00:00 Peter Gray from the AU Review.
00:02 Hello, hello.
00:03 - Howdy, howdy.
00:04 - I'm gonna say congratulations, first of all.
00:06 I saw this at Sundance in January,
00:09 double feature with Infinity Pool.
00:11 I have wanted to talk about this movie for so long.
00:15 I'm so glad it's getting a cinema release.
00:17 My first question was, the opening of that film has,
00:22 arguably, I think, one of the best jump scare moments
00:27 of horror in itself.
00:28 - Oh my God.
00:29 - Is there a jump scare across horror for you
00:34 that stands out as the one,
00:36 I was like a pinnacle, apart from your own, obviously.
00:39 - Ah, like a pinnacle jump scare moment.
00:42 Mahalo Hand Drive.
00:44 You know, where they're doing the story,
00:45 they're talking about the story.
00:46 - Oh yeah.
00:47 - Oh yes, Mahalo Drive.
00:48 Mahalo Hand, what'd you say?
00:50 - How do you say it?
00:50 How do I say it?
00:51 Mahalo Hand?
00:52 Molo Hand?
00:53 I don't remember how to say it.
00:54 - Yeah, yeah.
00:55 - But that jump scare,
00:56 they're talking about it in the diner.
00:57 There's this guy behind you.
00:59 That has the best lead up to a jump scare.
01:02 You should know it's coming, but it still gets you.
01:04 And it's like, that whole story,
01:06 you have an uneasy feeling throughout the whole thing.
01:08 - I can't remember the film,
01:09 but the one about the blind girl,
01:10 when it was the first jump scare in cinema,
01:12 it was a black and white film,
01:13 I think from the '50s or the '40s.
01:15 And they did the first ever jump scare.
01:17 And I remember that even got me,
01:18 'cause I wasn't expecting it,
01:19 'cause there was nothing like that in cinema at the time.
01:22 So I wasn't expecting it watching that film.
01:23 And I was like, "Oh, gosh."
01:25 Yeah, so I can't remember the title of the film there.
01:27 - But when you're executing those scares, those shots,
01:31 is it easier to write it down
01:34 and play it in your head
01:35 to how it is actually putting it together
01:38 and having that come across on screen?
01:40 - Yeah, it's funny some of the stuff
01:41 when you're shooting it, and it looks so ridiculous.
01:44 And it's like saying, "Trust me, guys.
01:46 "It's gonna work in the edit."
01:48 There was a few moments like that.
01:50 But with that opening,
01:52 we wanted every corner to be revealing something new.
01:55 It's one shot that we're filming
01:57 at 3 a.m. in the morning.
01:58 It was the last shot of the shoot.
02:00 But we wanted every corner to be revealing something
02:02 and the camera to kind of play into that.
02:04 So yeah, I'm glad that landed.
02:08 - But yeah, especially in the writing
02:09 and having a rough idea how you're gonna do it.
02:11 But then getting there on set on the day
02:13 and looking it through, it's just a process.
02:15 - And just understanding you can do so much with sound
02:18 and cinema.
02:20 Subtle things really go a long way.
02:22 - 'Cause we did one, there was one version
02:23 where it was gonna come right up to his face
02:25 and he was gonna be holding it there and then do it.
02:27 But it was like that thing from the wide shot.
02:29 I don't know if we're spoiling we are, but yes.
02:30 (laughing)
02:31 Spoiler alert.
02:32 - I was unnerved that whole sequence.
02:35 I'm like, "Something's gonna happen."
02:37 And then the way that throughout the film,
02:39 the way that you move the camera to the way
02:42 that when they're on the chairs and going backwards,
02:44 is that something that you storyboard out
02:47 or is that more something that you're like,
02:48 "Oh, this actually might look cool."
02:50 You knew that in your head, that's how you were shooting.
02:52 - Oh, I definitely had that shot in mind
02:53 when I wrote that.
02:54 - Yeah, yeah.
