Did you got your start in show business on Family Matters?
Actually, I started as an editor in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I worked in local TV, then country music TV in Nashville, then made the jump to network TV in the late 70s, working on the Norman Lear sitcoms. I basically moved up through the ranks in the sitcom world, becoming an associate producer in 1989, and producer in 1990.
What was it like to work on such a long running show?
I worked on Family Matters for 9 years (215 episodes) producing, directing, and visual effects. It was a wonderful run, and as the Urkel character became more cartoony, I got to do more cool stuff. He built a teleportation device, went into space on the shuttle, stuff like that. The episode where Urkel creates a clone of himself was nominated for an Emmy for Best Visual Effects and I did all those visual effects myself. Same thing with Inhabited - all done at my house.
Do you mean literally in your house or "in house"?
I have a complete visual effects and post-production company in my home. I roll out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and start animating. State-of-the-art too. SGI computers networked to Macs and PCs. Alias/Wavefront Maya, Avid, Softimage, After Effects...a full complement of visual effects and editing software. The space is big enough that I can either do it all myself or bring in additional artists, animators, editors, etc, as the film dictates. My wife makes lunch and does the payroll - a real mom & pop operation. On Inhabited, I did all the VFX by myself - the other credits are fake, because if my name was next to everything, it would either look like a student film or an ego trip.
Do you do FX for other people's films or just your own?
I do VFX for other movies, TV, commercials, etc.
The first three films you've directed are all in the horror genre. Are you a big horror fan?
I've never been a really big horror fan, just fell into the genre through the visual effects angle. My main selling point as a director is that I also do visual effects. There are thousands of directors in Hollywood, so it's my way of tipping the scales. I got my first feature, "Fangs", by showing how I could do flocks of mutant CGI bats attacking people for an extremely low budget and short schedule.
What advice can you give to someone who wants to become a movie director?
I think the best advice is to come at it through another specialty. Acting, editing, writing.
Which directors do you admire most?
Robert Zemekis, Steven Spielberg, guys like that. I really enjoy the work of mainstream, commercial directors.
What is your favorite movie?
My favorite movie changes every couple of weeks. Right now it's "Ed Wood", because I can relate to the idea of a guy with a great passion for filmmaking but no money to make the film with. Next week it'll be Citizen Kane, or Magnolia, or Who Framed Roger Rabbit...
You and the writer Rick Drew are working together again. How did this partnership come about?
Rick was hired for Inhabited before I was even on the project. His work was so good, we brought him back for another low-budget feature called "Combustion" (in pre-production right now), and on the side, we're working together on a bigger budget project. (Sorry - no details, it's a secret.)
What are your feelings on film trailers? I didn't like the Inhabited one as it gives away most of the film, including Dr. Werner not getting killed.
Unlike most movies, these trailers are not designed to bring an audience into the theater, or to convince them to rent the DVD, or watch it on TV. In fact, Porchlight's trailers are designed to sell the movie to potential distributors (domestic and foreign). That's why they give everything away. It's not how I would do it for a theatrical feature, but is an necessity for this market.
But I do have a complaint about the product packaging. Inhabited and Fangs were both designed to be clean, family-friendly thrillers. In fact, Fangs has quite a bit of stupid comedy in it. Porchlight goes to great lengths to insure that the language is clean and violence is minimal or implied. But on the DVD box in the video store, there is no indication that Inhabited would be a cool semi-scary Halloween movie for the family and is safe for anyone above the age of 8. The Wizard of Oz is a much scarier movie.
So you didn't cut the trailer then? It was done by Porchlght?
Actually Porchlight hires a company that specializes in trailers - "Bungalow 3". Or was it "The Trailer Park"? One of those.
So the gore was intentionally left out like the killing of Simon and Ivar only being shown from above? It does seem like nothing is shown, but still garnered a PG-13 rating.
The whole rating thing is fake because they don't really submit these movies to the MPAA. The ratings are made up and typically boosted to suggest more than is actually in the film. Porchlight is a family entertainment company. They make "Jay Jay the Jet Plane" for preschoolers. Their management is committed to clean safe fare for the whole family. But the distributors get to put whatever the hell they want on the box. It could be G or NC-17, no one really checks. I think this contributes to audience disappointment when people watch a "horror" movie and there's no gore, no tits, no bad language, no blood and no violence. "Fangs" gets this criticism all the time.
Knowing that Inhabited might never be seen on the big screen does it change the way you film it?
My contract requires me to protect for 1:1.85 (widescreen) in the event of a theatrical release, so I shoot something called "common top-line". There is a ground glass in the camera that has both the TV framing and the widescreen framing visible through the viewfinder. The widescreen is basically the TV framing slid north and the bottom 1/4th of the picture cut off. I made a 1:1.85 letterbox version for myself, just to see what it would have looked like in that aspect ratio. The movie looks much better framed that way, so that's the one I give to my friends (and potential employers).
Inhabited looks great for a low budget film. What was the budget and is that what you are used to working with?
