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Exclusive Interview with Entity director Steve Stone
Excluvely for HorrorBid, I caught up with director Steve Stone who directed the UK supernatural chiller Entity starring Dervla Kirwan ("Ondine"), Charlotte Riley ("Edge of Tomorrow") and Branko Tomovic ("The Bourne Ultimatum").
Entity recently won at the London Independent Film Festival for ‘Best Horror’ and ‘Best Independent Film’ and Branko Tomovic has just been honoured by the British Filmmakers Association as Best International Actor for his role. This is Steve's debut as a feature film director.
What was your inspiration for Entity?
Without doubt, the locations I stumbled across when I was looking for new buness premises. When we vited the huge lo - central to the film - we knew there was a film there. Then I just had to work out what had happened in that space. A director friend said - spend time there and let the places speak to you - weird but it worked. I spent one night there alone - it was really freaky but gave me the seed for the film.
One thing that really stood out for me was the quality of acting you have in your film. I think Dervla Kirwan was a great choice as the psychic, Charlotte Riley is fantastic as the determined TV-host and Branko Tomovic is just brilliant as the mysterious and twisted Yuri. How did the casting come together?
With a great casting director in Lucy Jenkins who believed in the script so much that she just said pick who you really want - they can only say no. So, I did and they all said yes - to my amazement. I will be forever grateful to those fine actors for taking such a risk with our little film.
I really loved the look and tone of the whole movie. For me that really helped to bring that sense of loneliness out and stressed the emotional depth. Can you tell us a bit about your style?
I suppose the style was: less is more in terms of horror. Some people think that we couldn't show more because of the lack of budget, but that wasn't the case. We always wanted to do just enough to let people start to imagine what is around that corner, or beyond that door, or what was that sound? I think people's own imaginings are far more potent than the "in-yer-face" stuff that the post-Saw movies seem obsessed with. The scariest movie I ever saw was the 1961 veron of The Haunting - it is just atmosphere and sound with a great creepy location. We were never going to please the gore-hounds with Entity - we never tried to.
I believe horror films are quite intense to shoot. Do you have any good stories from being on the set in these dark and weird locations?
To be honest it was just a very intense shoot that had to run like clockwork so there was no room for error or weirdness. If we had run into any kind of stuff that may have provided the bas for great stories then we may not have finished the film. Sorry.
Entity deals with some interesting concepts. Are you a superstitious person?
Bizarrely, I am. Bizarre, because I am generally pretty rational, and certainly not formally religious in any way. My wife says I am wary of jinxes. I always try to see ahead, and work out what could
upset something.
I feel that if I approach things like that, the chances of it happening are reduced, mply by thinking it through. I don't know if that makes any sense.
What are your favourite horror films? Did any films in particular influence Entity?
The most powerful experience I ever had in a cinema was seeing Alien on its release in 1979. Nothing had prepared me for that film and I doubt I will ever have an experience like that again. That raised the bar so high it was ridiculous. I don't think it has ever been bettered as a creature movie.
Entity was your first feature film. Are you happy with your success? And are you already working on a new project?
This film has gone far further than I ever inagined or hoped, both in terms of the UK and US releases. We are delighted with how things have gone. As for the future - one of the key roles that I did not want to repeat from Entity was that of Producer. That role was something of a burden to me, especially as I had to do it largely alone. So, I spent the last x months looking for the right person to produce the next film. We had a meeting recently with a very experienced Producer who is wanting to do two more movies with me. The budgets will be bigger and the scripts are far more ambitious. I can tell you that the first project is Horror, through and through, and deals with our greatest fears. I truly believe it will take an audience on a ride they have not quite experienced before. This is intense emotional horror. I am so excited by this project. Everyone who has been involved with this story so far has been drained by the development of the script.
That is as much as I can say at the moment but announcements will follow over the next weeks and months.
We are looking forward to it
Entity is out on DVD now in the US and the UK, and also available on VOD.