02:55 And wanting the camera to feel kinetic
02:56 and tied to the spirit that was inside the characters.
02:59 So that camera floating around
03:00 and then finding and expanding on that
03:02 with our DOP Aaron McCluskey was so fun.
03:04 - Every day in pre-production with Aaron McCluskey,
03:07 shot listing, finding the visual language.
03:10 It was so much fun to be able to explore that
03:12 with a talented cinematographer like him.
03:15 That's like, he makes up look better
03:16 than we could ever imagine.
03:18 And you know that whatever he does
03:20 is gonna look like gold.
03:21 But to be at the opportunity to collaborate with him
03:24 and come up with stuff like that was so much fun.
03:25 - Yeah, it was even fun.
03:26 Like pre-shoot, we pre-shot a bunch of scenes
03:28 of just ourselves on the iPhone.
03:30 That was so fun to do that process
03:31 and find the visual language and find the action.
03:34 - Yeah, because when you go to a location
03:36 that you can put the camera anywhere,
03:37 the people anywhere, block them anywhere.
03:39 And it's like the whole world, the world,
03:41 it's a canvas.
03:42 It's going in with that, as strong as you,
03:44 like a plan, as tight as you can is,
03:48 you know, it goes a long way.
03:50 - Pre-production was so fun.
03:51 It was great.
03:51 I understand you've got your start
03:54 essentially in film with like the Babadook.
03:57 You worked on that.
03:58 And then I understand you asked,
04:00 was Essie Davis your first choice
04:02 for the role of the mother that went to Miranda O'Hara?
04:04 - Oh my gosh, that's some deep trivia.
04:06 Yes, she was.
04:07 How did you know that?
04:09 - I just, I have my ways.
04:10 - Oh wow, yeah, we did approach Essie Davis.
04:12 It's true, yeah.
04:13 - Yeah, I was a driver on Babadook.
04:15 So I was 19 and I got that job
04:18 because I was just volunteering for films before that.
04:21 Like, I'll just do work experience.
04:22 She said, let me be on set.
04:24 And then the line producer, Julie Byrne,
04:25 she's like, you can't just keep doing everything for free.
04:28 But I just wanted to be there.
04:29 I was like, I don't care, I don't care.
04:31 Like, I just want to be on set.
04:32 And she said, next, you know, funded film,
04:36 I'll get you a paid job.
04:37 And that was the Babadook.
04:38 I was very lucky.
04:39 I was work experience on it.
04:40 Danny was very lucky to be work experience.
04:42 (laughing)
04:44 - But then, so you protest for Essie Davis.
04:47 But then you got like Miranda Otto's mom.
04:49 It's not exactly like, oh God,
04:50 I'm gonna sing it. - Oh yeah, no, not at all.
04:52 - How did that conversation come about for that?
04:53 - She just responded and said she wanted to do it.
04:55 Like, we approached her.
04:56 We did not think she was gonna say yes.
04:57 And then when she did, it was like, what?
04:59 And then I got scared 'cause I was intimidated.
05:01 And I was like, how do we direct Miranda Otto?
05:03 - Yeah, you feel like you can't direct to Miranda.
05:05 Like, hey Miranda, can you peel it back a little bit?
05:07 (laughing)
05:07 I'm thinking about like, you know,
05:08 doing that stuff was like intimidating.
05:10 Who the hell are we to tell her what to do?
05:11 - But then yeah, once we met her,
05:12 she was literally like a fun auntie.
05:14 She felt so warm and felt like, yeah,
05:15 she was just into it and so helpful and collaborative.
05:18 And we loved working with her.
05:19 - Yeah, she was so open for collaboration,
05:20 which we loved.
05:21 And like, there was no like ego or anything like that.
05:24 Like, she was just, it was just awesome working with her.
05:26 - Yeah, no, 'cause she definitely brought like,
05:28 there was this sort of unexpected humour
05:30 in the film from her character,
05:31 the way that she's just reacting to what the kids are doing.