Inhabited was shot in three weeks for $1.1 million. About the same amount of money as a single episode of "Family Matters" used to cost. It takes talented people and creative thinking to do a film of this proportion in that amount of time. I'm really pleased with how Inhabited turned out. For the money, you don't usually see that kind of quality. But there were bumps in the road. I had to fire the director of photography halfway through the film, and promote the 2nd unit DP to 1st unit DP. Then we day-played 2nd unit DPs, using a total of seven (!) directors of photography. It was up to me and the gaffer to keep the look of the film consistent between these people.
Why the firing and so many DPs!?
The first DP had some kind of personal problems going on, or he was just high, I don't know. His name is not on the film. This guy was just running in super-slow motion - lighting scenes then ripping the lights down and starting over, trying to accomplish impossible dolly moves, forgetting the order of setups, shooting out of focus, all kinds of boneheaded things. I had the bond company (they sell insurance to guarantee that a movie gets completed) breathing down my neck, I had to do something drastic. Our 2nd unit director Charlie Gruet really stepped up to the plate and took over 1st unit DP, but we were really far behind in our schedule. Our producer Kenny Burke got out his Rolodex and brought whoever was available on any given day to replace Charlie on 2nd unit. We even had one of the other Porchlight directors volunteer to DP 2nd unit for a couple of days. Kenny hired a second sound crew so I could have a scene in the backyard and a scene in the house happening at the same time. I would call "cut" in the upstairs bedroom, run downstairs into the backyard and call "action". It was nuts.
On Inhabited you wore two hats - visual effects supervisor and director. How hard is it to do those two jobs at once?
It's much easier. It eliminates any communication problem between the two jobs. I design the effect, and I get to shoot it exactly like I want to. No arguing with myself...
You've also been a producer. Which hat do you prefer?
TV is a producer's medium. There the director is more of a hired gun trying to execute the vision of the producers. Feature films are different. They rely more on the director's unique vision, and there is less second-guessing. Feature directing is MUCH more creatively fulfilling than TV directing.
Where was Inhabited filmed? How different is it from filming in the US compared to Canada besides being less expensive?
Inhabited was shot in South Pasadena, CA and at the VA hospital in Westwood. We took advantage of the "Film California First" program - it provided incentives and rebates for filmmakers who film on state property. This program was shut down by our illustrious governor Gray Davis. Maybe "Ahnold" will reinstate it - I hope so. The advantage of Canada is that the government provides tax credits for filmmakers, but only to use Canadian locations and employees. Vancouver has good stage facilities, good crews, good locations - they've got a lot going for them. I'd rather shoot in my home town, but I don't turn down Canadian work if they offer it to me.
Was the playhouse a real house or mostly a set? Did you design it and did you really torch it in the end?
We had the playhouse built specifically for this movie, both to be shootable and "explodable". We took great care designing it -- with wild walls and pull-outs, then never used them! The crew found it much easier just to crawl in the front door and bang light in through the windows. It was built in pieces in North Hollywood and assembled at our main house location in South Pasadena, but the city wouldn't let us blow it up there. So we went to a movie ranch 30 miles north of LA in Agua Dulce, and blew it up in a big empty field. We just dragged the fake trees from one location to another to make it match. Small bags of gasoline with explosive charges underneath were use to create the big fireballs, with separate mortar charges in the doors and windows. A company called "Spectrum Effects" did all our pyro and practical special effects.
Was the main house just a regular house or part set/part house?
The main house is an abandoned Historical Preservation house - protected by the city. I got a list of abandoned houses from the State of California and spent a day driving around to each address. When I looked through the windows and saw the open floor plan and the state of disrepair I knew that was the house for me. Everything but the basement was shot in the actual house. We built the basement on a stage. Oddly enough, the city wouldn't let us burn that main house down... go figure! So Spectrum Effects pumped smoke through the windows, the DP added flickering orange light to the smoke, and I added the flames in VFX. Notice that all the burning house shots are hand-held - This makes my VFX flames "stick" and look more real than if it was a locked-off shot.
There were two scenes where you tried to use Simon the cat for a quick scare, but I didn't think they worked.
They were simply ill-conceived from the start and I couldn't figure out how to fix them. They just sucked.
How was it directing Malcolm? Were you a fan of his before?
I am a huge fan of Malcolm's and pushed to get him on this film. But you don't really DIRECT him, you roll the camera and he ACTS. He's so seasoned and knowledgeable, there was very little directing going on during his scenes. It was more "camera pointing" on my part.
How long was he on the set out of the three weeks and did you get to show him the completed film?
We only had Malcolm for four days. Two at the hospital and two at the house. Very rigorous and demanding work on his part, because for four days every scene was wall-to-wall Malcolm. He hated all the "psychobabble" dialogue, because much of it didn't really make sense. Dr. Clive Werner was based on the real-life child psychologist Dr. Bruno Bettelheim. Years ago Bettelheim published a book describing the relationship of fairy tales to child psychology. Pretty goofy stuff if you ask me. Malcolm had trouble getting his teeth into dialogue that was essentially mumbo jumbo, but in the end, does a great job of pulling it off. He was doing another picture by the time we finished post, so I have not spoken to him since we wrapped. When you speak to him, give him my warmest regards. "Don't worry, Kelly... I act BETWEEN the lines." - Malcolm McDowell
Beside Inhabited what is your favorite Malcolm movie?
