IR Interview: Steven C. Miller & Frank Grillo For “Werewolves” [Briarcliff]

The Inside Reel

Director Steven C. Miller and Actor Frank Grillo talk to The Inside Reel about approach, tone and practical effects in regards to their new action horror film: “Werewolves,” from Briarcliff Entertainment.

Transcript

00:00No more guns, no more guards.

00:19Those things are coming for us.

00:26I'm here.

00:33Hey!

00:34Bite me!

00:35Help!

00:57Steven, I mean, I went to UCF, full sail, all the way out the way, you know, but it's

01:02about mechanics.

01:03Even from Automaton, you know, it's about mechanics and efficiency of action, but pushing

01:08it to the extreme.

01:09And Werewolves is no different with both you and Frank.

01:12Can you sort of talk about that and sort of pushing it that way, but understanding the

01:16mechanics of how it works?

01:18I mean, that's all about prep for me.

01:19Like I really spend a lot of time prepping these movies because we don't have a lot of

01:23time to shoot them.

01:24So I try to make sure that I'm deep into prep.

01:26I'm an editor by background, so I know how these movies are going to cut together in

01:30my head before we even get there.

01:32So that makes it really easy for me to talk to Frank about how these sequences are going

01:36to work, how the action is going to work.

01:37And obviously Frank has done this enough.

01:39So when I say it, it's just automatic.

01:41He gets it.

01:42And so it's easy.

01:43Yeah.

01:44For me, it's three things.

01:45Script, script, and script.

01:46Yeah.

01:47And we tweaked the script from the time I said we signed on.

01:51We got the script to a place where it all fell into place.

01:55It all makes sense.

01:56And then the rest of it's up to him to execute it.

01:59So I don't have to worry about any of that.

02:00I can just go and do what I need to do for him.

02:05And I keep saying, when I first saw the movie, when it was finished, it looks to me like

02:09a $40 or $50 million studio movie.

02:22Mom?

02:32Mom?

02:52Uncle Wes, why can't you stay?

02:56You need me to help them try and stop this.

02:59We're the only family we have left.

03:01We got this.

03:02Cody!

03:03What are you doing, man?

03:04You should kill somebody.

03:05We are all soldiers now.

03:06Tonight, when that sun sets, it's going to be every man for himself.

03:10But the thing is, whenever you read scripts, and I do this too, you see something in your

03:15mind's eye, but then you have to put yourself in as the actor to understand how it fits

03:20within the greater aspect.

03:22Can you talk about the mind's eye, especially when somebody's writing it?

03:25That also keys in.

03:26I mean, Joe's the same, like, Carnahan's the same way.

03:29And you've worked with him as well.

03:30But can you talk about looking at visuals versus actually the story that's being created?

03:36Yeah.

03:37I mean, look, for me, the action is another language in the movie, and I've done a lot

03:41of action movies.

03:42So I understand how the action has to, there's a beginning and middle and end to the action

03:46scenes as well.

03:48And so, you know, I find the through line in this script.

03:52I found the through line, and I just needed all of the elements to serve that.

03:57And we got the script to a place, I think it was 90% there when we started shooting,

04:01which is great, which is really great.

04:03And the rest of it, we got to, you know, then the film decides what the film is, and we

04:08have to kind of follow that.

04:09And I think we did that pretty easily.

04:11Yeah, the set always has its own life, right?

04:13And you're sort of rolling with it, and then you add werewolves to the mix and practical

04:17werewolves to the mix of this action.

04:19It's a whole other beast.

04:20So much easier.

04:21Yeah, right.

04:22So much, I mean, I've been on movies, big movies with large green screens, and I have

04:25to tell you, it is so much easier and more fun to have these giant wolves.

04:33And there were a lot of them.

04:34We had a lot of them.

04:35It was amazing.

05:06Now, Steven, can you talk about like, taking something like this, but you know, it has

05:16to have your touch on it, your vibe, you know?

05:19And could you talk about fighting this with that?

05:21Was it just a certain sort of pace?

05:24Was it a certain sort of style that you wanted in the werewolves?

05:27But also, you have this almost after the beginning, almost all at night, and it really plays into

05:32that.

05:33Could you talk about that?

05:34Well, I always feel like my style is kind of kinetic, right?

05:37And if I can make a piece feel as kinetic as possible, that's what I love.

05:40Because I don't want the audience sitting there thinking too much.

05:43I want them on a ride, right?

05:45And so for me, that was important going right into it is, how kinetic can I make this movie?

05:49How can I make those wolves feel kinetic?

05:51How can the audience enjoy the movie that way?

05:53That was easy for me to try to tap into.

05:55And then I got to lean on Frank for the audience to get that emotional core value there.

05:59And Frank, you know, he does his thing.

06:00He makes it work.

06:01We have a nine hour window to test and report our findings.

06:06We hope to see if this mutation can be blocked.

06:08Let's go over the rules.

06:11Don't open the door for anyone.

06:13Don't hesitate for a second.

06:15Hoorah!

06:16Hoorah!

06:17Hoorah!

06:18Good luck tonight.

06:19Canopy retraction commencing.

06:26Close the door!

06:35Close the door!

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