Yesterday I review the crazy, colorful The Amazing Bulk, and today we're gonna dive into this production a bit deeper by interview the director himself, Lewis Schoenbrun! Enjoy!
Ninja Dixon: So, this is one of
the craziest movies I've seen in a while. How did you come up with the idea,
the story, to do this film?
Lewis:
Schoenbrun: My producer Dave Sterling had asked me come aboard a film he was
involved with called X-Spider. It was
supposed to be a micro-budget comic book movie, a female version of
Spiderman. I was excited about doing
something besides a horror film, but was also concerned about the production
values. You can easily get away with
making a horror film on a shoestring budget, all you need are some attractive
looking actors; a few easy locations like a house, a school, a forest; some
simple props like guns, knives, body parts;
and an effects guy to do the makeup for the monster and some blood
effects. Now to try to make a comic book movie for no money which would require
exotic locations and special effects I thought was a tremendous challenge. While working on X-Spider I began to research
stock CGI shots which I could incorporate into the movie which would hopefully
up the production value for not a lot of money.
I was hoping to shoot some of the locations using green screen
techniques, unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the
executive producer of X-Spider wasn't particularly keen on the idea. That
project never got going and afterwards Dave approached me with how much he
really liked the idea of using green screen to make a comic movie. So we came up with the idea of a parody of
the Incredible Hulk. Dave hooked me up
with a couple of writers and we tailored the script around virtual sets that I
was able to purchase online. We took a step backwards and used the plot of Dr.
Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde which seems like a pretty obvious influence for the Hulk,
this kept the story line of the scientist, his fiancee and her father the
general. We also retained the idea of
the mixing of potions to create the serum but added the evil Dr. Kantlove
character. Originally we were going to do it like the Hulk TV series from the
70's with a guy dressed up, but as the project evolved I found the Bulk
animation character and thought that this would be so much better. Even the rats in the laboratory were supposed
to be real until I found a CGI rat that I was able to insert into the various
scenes.
ND: I'm not
gonna ask about budget, because like with your last movie Aliens vs Avatars I
guess it was pretty low. Can you tell us a little about working with a small
budget vs big ideas?
LS: No,
it's okay I am more than happy to discuss the budget, I spent $14,000 for the
entire production. That's about $6,000 for the actual shoot which was five
days, $3,000 for the sound mix, $1,000 for the online and color correction,
$2,000 for all the CGI and another $2,000 for the rest (i.e. composer, my
co-editor, hard drives, props, software, etc.)
I really like working on these micro budget productions primarily to
retain total creative control. Now The
Amazing Bulk I financed completely by myself, the other features were all
financed by either the producer or the distributor and were in the $100,000 to
$10,000 range. On none of these films have I ever felt that anyone came and
told me what I could or could not do with the movie. Once you get into larger budgets then you
have to answer to other people, particularly those who are putting up the money
or are responsible for the money. There
are only a handful of top directors who have complete creative freedom, so I
prefer to work on smaller budgets where I still retain that level of control.
ND: It's
not only the visual style of the movie that feels very much like a cartoon,
even the actors work their way through the material with big words and big
acting. Can you tell me about how you worked with the actors, both on a
technical level and how you got what you wanted from them acting-wise?
LS: Well I
consider myself to be a quiet director, I generally know what I want when I
show up on set and am not a screamer. To
me casting is the most important part of the directing process, if I haven't
cast the film properly then I have failed the movie, not the performer. Keep in
mind that this is a spoof of comic book movies which are shall I say, comic
bookish. I wanted all of the acting to
be broad (some people call it hammy or bad acting) but this is what the story
called for. I've directed dramatic films
where the acting style needs to be subtle and nuanced. But this isn't a film about deep emotions,
it's about a guy who is willing to do whatever it takes to win the girl of his
dreams and who is surrounded by stock villains. I think that both Jordan Lawson
and Shevaun Kastl did wonderful work to ground the film, but everyone else is a
caricature and needed to be bigger than life.
