00:00ma io proprio non potevo perdere.
00:01E poi mia sorella veniva in per visitare me,
00:03e lei stia dietro a me,
00:05e lei guarda la mia mano,
00:06e poi il potevo perdere.
00:08E il potere,
00:10il touch di qualcuno che ho amato
00:12mi fuori da questo stato di shock che ero in.
00:32VORRANNO RESTARE
00:34Thinking about the end,
00:37you gave a totally new meaning to the expressions
00:40talk to the end.
00:41How did you find inspiration for this particular kind of hand?
00:50I was in a car accident when I was 16 years old,
00:53and they thought I might have fractured my spine,
00:55and I cut my eye open up here.
00:58And when I was in hospital afterwards,
01:00I felt I just couldn't physically stop shaking.
01:03And the doctors were turning on the heaters
01:06and bringing in jumpers trying to warm me up,
01:08but I just couldn't stop shaking.
01:09And then my sister came in to visit me,
01:11and she sat next to me,
01:12and she held my hand,
01:14and then the shaking just stopped.
01:16And it was like the power of the touch of someone that I love
01:20brought me out of this state of shock that I was in.
01:22And I always remembered that moment,
01:24and how much that helped me.
01:27And throughout the first draft of the script,
01:30like human touch and connection and hands
01:32was such a reoccurring element and a motif,
01:35and it was so subtextual.
01:36It was all the way through the first draft
01:38that it felt right to be our object of horror.
01:40So we found that in the second draft of the script,
01:42was to make the hand our horror object.
01:45Because before that, in the first draft,
01:47it just said haunted object.
01:48We didn't know what it was going to be yet.
01:49Even if this is another movie, I totally felt this need to human connection,
01:54human touch.
01:55I didn't know your story, but I want to ask you,
01:58if you felt also the need to come back to human touch after all these years,
02:04we really spent in lockdown, in pandemic.
02:09Yeah.
02:09Do you believe that we really need it, especially young people?
02:13Because the main characters of your movie are all young people.
02:19Yeah, I think that was the first time that the whole world got to experience
02:23that really extreme loneliness at the same time.
02:26And everyone couldn't wait to get out again.
02:29And you take that for granted, just interactions with neighbors or friends,
02:33and just small moments of affection go such a long way for us as humans.
02:40And yeah, that was really tapping into that fear of really being isolated
02:47and lonely.
02:48And if I didn't have my sister to help pull me out of that moment,
02:51what would have happened?
02:52And so that was always in my head.
02:54Whereas like me is having everyone stripped away from her.
02:58She's losing all those sources of connection.
03:02And so she's spiraling.
03:05I also felt really the need to put away our grief.
03:12Do you believe that cinema and especially horror movies can help us with that?
03:16Because many people think that horror movies are only scary.
03:20But I think that sometimes they can help us too.
03:23What do you think?
03:24Yeah, I think that's one of the most exciting parts about horror is that you're able to really
03:28express all of those really dark or scary themes in a fun way where it doesn't feel
03:34like it's smacking you over the head with a message or anything like that.
03:37It's just a really consumable way to explore the darker things of life.
03:43I really love the practical effects of this movie.
03:47They are amazing.
03:49How important it was to you to really use practical effects and non-CGI things like that?
03:56Yeah, all the way through our YouTube channel as well, we're constantly exploring and in love with
04:01the idea of practical effects.
04:02And we did so much experimenting and we did so many different elements.
04:06It just holds a weight on camera.
04:09And then if you look back at films in the 70s and the 80s, hold up better to some of
04:13the moments
04:14that are from the last five years because they're relying too much on their CG.
04:18and there's always a bit of a disconnect or there's something that I can always just doesn't age well.
04:24And then, yeah, to have the actual things on camera, have the characters actually interact
04:29to those things, I think you can't fake it.
04:32And so there's even a scene with eyes in the movie, like we built a character's face on top
04:37of their face so they could actually, you know, like create that moment for real.
04:42So it's, and it's also just so much fun to do.
04:45It's so exciting to go to set and have these things being made and it's so much better.
04:49And using CG just to heighten those things or to like, like brush and seamlessly blend
04:55things together is the way I like to use CG.
