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Your new movie The Video Dead
- in a few words, what is it about?
It’s
a visual mindbender about a man who receives a mysterious video nasty that
sends him into the deepest pits of insanity during a zombie outbreak.
As The Video Dead
plays a riff on the video nasty scare - so could you give us a quick
run-down on the whole video nasty controversy, and what do video nasties
mean to you, personally?
I
guess the idea of what it stood for is censorship, and if we had continued to
censor the artist and freedom of creative expression we may now not have all
the films and body of art that people know and love today. I
remember seeing Evil Dead when I was young, and that being a big inspiration
for me. If that film had been permanently banned I may not have seen it. I
think that was an important time for independent filmmakers, and when I saw
that it was a key moment for me pursuing this as a career. (Other) sources of inspiration
when writing The Video Dead?
Well
the whole project was a homage and nod to the horror genre. I remember seeing
Joker when it came out at the cinemas and I felt that it had a similar
backlash to the video nasty era. The media was speaking really negatively
about the film and I thought it felt like a type of modern day censorship all
because it had a cultural alternative viewpoint and free thinking ideology.
Even though I thought it was the best film of the year. Do
talk about The Video Dead's
approach to horror!
I’m
inspired by old horror films but I’m also inspired by dystopic modern
society films. Series like Black Mirror have caught my attention. I do also
like experimental filmwork from Chris Cunningham and Chris Morris’s jam.
At least for me, The
Video Dead has a very 1980s feel to it - do you at all agree, and
if yes, what do the 80's mean to you, also in relation to your movie? ;
I wasn’t around during that period of time, however I did have a similar
process when it came to selection of horror films. I used to go to my local
video shop and find the scariest cover I could find. A lot of the 80s horror
films had such cool video covers I just had to rent them. Usually the bigger
more obviously violent the cover the more I had to rent it. What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand?
Well
we shot the main shoot over a four day period and plenty of extra shoots
afterwards. The car chase sequence we had to knock on all the neighbours doors
and let them know there was going to be people covered in blood, screaming and
running around. We ended up using some of the neighbours in the shoot. Do talk about
The
Video Dead's key cast, and why exactly these people?
Well
the main character I saw him on another video I helped out on for someone else
film. I thought he seemed like he would be up for a fun project so I kept in
contact. I had a film involving a butcher's but has some location issues so
that project got put on hold. Think it was two years down the line we started
shooting The
Video Dead. Ste Pye was great on set, worked hard and was always on
time. The more we work together the better he gets as an actor, and I think we
can communicate better. With VHS Guy, Gold Frank, he said he was interested in
being a character in the film when we put out a casting call. I knew him
before and I knew he had a good look so when he turned up and gave a short
performance I was sure I knew which role would be best for him. I'm looking
forward to working with everyone involved again.
A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
Well
the main shoot was in November right before the pandemic. Nobody had any idea
that was going to happen. Luckily I’d planned to do most of the shoot in one
go. It was a great vibe on set, we had a great crew and everyone was there
because they wanted to just be involved. It was very cold as it was in
November and there was fake blood everywhere, but spirits were high and
everyone gave 100%. The
$64-question of course, where can The
Video Dead be seen?
It
can be seen on our new film channel, Entheos Films
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EntheosFilms/videos/379312026757329 Anything you can tell us
about audience and critical reception of The
Video Dead?
We
had a big response to the empty city shots of Leeds which we got just before
lockdown. There is some shots during the lockdown too that I managed to get
whilst going for a run through the city. Any future projects you'd like to
share?
Well
we have just released a film called Houseshare, which is well worth a
watch on the page, and we have several short films we are due to release, one
called Mum, a short horror film, and one called Lullaby, a drama. We
are super-excited about this new company and we are working around the clock
to get the next projects out. We also have a big plans for The Video Dead
2 and can’t wait to get that together. We will be doing a fundraiser that
will help with the budget to make it the best it can be so stay tuned.
What got you into filmmaking to begin with, and
did you receive any formal training on the subject?
I
realised after watching horror films it was all movie magic, but that inspired
me at a young age on the craft and how all I wanted to do was make film like
the ones I was watching. I saved my pocket money for a long long time and
bought a tiny DV camera about 10 years old. I used to have to film, play the
footage then rewind to the edit point to cut the film together as I had no
editing software. I went to college but learned very little in media as it was
all written. After I went to university and did a film production course, which
was exciting because I had a lot more equipment to use. Then few years after I
did a masters in music production. I felt I had a good visual understanding
but not sound. My main bit of advice I could give any budding filmmakers is
just go for it. If there’s an idea or something you liked in a film do it
yourself. Be active and and don’t just talk about doing something. Get a
camera and use it. What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The
Video Dead?
Before
I made The
Video Dead I’ve made several films under my company Tape End
Productions. One of my other biggest projects to date was a film called
Feedback a film that took me a few years to make inspired by the films
Baraka and Samsara. It's a non narrative trippy visual documentary. I worked
for a year and a half saving money with the project in mind, quit my job and
went traveling and filming for 3 months with a tripod and Canon 7D. Capturing
the beauty of Asia and the culture over there. I came back, broke several
laptops trying to make it and finished it another year after. I've done loads
of other projects. Have a look on the link below.
Feedback:
https://vimeo.com/127920229
Tape End
Productions:
https://vimeo.com/tapeendproductions
How would you describe yourself as a
director?
I’d
say I want to make cinema that gets under your skin and makes you feel
uncomfortable. Filmmakers who inspire you?
Chris
Cunningham, Chris Morris, Wes Craven, Gaspar Noe, Stanley Kubrick and Sam Raimi. Your
favourite movies?
The
Evil Dead, The Shining,
Nightmare on Elm Street 1 &
3, Videodrome,
Warp
Records music videos, Old Boy,
Enter The Void, Angst,
Trainspotting and
Midnight Cowboy. I
made a list of my favourite films: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls024884719/ ... and of course, films you really
deplore?
Anything
that’s intention is to be made to appeal to a wide audience and main
objective is to make as much money as possible. Films like this are soulless
and it's like bad pop music. I just have to turn it off. I didn’t see them
but Cats and Downton Abbey, that toffee nose upper class filmmaking bullshit,
it makes me want to be sick.
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