Your new movie Tension -
in a few words, what is it about?
René:
Tension
is a small dark comedy short.
René, what were your sources of inspiration for writing Tension,
and to what extent can you identify with the movie's main character,
actually? René:
I took my inspiration out of everyday life. I wanted a protagonist who
everybody could relate and identify to somehow. An average Joe in a normal
situation with a bad day who behaves like living in a world without
consequences. But in the end there are consequences of course. I guess
everybody was very often in a situation in which he just let his thoughts
run free. Do talk about Tension's
brand of comedy for a bit! René:
The humour of Tension
is definitely dark. I really enjoy this form of
comedy. It allows us to laugh about horrible things like violence and
murder. In Tension,
you pretty much limit yourself to one location - so how limiting but maybe
also liberating was this for you as filmmakers? René:
It definitely had advantages and disadvantages. It was a nice atmosphere
because we were familiar with the environment – because it was our
office. This was very helpful because we had no boundaries in how long we
are able to be on location. But having a limitation in locations means
that you have to keep the attention of the viewers with different things.
You have to surprise them visually or plot-wise. But I guess it´s okay for
a four minute short. You could say the limitation we imposed on ourselves was
somehow liberating. Patrick:
I don’t feel limited at all when I film in only one location. It was
pretty much of a challenge for me tickling out everything the location was
offering for us. So as you see we concentrated on working out the fine
details Tension
has to offer the fans of such short films like ours.
What
was the collaboration between the two of you actually like - and how did
you two first meet even? Patrick:
We came together when René was working on ABCs of Superheroes
in 2014 for
Boesewicht Film and Oliver Tietgen and Jens Holzheuer [Oliver
Tietgen, Jens Holzheuer, René Wiesner interview - click
here]. I was pretty much
interested in the movie and I got excited about working with René and the
whole team there. So I became an executive producer. After that René and
I realized that we often share the same convictions and that we really
liked to create something together. With Tension
we made the first step in
our collaboration and things are getting bigger now. Do talk about your cast, and
why exactly these people?
Patrick:
I loved working with Simon Lammers, Norma Jackson and Jarryd Alexander
Haynes. It was a new experience to
me because I didn't knew any of them at that time unlike René who knew all
of them from shootings for ABCs of Superheroes. But we found ourselves
very fast and they all are great and passionate actors.
René:
As I came up with the idea for Tension
I had Norma and Jarryd immediately
in my mind for their roles. I worked with both of them before. The casting
of my main actor was trickier. Honestly I didnt knew exactly what I wanted
but I definitely knew what I didn't want. Luckily I got to know Simon
short time afterwards on another set (ABCs of Superheroes). Funnily enough
we had to act together in it – the two thugs in episodes T & U who
got their asses kicked by princess Tarantrella.
Christin Zimmermann, Patrick Templin, René
Wiesner, Norma Jackson, Jarryd Alexander Haynes, Simon Lammers |
What can you tell us about the
shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
Patrick:
It was the first test ride for René and me working together as equivalent
directors and indeed that was an interesting situation on set. But after a
short time we realized that we are really good in working together and
that we can complete one another. The atmosphere was very harmoniously
between our team and the actors. Everybody felt comfortable and we all had
tasty buns made by Christin Zimmermann (no spoiler :D) – I think it was
more familiar than normal work is and I think everybody left the set with
a good feeling.
René:
At the one day of shooting that we had most of things went smooth but some
things went wrong too. But altogether I am very happy. The atmosphere was
very good. The only thing I am kind of unhappy about is that we don’t
have too much of an interaction between Simon and Jarryd in the middle
part. But I hope the result is still satisfactorily to everyone who was
involved. The
$64-qestion of course, when and where will your movie be released onto the
general public? René:
By now we submitted Tension
to over one hundred festivals all around the
world. Unfortunately there are many festivals that don't accept movies
which are available on platforms like YouTube. That’s the reason why we
will wait until next year with a release on our channels. We will make an
announcement on our Facebook page then. But maybe Tension
will be released
on a DVD compilation of short movies from northern Germany. On which all
of the earned money will be donated for a good purpose. For suffering
kittens (no joke) – of course we couldn’t say no to that.
Anything you can tell us about audience
and critical reception of Tension
yet? René:
By now there is not much to say about that. We only gave it to a few
friends and reviewers at this time. The reception was mostly positive and
we are happy with the result too - and that’s what is important.
Any future projects you'd like to share?
Patrick:
There are so much. Sigh. But I think I can afford a little spoiler (looks
over his shoulder to René?). René and I are working on a feature which
is in preproduction right now but I can't share more information about it^^
- but I can share my last projects. One is named P.U.L.S.E. (Prosocial
Uniting Life Stabilization Experiment). The trailer can be found on
Facebook and YouTube. It has won several small awards and I can spoiler
that there will be a longer shortfilm about this topic. And finally My
Friend Max – a short starring Doug Jones. I was co-producing and it
won the “best screenplay”- award at the SAFF and will be released
soon. Information about it can also be found on Facebook.
René: Sure. Of course we will do what Patrick said but also the Swedish
feature Root of Darkness by Gustav Ljungdahl will be released soon. I was
an associate producer of it and I currently work on the German subtitles
for it. Then there will be also another Swedish monster movie on which
production I will be also involved but it's not sure in which position. And
last but definitely not least there is Violent Starr by Oliver Tietgen
(ABCs of Superheroes) which will be the tits for sure.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
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The links below will take you just there!!!
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Patrick:
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7465026/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
P.U.L.S.E.: https://www.facebook.com/PULSEDIESERIE
Uprise Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/uprisepictureshh
"> ABCs of Superheroes: https://www.facebook.com/ABCsofSuperheroes/
"> Root of Darkness: https://www.facebook.com/rootofdarknessmovie
Violent Starr: https://www.facebook.com/violentstarr
Thanks
for the interview! We
have to thank you!
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