04:58I read that you said that you wanted more creative control than budget.
05:05So why is so important to you to have a creative control?
05:09And do you believe that is it possible to really have it in 2023 or not?
05:15Yeah, well, um, yeah, because, because also because I was a first time director and a
05:19first time writer, like that student we're talking to, I think that we're maybe a bit
05:24concerned and they want to date.
05:25There was a such a history of things that had worked in the past and then to implement
05:29those into this film, they feel I could have helped it be successful.
05:33But at the same time, I feel like it helps it feel like too much like those other films.
05:37I feel like it might be a little bit generic now.
05:39And, um, I, I, I just can't imagine myself directing or writing something that I'm just
05:44not connected to or understand.
05:46Like I couldn't talk an actor through something that I'm not believing with.
05:49I'm not, I don't know how to express this to them because I don't even understand.
05:52I don't know why I'm writing this.
05:53I didn't write this.
05:54So that was a fear.
05:56And then just, yeah, losing, losing control of casting and the final cut and the script,
06:01like someone else being able to control all that stuff was just too terrifying for me.
06:04So, uh, we decided to go the independent route and, um, yeah, less budget, but more control.
06:10Uh, I think that you, you set a new standard for, uh, possession sleeves.
06:16They're really amazing.
06:18How did you work on that with the cast and with your brother?
06:20How did you work on the possession?
06:22Yeah.
06:23Uh, one of the fun things that we did about possessions is that every single actor, uh,
06:27did each other's possessions.
06:29So everyone acted through Daniel's possession and Mia's possession.
06:32And not only them, but, uh, my brother and I did it.
06:35Our producer did it.
06:36Our cameraman did it.
06:37Everyone did it so that no one was embarrassed by what they were doing.
06:41And, uh, everyone felt like everyone, everyone had been embarrassed together.
06:44There's nothing to be self-conscious about.
06:46And, um, also like grabbing different elements from everyone's portrayals of the possessions
06:50and using it to build their own was, it was a big thing as well.
06:53Uh, and, and just really mapping through the visual language, uh, in pre, like we wanted
06:59the camera to feel a bit like astral projection and feel like it's tied to the spirit that's
07:03inside the characters.
07:04So the camera's moving with their movements a little bit and all that sort of stuff.
07:08Uh, and then another big part of those possession sequences was the sound design was very,
07:12very key too.
07:14So, uh, yeah, putting those was very exciting.
07:23And, uh, um, monsters can be, um, a powerful metaphor.
07:30Uh, what do you, um, what does it mean being a monster to you?
07:34What can we learn from monsters in your opinion?
07:37Uh, um, the monsters in our movie, I think are people that sort of stuck in their ways of learning
07:45from their mistakes and just giving into the most, uh, the darker sides of their intrusive
07:52thoughts and letting them be embodied by them.
07:54So there's a lot of spirits in that movie, but there's also predator spirits that are sort
07:59of utilizing his hand and then in the world to sort of take advantage of these people.
08:04So I think that a monster is someone that is, uh, losing their empathy and that are able,
08:10that aren't treating humans as humans.
08:12You know, I, I, I find that to be a monster.
08:15Uh, it's interesting that in your movie, you, you, uh, mix horror with, uh, sexuality.
08:21How important was to you and why it was important for this story?
08:28Well, I, I just do that.
08:29I wanted all of those spirits to be, uh, drawn to different aspects of the characters and, and
08:34sexuality and it's like their sexual awakening and they're, they're figuring out who they are
08:38and they've got confused thought and they are, uh, you know, those monsters or those demons are
08:43able to grab onto those things and, and like, uh, are drawn to that and, uh, taking advantage of
08:48their, they're into the real world.
08:50So, uh, yeah, I don't know.
08:51It was always just all the possessions, like we've mapped it all out of our mythology bubble,
08:55or all just grounded in what the characters are going through emotionally.
08:59Okay.
09:00Thank you so much.
09:00Great job.
09:01I really enjoyed the movie.
09:02Thank you.
09:02Awesome.
09:03I hope you will do sequels.
09:05Yeah.
09:06Awesome.
09:06Yeah.
09:06Same here.
09:07Thank you so much.
09:08Thank you.
09:08Bye.
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