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Kyle Holman as "Jackson"
How does an independent film company named Crewless film a movie in Birmingham, Alabama... and make it look as if the entire location is on Mars?
Chance Shirley, creator of the zombie romp, Hide and Creep, shares his thoughts on his latest project, Interplanetary, which is entered in the 11th annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival .
The synopsis of this slasher-comedy-sci-fi, as described by Mr. Shirley, is that nine men and women, employees of Interplanetary Corporation, live and work on Mars. Their days aren't particularly interesting, much less exciting, until they are assaulted by a murderous band of strangers and a seemingly unstoppable alien creature. Do these attacks have anything to do with the Martian fossil recently uncovered by one of the employees? Will the rapidly increasing body count adversely affect Interplanetary's stock price? And can anyone survive long enough to fill out the inevitable paperwork?
How did you and your partner come up with the idea for a sci-fi comedy set on Mars? I'm a bit of a science nerd and had been thinking about a corporate-shenanigans-on-Mars story for years (before I got into filmmaking, I was going to write it as a novel). After we finished up our first feature film, Hide and Creep, I decided to add a monster to my Mars story, and, a few months later, I completed the first draft of the Interplanetary screenplay.
As an independent filmmaker, what was the hardest experience for you? I decided early on to shoot the movie 1980s-style, which meant no computer generated effects. As the movie is set on Mars, we had to build a set ("Mars Base Two"), a "Mars buggy," space suits (including helmets), props... all sorts of stuff. Which wouldn't have been a problem on a bigger movie. But Interplanetary was made on a shoestring budget with a skeleton crew, so all that building was a huge undertaking for the people involved. Since the crew all had day jobs, we usually worked every weeknight building stuff, brought the actors in to shoot on the weekend, then started building again on Monday night.
What was the easiest? While on vacation in Las Vegas, we went out to a dry lakebed to get some b-roll wide shots. For the movie, I needed a "Mars sunset" shot. While at the dry lakebed, I rolled off a couple of minutes of film as the sun went down over the mountains in the distance, and it ended up looking very Mars-like (to me, at least).
This is the second time you will have a film entered in the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. What reaction do you expect? I hope people have a good time watching it. We worked hard to make an entertaining movie. Interplanetary has funny parts, gory parts, goofy parts, and weird parts, but hopefully no boring parts.
What type of camera did you use? We shot on my Aaton LTR-54, a Super 16mm film camera.
Why is your company called Crewless Productions? When Chuck Hartsell and I founded Crewless back in 2001, I guess it was, we literally were "Crewless." Our first short movie had five actors (including Chuck and me), and whoever wasn't acting at a given moment was the crew. Also, it's a play on "clueless," which we definitely were when we made our first short. Hopefully, we've learned a little since then.
Were all of your participants for this project from Alabama? Best I can recall, everyone on the cast and crew was an Alabamian. As we were shooting sporadically on nights and weekends, it would have been tricky importing folks from elsewhere. Luckily, I've made friends with several talented Alabama actors and crew people over the years, and they were all willing to do some fantastic work under less-than-ideal conditions.
Did you want actors with southern accents? I left the accents up to the actors, actually. Most of them went for a non-Southern accent, but I figure a few drawls creep in from time to time. Just in case, I set the home office of the Interplanetary Corporation (the company that runs Mars Base Two) in Birmingham, Alabama.
You have stated in the past that Alabama is full of locations mimicking those from around the world. How did you find the bleak, desert-like landscape of Mars? Except for a couple of shots we grabbed near Vegas, we shot all of our exteriors in a huge rock quarry, just west of Birmingham, operated by Wade Sand and Gravel. We had to shoot around some vegetation and water, but it was a terrific location, and the folks there couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating.
Did you use any familiar landmarks in Birmingham? Not really. As the entire movie is set on Mars, we did our best to avoid anything that might remind viewers of Birmingham, or any other place on Earth. Even when we shot inside DeSoto Caverns (filling in for "Mars underground"), we tried to avoid the tourist areas and find some lesser-known nooks and crannies.
What scene was the most fun to shoot? Probably the decapitation scene. Our awesome effects guy, Jonathan Thornton, built a fake head and torso for us. It took a while to set up for filming, because it was attached to a pump that would spew out fake blood when the "head" was pulled from the "body." As Jonathan prepared, members of the cast and crew slowly gathered around and took seats off-camera. It was like people taking their places before a concert or something. When we finally rolled and our "monster" (also created by Jonathan) got down to head-ripping business, everyone watching went nuts.
Is there a website people can go to for more information about your projects? InterplanetaryMovie.com features a teaser trailer and a link to the "Everybody on Mars is Dead" blog, where I write about Interplanetary and other film/filmmaking stuff.
Can you tell us anything about your next film project? I'm working on a post-apocalyptic story at the moment, not writing so much as just trying to figure out the characters and plot points. I only know for sure that, after "Interplanetary" turned into such a big production, I want to keep the next movie simpler and smaller. Yeah, a small post-apocalyptic movie. But I think I can make it work.
You have won an award for an earlier cut of Interplanetary in Norway. What are your expectations now? We had such a great time at that fest, the Os WT International Film Festival. Our only other overseas success so far was the release of Hide and Creep to DVD in a few foreign markets. As for what will happen with Interplanetary, it's hard to say. Early reviews have been positive, but the market for weird low-budget sci-fi/horror films changes every day, so we'll see how lucky we get. Worst case, I expect we'll get a small DVD release in the States and maybe a foreign market or two.
Obviously, there is a built-in audience for this genre. What has surprised you most about which groups want to see your films? Honestly, I was surprised people liked our first feature as much as they did. Not to say everybody liked it. But some people did. And a few folks even took the time to write us and let us know they enjoyed the movie. That's really cool.
What is the one piece of advice aspiring Indie movie makers MUST know about the craft? Wear a hat. I recommend a toboggan cap for cold weather and a cowboy hat for warm weather. And a spelunking helmet if you're shooting in a cave.
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