Boring answer, but ACO really stands the test of time. Just watched it again the other day.
The hardware store and owner were named Kelley's. I thought the spelling might have been a nod from Malcolm McDowell to his wife. Rick thought that it was named after you, but I noted the spelling difference. What is the case?
It was going to be Kelly's Hardware (for me) but the research people made us change it to Kelley's because there already is one. Other inside stuff: Gina's doll is Sofia (the actress' real name) and her horse is "Miss Appleblossom" the name of the fake beauty pageant in "Fangs". Old man Stevenson tells Meg the date of the fire which is my birthday. Young Olivia was played by our editor's twin daughters for the book and locket inserts.
I was trying to see the page in Dr. Werner's book that showed a computer screen. I was wondering if there was some joke there?
That book was "Windows 95 for Idiots" or something. We just glued our pages into it because it was the right size. The computer screen page was a mistake.
The first scene with Mr. Stevenson was odd to me because Meg came to him and then it took a while to call her back because he had to do research. Yet he didn't really because the article was right on the wall the whole time. What was going on there?
He never said he had to do research. He just didn't know what the address was. When she stuck it through the slot and left, he realized she lived in THE house, so he called her back.
Rick said to ask you what the in-joke about the "Free Andy" sign in Tyler's room was about as he didn't know about it.
The Museum of Contemporary Art here in LA always has free admission on Thursdays. But last year, when the Andy Warhol exhibit came to town, they charged admission on Thursdays. Our prop master Sarah Geller is also an artist who exhibits there. She and a group of artists protested the policy with "Free Andy" stickers - meaning on Thursdays, Andy's exhibit should be free.
I would've preferred to see you hold back on showing the Huldre to make the audience wonder if Gina was lying. Why did you choose to show them right away?
That was in response to a foreign buyer's comment that there were "no monsters until page 70". We decided to quick-cut them to give them a presence earlier in the film. The idea was that if they were cut in a subliminal style, there could still be some debate as to whether they were imaginary or real - doesn't seem to have worked very well...
There was no way to make a US cut and an international cut of the film?
Not on this budget.
Was it a conscious choice to limit Brad's role in the film? To me it felt like he was basically not needed.
I agree. He's supposed to be the voice of reason, but we could never find a compelling take on that. Maybe being the voice of reason is boring...
Did you have any involvement with the casting? With Patricia McCormack in the film I was waiting for a "Bad Seed" comment by someone...
I was involved with all the casting. Patty McCormack (Academy Award Nominee) came in to read for Olivia and just floored me. She's such a nice person too. We had lots of fun on the set and she got along great with everybody. I can't say enough good things about her. This was a fantastic cast to work with. Everyone was so nice and professional. Good directing is 90% good casting.
Was it difficult filming the Huldre scenes? Was it just big sets for little people? It turned out very good.
There were no big sets. Not enough money to do that. The Huldre were little people shot against a green screen, and then matchmoved into empty shots of the existing sets. They only gave me 10 little people and 10 costumes, so I multiplied them in the VFX too. The "crawling up the side of the house" shot was two passes of the guys crawling on a green floor with the camera shooting down from a crane. At the end, there are 50 Huldre in one shot. This was actually 5 passes with the guys following green tape marks on the green floor to stay within "zones". I then combined them in the computer using Adobe After Effects.
Maybe that is why it looked better than a giant set. Ivar didn't succeed in convincing anyone to stay away from the Huldre. Did you see him as a man too driven by his past demons to be convincing?
I think Mr. Hagen was driven by his understanding of the damage that was about to be done to this family. He probably knew that going back to his old house was in fact his death sentence.
How come Dr. Werner wasn't killed by the Huldre? It seemed like he was a dead man, then we are surprised to see him later.
It was just for the sake of surprise and fun - just because the image of "Crazy Malcolm" was a great final picture to go out to the credits.
Were you given final cut and were you happy at how it turned out?
I have a really good relationship with the producers at Porchlight. They let me stay involved after I present my director's cut -- So I have a say all the way to the end - every detail including supervising the sound mix, working with the composer (the very talented Tim Jones - one guy who does all the music by himself on computers). These little movies are full of compromise. You never get what you dream. But in this case, I came closer than I ever imagined. It may not be a big Hollywood movie, I thought we did pretty well for a "three-week-wonder".
Yes, it did turn out very good. How come when Dr. Werner compared Olivia and Gina's "fairy" pictures they really didn't look too much alike. You expect them to be near perfect matches...
But 6-year-old girls are not competent artists, so we wanted some difference in style, with only key features of the Huldre being similar.
Is it harder for you to watch other people's movies because as a director you know how it is done or you pick apart shots?
On the first day of my very first film class, the professor said: "If you ever want to enjoy movies again, leave now". That sums it all up.
This entire page © 2003-08 Alex D. Thrawn for www.MalcolmMcDowell.net