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Your new movie Turing
Test - in a few words, what's it about?
Deception.
With Turing Test
leaning heavily into the subject of AI, do talk about your research on the
subject, and what are your personal thoughts on artificial
intelligence?
I don’t like doing research for my scripts. I want my stories to work the
way I want them to, reality sometimes gets in the way of that. That being
said, after the first draft is done, I do look up stuff in order to
determine if I need to adjust certain aspects. I believe a movie only
needs to follow an inner logic, regardless of how things work in the real
world, but a short doesn’t give you a lot of time for worldbuilding, so
some things need to be factually correct in order to not break the
immersion.
I wrote Turing
Test in 2021. Some stuff in it now seems almost outdated,
whereas it would have been kinda prophetic if I could have shot it back
then (which I couldn’t due to the restrictions at that time). If I
remember correctly, there wasn’t anything that I needed to rewrite in
order to make it believable.
There is no concise way to give my thoughts on AI. “AI” is too broad of a
term. A chess computer is AI, I don’t think that’s what most people refer
to though when they talk about AI nowadays.
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing
Turing Test?
I wrote it initially for a friend who needed a script for his final work
to get his Mediengestalter diploma. I don’t recall the exact premise he
was given, it was “things are not what they seem” or something like that,
but that’s all the inspiration I had. He ended up not using the script,
which now worked out well for me luckily.
What can you tell us about
Turing Test's approach to the science fiction genre?
I didn’t think about the genre when I wrote or shot or edited it.
A few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?
Bit difficult to talk about that without spoiling the movie. There are
some details in the film, that hopefully enhance a second or third viewing
when they are noticed. My focus was on the acting though. All the other
stuff is kinda important too of course, but if the acting didn’t work, I
don’t think there would be much incentive to stay until the end.
Do talk about Turing Test's
cast, and why exactly these people?
Because these people are the best actors to portray these characters. I
usually neglect the supporting characters in my scripts, they are merely
props to advance the story (I’m not proud of it). But when I talked with
Özen Fidan about the role, he enriched my cookie-cutter excuse for a
character with some great ideas and turned it into a believable human
being.
I knew as soon as he applied that I wanted Richard Lingscheidt as Alan.
After we had a talk to get to know each other and discuss the role, it was
basically a foregone conclusion that I would cast him. There were two
other good candidates who would have portrayed Alan a bit differently in
interesting ways, but Richard nailed the character as I had envisioned it.
I was a bit concerned about Marlene Fahnster’s German accent when she
applied, since Sophie was supposed to be American. There was actually
another actress who almost got the part because of that. These decisions
are seldom easy and I don’t think she took it well that I had to reject
her in the end. I adjusted the role and put a tiny hint in the movie that
explains Marlene’s accent. Although seeing how good her English was on
set, I don’t think that was necessary. I could not be happier with
Marlene’s performance. She’s already cast as the lead in my next two short
movies, and I hope we can shoot a feature together one day. Or ideally
three. The scripts are there.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The first day on set was rather chaotic. I hadn’t made a movie in six
years and it wasn’t that easy to get back into it. I can’t commend the
crew enough on pushing through though, and the second day was way better.
The $64-question of course, where can
Turing Test be seen?
Post production just ended around a week ago. I have submitted it to a few
festivals, we’ll see how that plays out. Until then, people can read
reviews like yours about it and maybe make up a better version of it in
their heads. Now where’s my $64?
Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of
Turing Test?
No actual audience has seen it yet. There are like a handful critics who
voiced their opinion about it so far, and they seemed to like it.
Any future projects you'd like to share?
A short film that stars Marlene Fahnster as a boxer is currently in
production. I also have a feature length version of that in my head. My
next short will see her as a photographer who is grappling with an
artistic crisis. I have written way more scripts than I could ever turn
into movies, so I’m trying to supply them to other directors, which is
only mildly successful since most people direct their own stuff. I also
started exploring being a casting director roughly a year ago, since
working with actors is my favourite part about making a movie.
But yeah, the goal is to make a feature film. Unlike shorts, I can’t
finance that myself though.
What got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any
formal training on the subject?
I got into it by pure chance. A friend of mine was shooting his thesis
film in 2010 and asked me to be an extra in it. Once I was on the set, I
was hooked. I started acting in student and no-budget films, but
eventually had to come to terms with the fact that I can’t act. I can
however write scripts and direct actors. At least I think I can.
I have zero formal training, which often gets my work rejected. I remember
one person specifically who applied for a crew position in Turing
Test, and then later declined because the people involved weren’t professional
enough for her liking (she was a film student in her third semester mind
you). Of course it’s up for audiences to decide, but I don’t think the
movie looks that unprofessional. I also noticed I have different views on
certain aspects of
filmmaking, which doesn’t make it easy to work with people who only know
the German film school system and aren’t streetsmart when it comes to a
no-budget project.
What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to
Turing Test?
I made my directorial debut in August 2013. Then I shot movies in November
2013, January 2014, April 2014, May 2014 and November 2014. I took a break
and came back in 2017, then once again in 2018, before I was done with
moviemaking for good. Or so I thought …
If you’ve seen Turing
Test, you’ve essentially seen my whole filmography:
Two people talk to each other and in the end it wasn’t what we thought it
was.
How would you desccribe yourself as a director?
I am an actor’s director. For me, working with the actors is the most
important thing about filmmaking. When I was an actor, I often didn’t know
what to do because all I heard from the director was stuff like “be
angrier!” Of course, that comes at a cost. My previous films usually weren’t that
good in certain aspects. I told the crew what I wanted, but I never really
paid much attention to it, nor did I communicate properly with them.
Turing
Test was a good step in the right direction in that regard.
Filmmakers who inspire you?
None. Your favourite movies?
Amadeus. There are more, but Amadeus is the best movie ever made.
... and of course, films you really deplore?
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Certain modern movies. If someone wanted to tell a story but was simply
too inept to do it well, that’s one thing. With some of the newer stuff,
it doesn’t seem to be about telling a story though.
Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else? None.
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I want to thank the person without whom I would have never made a single
movie. Thanks for the interview!
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
