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Your new movie Subject
- in a few words, what's it about?
It's a surveillance-style creature feature that follows Willem, played
by Australian screen actor Stephen Phillips. On his way to prison,
Willem gets intercepted by a secretive government agency who task him to
monitor a secret experiment in exchange for commuting his sentence. How did the project
come into being to in the first place, and what attracted you to it?
It was the weirdest, darkest script I had read. My first thought was,
"this is too messed up and unconventional," and then my
sadistic side said, "you should try and make this work." As I
dove further into the process, I realised the true genius writer Vincent
Befi had instilled in the script. I'm surprised he's not psychopathic;
he's actually really lovely. What
can you tell us about Subject's
screenwriter Vincent Befi, and what was your collaboration like?
Vincent applied to a script writing competition that my company,
Continuance Pictures, runs called The Continue Short Film
Initiative,
which basically gives an opportunity for people who have feature film
scripts to shoot a short proof-of-concept. We support a certain amount
of short films each year, whether it be financially or physically during
production. Vincent’s script came up, and it was like one of the top
20 scripts of that year, and we realised very quickly that we could make
this film very quickly and affordably. Vincent got on board and began
rewriting his original script. So from the time we decided we’d make
it, Vincent did rewrites and we got it financed and brought Steve on
board. That all unfolded in a three month period, so it was a very quick
turnaround. We were able to build a set in that time as well. Do
talk about the creature in Subject, and how much of a say did you have in its creation?
The monster in Subject
is the embodiment of that trauma. At first
we were going to have several actors play the monster as it evolves. But
we shot in 10 days back-to-back, so eventually we decided to have just
the one actor, Joey Lai. We knew Joey from VCA, he was a couple of years
below me, and he has worked with Steve on other productions. Joey
offered such versatility to that character because he’s a giant. He
must be seven feet tall. [Laughs] So instead of casting so many other
actors, the idea came to us that we would slowly progress him to the
giant form of the monster that you see towards the end of the film.
That’s Joey’s full height. Aline Joyce was our special effect and
makeup artist, and she did an amazing job. Aline was there prepping him
for hours before set every morning at 4:00am in the middle of winter in
a cold warehouse in Melbourne, so truly the monster embodied trauma
on set.
A
few words about Subject's
approach to horror?
David Lynch’s Mullholland Drive was the first thing I thought about
whilst reading the script. Immersing myself in the surreal and enigmatic
world whilst a monster shares the space with the main character for the
vast majority of the film. I was captivated by the unsettling and
dreamlike nature of his works, particularly how it sometimes felt like
daytime TV before being plunged into something so real and visceral,
like the infamous jump scare of the homeless monster like after the
diner scene. Embracing the essence of Lynchian Horror, Subject danced
on the fine line between reality and illusion, inviting viewers to
question their own perceptions. I wanted to leave the audience feeling
like they themselves could be the “subject.”
Park Chan-Wook's Oldboy left an indelible mark on my creative canvas.
Its raw, unapologetic exploration of vengeance and human nature struck a
chord within me. Drawing from its intricate storytelling and powerful
visuals, Subject embraced the dark, psychological complexities of its
characters, leading to a gripping and visceral experience for the
viewers. We fed our character one egg a day inspired by the few
dumplings provided in this film, and the set design of the bedroom was
heavily inspired by the motel room in
Oldboy, not to mention the messed
up nature of family relationships.
David Fincher's Panic Room exuded a relentless sense of tension and
claustrophobia. Drawing inspiration from its taut atmosphere, Subject sought
to trap its characters and the audience alike in a suffocating and eerie
setting. The film's mastery in creating an intense and confined
environment influenced the tone and pacing of Subject
significantly.
Being Aussie, The Babadook by Jennifer Kent delved into the
psychological torment of motherhood, resonating deeply with my desire to
explore the complexities of human relationships. Subject
embraced the
raw, emotional core of parenthood and the cyclic nature of trauma,
channelling the fears and anxieties that lie dormant within the hearts
of its characters, and distilling them into a monster.
John Erick Dowdle's The Poughkeepsie Tapes pushed the boundaries of
found-footage horror, unearthing the depths of human depravity. Subject
drew from its chilling and visceral approach to storytelling, infusing
elements of psychological horror to leave a lingering sense of unease
long after the credits rolled. With Subject
being restricted to only a handful of locations, what were some of your
techniques to keep the thing visually interesting throughout?
I wish I could say it was our lighting and art departments, which all
definitely helped, but it really is Stephen Phillips' performance that
keeps the viewer on their toes. He goes through an unbelievable journey
and sustains us the whole way. What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand? It's somewhat meta: If I was in control of someone in a government
facility, how would I mess with them in that environment to reveal
previous emotional trauma? It's kind of a messed up director/actor
relationship. [Laughs] You also appear in front of the camera - so what
can you tell us about your character, what did you draw upon to bring him
to life, and how much Tristan Barr can we find in Dalesky, actually?
Dalesky is actually a caricature in my mind. He represents a mysterious
scientist. I almost viewed him like a cartoon or an actor in a bad
daytime TV movie. That was part of the fun. I also got to have a
disgusting moustache. A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
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This is what our main actor Steve had to say about it: "It was
quite pervasive. I spent a lot of time in this small space. The space
that the guys created was just too good to not use all the time. I
wanted to get that experience of confinement, so I spent a lot of time
in there. The dreams that I started to have weren’t specifically about
monsters, but it was just about the fractured camera angles. Visually,
the dreams were extraordinary, and they were relentless. I used to sleep
a lot, but I would wake up exhausted. I lost six kilos across the shoot
too, which was another side effect of just how intense and pervasive the
stimulus of this process was. It was really relentless. They often say
as an actor that the work can enter your subconscious. We shot 10 days
straight, so by the end of it, it was transformative psychologically and
physically. And I couldn’t eat another egg for a very long time. The
$64-question of course, where can Subject
be seen?
It's actually a 0.99 cent question! It's on Screambox, go check it out! Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of Subject?
We had a few people faint and walk out because if you have sleep
paralysis it can be triggering. Generally people like the experience of
being creeped out so some people have been so generous. My mates tend to
think I'm fucked in the head now. Any
future projects you'd like to share?
We are shooting a few features soon. Be sure to follow our YouTube
channel for all of our short films as well:
youtube.com/@continuancepictures1518 Your/your movie's
website, social media, whatever else? continuancepictures.com, or find me at
@trisbarr Thanks
for the interview!
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