I’m blowing my own trumpet. But the
response has been overwhelming! Everyone will have their opinions; I’m
waiting for some fucker to turn around and say ‘well that sucked’ and
you know what? That’s absolutely fine! But I genuinely feel this film
had the strongest production team and a killer cast. At the end of the
day, I just want to tell a really creepy story – if people are scared by
it, that’s good enough for me! Any future projects
you'd like to share?
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It’s no secret, I really want to write and direct the feature version of Pareidolia. That’s my next goal. Expand the story, as I really
think this could become something bigger than a short film. I’m also co-directing the
Rob Knox London Film Festival alongside my partner Alice
Amata – this will be held at the Cinema Museum in London, in memory of
my close friend Rob Knox, who was murdered in a knife attack in 2008. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
You can find me on social media, Pareidolia
has its own Facebook page that Stuart and myself look after: www.facebook.com/pareidoliafilm/ Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? What’s that figure standing behind
you?... Thanks
for the interview!
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