Trailer: http://youtu.be/KrMgKHiDpf8
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1842356, http://entitythemovie.com
Entity recently won at the London Independent Film Festival for ‘Best Horror’ and ‘Best Independent Film’ and Branko Tomovic has just been honoured by the British Filmmakers Association as Best International Actor for his role. This is Steve's debut as a feature film director.
What was your inspiration for Entity?
Without doubt, the locations I stumbled across when I was looking for new buness premises. When we vited the huge lo - central to the film - we knew there was a film there. Then I just had to work out what had happened in that space. A director friend said - spend time there and let the places speak to you - weird but it worked. I spent one night there alone - it was really freaky but gave me the seed for the film.
One thing that really stood out for me was the quality of acting you have in your film. I think Dervla Kirwan was a great choice as the psychic, Charlotte Riley is fantastic as the determined TV-host and Branko Tomovic is just brilliant as the mysterious and twisted Yuri. How did the casting come together?
With a great casting director in Lucy Jenkins who believed in the script so much that she just said pick who you really want - they can only say no. So, I did and they all said yes - to my amazement. I will be forever grateful to those fine actors for taking such a risk with our little film.
I really loved the look and tone of the whole movie. For me that really helped to bring that sense of loneliness out and stressed the emotional depth. Can you tell us a bit about your style?
I suppose the style was: less is more in terms of horror. Some people think that we couldn't show more because of the lack of budget, but that wasn't the case. We always wanted to do just enough to let people start to imagine what is around that corner, or beyond that door, or what was that sound? I think people's own imaginings are far more potent than the "in-yer-face" stuff that the post-Saw movies seem obsessed with. The scariest movie I ever saw was the 1961 veron of The Haunting - it is just atmosphere and sound with a great creepy location. We were never going to please the gore-hounds with Entity - we never tried to.
I believe horror films are quite intense to shoot. Do you have any good stories from being on the set in these dark and weird locations?
To be honest it was just a very intense shoot that had to run like clockwork so there was no room for error or weirdness. If we had run into any kind of stuff that may have provided the bas for great stories then we may not have finished the film. Sorry.
Entity deals with some interesting concepts. Are you a superstitious person?
Bizarrely, I am. Bizarre, because I am generally pretty rational, and certainly not formally religious in any way. My wife says I am wary of jinxes. I always try to see ahead, and work out what could
upset something.
I feel that if I approach things like that, the chances of it happening are reduced, mply by thinking it through. I don't know if that makes any sense.
What are your favourite horror films? Did any films in particular influence Entity?
The most powerful experience I ever had in a cinema was seeing Alien on its release in 1979. Nothing had prepared me for that film and I doubt I will ever have an experience like that again. That raised the bar so high it was ridiculous. I don't think it has ever been bettered as a creature movie.
Entity was your first feature film. Are you happy with your success? And are you already working on a new project?
This film has gone far further than I ever inagined or hoped, both in terms of the UK and US releases. We are delighted with how things have gone. As for the future - one of the key roles that I did not want to repeat from Entity was that of Producer. That role was something of a burden to me, especially as I had to do it largely alone. So, I spent the last x months looking for the right person to produce the next film. We had a meeting recently with a very experienced Producer who is wanting to do two more movies with me. The budgets will be bigger and the scripts are far more ambitious. I can tell you that the first project is Horror, through and through, and deals with our greatest fears. I truly believe it will take an audience on a ride they have not quite experienced before. This is intense emotional horror. I am so excited by this project. Everyone who has been involved with this story so far has been drained by the development of the script.
That is as much as I can say at the moment but announcements will follow over the next weeks and months.
We are looking forward to it
Entity is out on DVD now in the US and the UK, and also available on VOD.
Trailer: http://youtu.be/KrMgKHiDpf8
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1842356, http://entitythemovie.com
VespaV
Thursday 8/22/2013 at 05:15 AM | 102107
