INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR of THE DIVIDING HOUR
MIKE PROSSER
 |
This is an EMAIL interview with the Writer/Producer/Director/Editor/Art
Director/Storyboard Artist/Title Design/Sculptor/Painter/Public Relations/Marketing
guy from the film "The Dividing Hour". But for timesake we'll
call him MIKE. |
GORE BOY: The Budget for "The Dividing Hour"
is $7000 US. As the director, how much of your creative image did you have
to leave out of the final product??
MIKE:With a $7000 dollar budget one would think
we had to compromise greatly...and in fact the movie is only about 60% there
for me. The compromises weren't really due to money. It was our first feature
length project and inexperience compromised us more than the budget. Knowing
what we know now, the movie could and would have been completed in less
time and cost us even less money. The chaos also cost me the ending that
I truely wished to convey. Although, in the end, the audience still jumps
in all the right places, so I can't complain too much. We did the best we
could with what we knew and what we could get our hands on as far as resources
and cash. Some scenes fell by the wayside. A few of them might have been
cool, but we just didn't have the knowledge or time or money to pull them
off. Luckily they were completely secondary to the storyline.
GB: I just watched the scene called, "The Dividing Hour Strikes"
and found something of a passing resemblance to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films.
Is Raimi a major influence on your directing style??
MIKE: There are a few light Sam Raimi influences on
the film both in the writing and directing. The clock is one and the old
house, a favorite of many a horror flick, is the other. I am a great fan
of Mister Raimi and certainly have more respect for his abilities after
seeing A SIMPLE PLAN, one of my personal favorites from the past year. I
truely hope he never completely abandons his over-the-top style though.
I also greatly admire David Cronenburg's ability to give you those sterile,
scientific
heebee-jeebees. Clive Barker's horror-erotic sensibilities, John Carpenter's
steady tempos of suspense in his earlier work, and oddly enough, the kind,
fun-loving nature of Jim Henson are all influences on my creative process.
They're all there in my film, filtered through my own personality.
GB: Were there days when you just wanted to throw in the towel and give
up?
(A film like this must be stressful)
MIKE: There were indeed days when I would think most
directors want to give up. There is so many people (egos) and things to
keep track of. As a director/producer, my strengths lie in motivating people
to put forth great effort with little tangible reward. I'm just happy that
the movie turned out as well as it did, which is a miracle when you consider
the police showed up thinking our bank robbery was real, guns pulled, and
the fire department arriving on set when we staged the car wreck. Concerned
citizens are very good about calling for help, but did they check to see
if there was actually anyone hurt?...No. Nobody hates me when all is said
and done. I can't say I ever truely wanted to give up...take a nice long
break, yes, but not give up. Too many filmmakers out there start a project
and let it get out of hand and it goes to hell, or they just didn't have
the passion that one needs to sustain their energy to see it through. I
was very lucky to have Jeff Yarnall(co-producer/cinematographer), Greg
James(actor/co-producer), and David Walker(co-writer/co-producer) at my
side
to help end encourage me to see it to completion. Although, I think everyone
at one time or another HAD given up and then picked up steam once again.
GB: Dean's Monologue is one of the most amazing scenes I have had the
ability to watch. Where did the writing of that scene come from, how fun
was it to write and direct??
MIKE: "Dean's monologue" was a fantastic
bit of dialogue which my writing partner David Walker wrote. He is a genius
at off kilter tirades (Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Karma/and the theme of the
film all wrapped into one). Greg James' performance was fantastic. I just
told Jeff Yarnall (cinematographer) that I wanted the camera to get loopier
and loopier as the monologue progressed to externalize the effects of his
joint that he's smoking. I think I gave Greg one note during that hole scene.
Editting the monologue was heart wrenching. The initial cut of his one sided
conversation with the unflinching Max Yoakum was about 9 minutes...waaay
too
long. I managed to get it down to 5 minutes. It's tuff cutting a monologue.
You can't always cut at an ideal line. You have to follow the actors lead
and cut from emotion to emotion. It was probably the best bit of teamwork
on the project.
GB: Special FX in a film with a budget of $7000 struck me as amazing.
The FX used in the scene's that I have watched have barrelled me over. Would
you have done the film if you did not have the FX team behind you?
MIKE: The FX of the film were a struggle to get done.
We had other FX guys lined up to do some CGI work and they sort of dropped
out to take paying gigs. Luckily, both Jeff and I have backgrounds in FX
from our college years. Jeff and I turned into quite the animators. I had
certain shots done by Webster Colcord, a friend who I'd known from working
on the California Raisins Claymation X-mas. Webster and I created all the
miniatures for those sequences. The major make-up was handled by friend
Brian Sipe, currently at Greg Cannom Studios. He whipped'em up from my concept
sketches and Jeff and I applied them to Greg, who sat patiently for a whole
day in make-up, most of the time not able to see. The Computer Graphics
was all Jeff on his MacIntosh (Morphs, composites, paintbox effects and
animations in After Effects) I would tell him what I wanted and, by God,
he'd figure out a way to do it.
GB: You would prefer to be known for your acting, or your directing:)?
MIKE: If I had a choice to be known for acting or
directing, I'd choose directing. It's more fulfilling to watch the project
grow from beginning to end. It's like being a father. You watch, guide,
and set it in the right direction and you just hope your baby doesn't wander
too far from the path. Best case scenario...it takes on a life of its own.
Thanks for the extremely insightfull words Mike. And Goodluck with selling
the film and in future projects. |
, 1998-1999.