ND: Regarding
the backgrounds and animations, are all these made for this movie or is there
some stock animations you used?
LS: With
the exception of a few shots (i.e. the helicopter interiors, the chemical
processes through the microscope and one of the walls in Hannah's bedroom)
everything else was off the shelf. I either purchased these backgrounds from
eBay, Digital Juice, Animation Factory, Tubro Squid, etc. As I mentioned earlier the Bulk & rats
were also purchased. That's why the film
has this crazy quilt kind of a feel, I wasn't too concerned though about the
overall look. Years ago I assisted on a
feature animated film called, The Thief and the Cobbler, directed by Richard
Williams who did the animation for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Thief was made over a 30 year period of time
and the style changed drastically throughout the production so I was confident
that this wouldn't spoil the overall feel of the movie.
ND: My
favourite sequence is when the Bulk escapes at the end and runs (or I would say
jogging) through a huge landscape, meeting a lot of odd characters - from the
flying dog, the gecko lizard, Hercules and so on. It feels like an old Looney
Tunes! Am I right? :)
LS: Yes, I
was just going for a total wacky feel, some people have criticized the film for
going from comic book to cartoon, but to me those lines become blurred once you
enter realm of a movie.
ND: For me
filmmaking is more about passion (and talent) than having a lot of money doing
a movie. Some filmmakers spend an entire lifetime NOT making movies because
they're waiting for the big break. You haven't done that! What's your driving
force?
LS: Plenty
of people talk about making a movie but never actually do it. Now years ago when I first got into the
industry it was terribly difficult because of the enormous costs involved. Now
with digital filmmaking almost anyone can make a film, the trick though is to
make a movie that you can get sold and marketed. So now people who only talked about making a
movie can actually do it, whether it is good or not will be determined by if it
can secure distribution and find an audience.
What is it that keeps me passionate about movies and movie making?
That's very simple, it is the one thing that I have loved my entire life. I really enjoyed going to the movies as a
child, the wonder and magic that would unfold before my eyes was something that
I loved. To me going to see a movie in
the theater was like a religion. I would
sit in a darkened theater for several hours and just enjoy the experience of
being transported to another place or time and the ones I enjoyed the most
where the ones which took me some place that I'd never seen before. That was a bit of what I was trying to
accomplish in the Bulk, to show a world like no other in the context of a comic
book character.
ND: How has
the movie been received so far? How's your reaction both to good and bad
reviews?
Well
honestly I would have to say the film has been receiving mixed reviews. I would say mostly negative, but I think
maybe some people don't quite get the movie and are taking it way to seriously. Honestly one of my biggest influences in
making this film was the animated sequence in Mary Poppins, Who Framed Roger
Rabbit and Speed Racer the movie. I find
some people cannot accept the idea of live action characters in an animated world. It is like someone who goes to see a sci-fi
movie who doesn't like the genre. Well of course I relish in the positive
reviews, but to be honest I also appreciate the negative ones also. If someone sees fit to write that my movie is
the worst piece of garbage then I know that in some way I have gotten under
their skin. My film isn't controversial so for someone to have such an extreme
reaction I believe speaks to their own jealousy and frustration at not being a
filmmaker.
ND: What I
understand you're not in the US
right and, can you tell us about what you're doing now and if you have any
upcoming movie projects?
LS: I have
spent the past four years teaching at an international film school in the Philippines. The industry really dried up with the global
recession and it became too hard for me to support myself as director or editor
of independent features. I came out here to edit a feature and to also
teach. I've really fallen in love with
the teaching and am happy to give students the support they need to become
filmmakers on their own. I do have a
couple of projects that I am currently working on, one is a low budget horror
film involving dinosaurs and the other is an adaptation of a novella by a
famous sci-fi writer.
ND: Thank
your for taking your time answering these question! It was a pleasure, Lewis!
LS: Thank
you Ninja!
Also read the interview with actor - The Amazing Bulk himself - Jordan Lawson!