Your upcoming movie Salient Minus Ten - in a few words, what
is it about?
Salient Minus Ten
is the new sci-fi/horror short film from award-winning filmmaker Emma Dark, and is a cerebral
foray into the darker, more disturbing, side of science fiction.
A brief synopsis - "Adam Harper is an
average man. And on an average day he suddenly finds himself catapulted
into the strangest, reality changing game... a game of time and chance,
where the stakes are a matter of life and death."
What were your sources of inspiration when
dreaming up Salient Minus Ten? I
think people like to box films into being ‘inspired by’ a little too
much if I’m honest, although if I’m going to say anything it would be
to imagine a smattering of 60/70’s dark sci-fi smashed together with the
artful quirkiness of 70’s giallo films (Italian crime/horror thrillers
for those who don’t know) and a bit of a Lars Von Trier vibe (minus the
sex and nudity). You call Salient Minus Ten
a science fiction horror film - so what's your approach to
both genres like? I like dark
cerebral (aka ‘thinking’) and gripping films. They may or may not fit
exclusively into horror or exclusively into sci-fi. Most films I like have
a bit of both or some fantasy or thriller elements. I personally believe
there is no right approach to either genre, a filmmaker should simply
follow their gut and ensure they make an artful and memorable film. I’m
not a huge fan of gore and torture ‘porn’, mainly because I think
it’s overdone right now, so that’s something I’m keen to avoid. Do talk about your movie's intended
look and feel! My aim is to make
it as artful and filmic looking as possible. Although I do have a very
direct vintage aesthetic in mind it won’t be trying to look as if it’s
set in a certain time period. I’m aiming for something both visually
beautiful and subtly disturbing.
As far as I know, you play a supporting
role in Salient Minus Ten
- so what can you tell us about
your character, what will you draw upon to bring her to life, and did you
write her with yourself in mind? I
can, and of course I did. One of the things about coming from a modelling
background with a large fanbase who have followed you from that period in
time is that they do expect to see you on screen. This can cause it’s
own complications, particularly with directing with limited time on
locations, but I’d probably do it anyway, even if my fans didn’t
expect it, because I enjoy it. The role is smaller than in Seize the Night, my previous film, where I played a lead character, however the
character is still a principal role and will be strong and memorable. Of
course she will be slightly evil, it’s easiest to draw on previous
experience whilst acting and trying to keep a role believable, and while I
may not be evil myself I’ve had plenty of experience playing evil
characters, whether that be with my acting or modelling. What can you tell us
about the rest of your cast, and why exactly these people?
This
is a tricky one as I’m answering these interview questions the day
before I’m about to hold auditions to recast the lead role. Mainly
because I know the people I’ve cast can both perform the role and are
professional and easy to get along with. Those are absolute key qualities
for me. I’ve brought back Chris Hampshire and Beric Read from my
previous film Seize the Night
- why, because they have screen
presence, performed well, and were both very professional and easy to get
along with. I’ve also cast Samantha Oci
in a supporting role. This is actually the
first front-of-camera role for Samantha, who is also a very talented
filmmaker/director I might add.
For Salient Minus Ten, you bring quite a few crewmembers back
from your earlier short
Seize the Night
- so do talk about these people for a bit, and what made
you want to work with them again? And while we're at it, do give us a
quick recap of Seize the
Night?
Seize the Night, in a few words…
vampires, werewolves, action, gritty, badass, leather, pounding music and
explosive effects. If that’s your bag, and I hope it is, you can catch
it online at www.seizethenightfilm.com,
and if you like it by all means buy an autographed copy of the DVD.
Yes I absolutely did bring people back, I
think I was extremely blessed with Seize the Night to have had such
a talented and professional crew. As of right now I have Merlyn Roberts (assistant
director), Wendy Rose (set production assistant), Eric Elick (composer), Davy Simmons (VFX), Lawrence Brightman
(sound recordist) and
Rod Sinfield (additional props). If I had a bigger overall budget I would
have brought more cast and crew back, certainly.
As far as I know, Salient Minus Ten
is presently still in its fundraising stages - so what can you
tell us about your campaign?
It’s
actually now met its goal and is ‘InDemand’ on IndieGoGo. Which
means anybody who would still like to contribute towards the making of the
film by grabbing a perk can still do so right now. I’d just like to give
Hill Burton and Barry Pook a huge shoutout please for picking up the top
perks of Associate Producer, such lovely and generous people, and indeed
everyone who has contributed so far. I’m really very honoured, most of
the backers have been fellow filmmakers, to have that support and belief
in my project is truly wonderful.
https://igg.me/at/SalientMinusTen
Once the budget's in place
what's the schedule? As I
mentioned above briefly I’m currently recasting the main role. I had
actually shot a large portion of the film but unfortunately I made the
decision to recast as I didn’t feel that the lead character was coming
across in the way I intended. I have to be clear that this was a purely
creative decision and I didn’t take it lightly, particularly after I’d
based my crowdfund around a locked cast and had already started talking
about the film and printing marketing materials. It happens quite a bit
more than you might imagine, even at the super low budget independent film
level, and it’s not a negative reflection on anybody's abilities, just
sometimes the magic doesn’t happen and the only option is to go back to
square one if possible. It’s perhaps a little bit embarrassing for the
filmmaker and the actor to have to put out an update like that but these
things happen for better or worse. This does mean I’m over a third down
in budget, which means I have to be more frugal than I really wanted going
forwards and the production process may be a little slower than originally
planned.
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Even if it might be waaay too early
to ask, any idea when and where the film might be released yet?
The
release date would be late 2017 at the earliest now. I imagine it will be
online again, as with Seize the Night. If I have the funds and
enough of a demand to recoup the rating and production cost I’ll
consider BBFC rating the film again and making autographed DVDs available
to fans. Any
future projects beyond Salient Minus Ten
you'd like to
share? There are, but if I told
you I’d have to kill you ;-) Seriously, there is one very amazing one,
but I really can’t talk about it yet. In other news on the acting side
of things I’ve just starred in
Frankula, which was directed
by Jason Read of Robo Films and produced by Stuart Morriss of the Misty
Moon Film Society - https://mistymoonfilmsociety.com. It also stars
Hammer scream queens Caroline Munro
[Caroline Munro bio - click
here] and
Judy Matheson, David Barry of Please Sir! (who also wrote the
script) and newcomer Martin Rudman. It will premiere at the Misty Moon
International Film Festival in London on 29th October, and believe me you
don’t want to miss it. The festival is free entry so I’d encourage
people to come along and support the film, the festival and all the other
filmmakers involved who are all showcasing their work. Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever
else?
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SalientMinusTen
Twitter - https://twitter.com/salientminusten
IndieGoGo - https://igg.me/at/SalientMinusTen
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask?
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Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
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YES!
I’m on the cover of this month’s Digital Filmmaker Magazine, and more
importantly it’s because there’s an amazing article by me in the mag
talking about women in film. I interviewed super talented female
filmmakers Chelsey Burdon (She), Abigail Blackmore (Vintage
Blood) and
Melanie Light (The Herd), plus actress Judy Matheson (Twins of
Evil).
It’s a must read for anyone who a) supports women in film (which
hopefully you all do) and b) it’s very frank and educational. So please
do buy a digital download of the magazine here:
https://pocketmags.com/digital-filmmaker-magazine/dfm-issue-39
Thanks for the interview! All photos by
AJ Singh.
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