05:35 And then obviously you've got Sophie Wilde leading this.
05:38 Like, what, I was like, what you managed to get out of her,
05:43 what she managed to bring to it,
05:44 like in terms of just her physicality and changing about,
05:47 like, was that something you,
05:49 like, did you know that that's what she could do?
05:51 Did you sort of bring that out of her?
05:53 - It was like, it was all of those audition tapes.
05:55 Like, once we saw audition tapes, we knew,
05:57 and we fought, like fought for her to have her
05:58 in as producers as well.
06:00 We lost budget from like casting her,
06:02 but we knew it was like, we had to have her
06:03 'cause she was so incredible.
06:05 And so yeah, we like, we really fought for her
06:07 and like, thank God.
06:08 And she would be so committed to the role,
06:10 there'd be days where like,
06:11 can you come to set not having slept?
06:13 So she would stay up all night and come to set delusional,
06:16 you know, to like, just like fit into like
06:17 certain head spaces of characters.
06:18 So committed, so talented and such an awesome person.
06:21 - And there was, yeah, whoever gets the, you know,
06:24 is lucky enough to work with her will see that
06:26 there's no bad takes of Sophie,
06:28 or you never had to cut around Sophie.
06:31 And the way that she'd listen to direction,
06:33 like even the most subtle things,
06:34 like she'd just nail it every time.
06:36 - Man, she's so talented.
06:37 - And every single emotion, like she can be,
06:39 she can do everything, like her scope is unmatched.
06:42 - Yeah, it's unreal, she's the best.
06:44 - And I understand, look, I've, from certain sources,
06:47 I guess I can say the words like,
06:49 wrestling death match and pool noodle,
06:53 pool noodle and punctured, something's going on there.
06:56 (laughing)
06:57 I was like, you obviously like wrestling
06:59 is obviously something that you have an affection for.
07:03 Going forward, directing,
07:05 could you see yourself meddling those two things together
07:08 and making like a wrestling film
07:10 with your love of horror blended in?
07:12 - I mean, I definitely want,
07:13 there's like a world or like a subculture of wrestling
07:15 that we're really interested in called death match wrestling.
07:18 So we love that as a topic and as like the background.
07:21 So yes, maybe we'd love to.
07:23 - You know, yeah,
07:24 it's a world we've always been fascinated with.
07:25 And there's a respect for that.
07:27 Like wrestling in general is dangerous,
07:30 but what they do for a much smaller crowd,
07:32 and like, you know, a fraction of the money,
07:35 there's a respect there that's like,
07:37 if you go to one of those death match events
07:39 when they're literally putting their bodies on the line,
07:41 like, and they're bleeding,
07:42 like, yeah, a match, you should not be bleeding.
07:45 It's like, there's a respect that comes with that.
07:47 That's like, yeah, I really am drawn to that world.
07:50 And I'd love to do something with that.
07:52 You know, definitely.
07:53 - No, 'cause it was amazing to see,
07:55 like to see the film and then have just watched that journey
07:59 of like A24 picking it up.
08:00 And then you go into every single meeting.
08:02 It was like, this is amazing.
08:04 And then now obviously we have Street Fighter coming out.
08:07 So I am very excited to see what you guys are gonna do
08:10 with Street Fighter,
08:11 knowing how well you handle the horror genre
08:14 and handle violence.
08:15 And obviously like we see what Mortal Kombat did.
08:17 So if you can one up them, that'd be great.
08:20 - It'd be awesome.
08:21 Come on.
08:21 - We'll have to see.
08:22 (laughing)
08:23 - I'm just, yeah, really excited to hope,
08:25 see Australian audiences pick up on this one.
08:27 So.
08:28 - Yeah, yeah.
08:29 Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, baby.
08:30 (laughing)
08:31 - Thank you so much, guys.
08:32 - Thanks so much.
Comments