Mime After Midnight

1) Where did you get the idea for Mime After midnight?

The idea for Mime After Midnight crawled up from that place in my subconscious where my nightmares cavort and frolic. What is more frightening than running into a mime on the street after midnight? How about a mime with a cannibal’s appetite that can kill you in a hundred ways you could never comprehend?

2) Mime After Midnight is part of a series, is that correct? What are the parts of the series and how do they all connect?

My short films, in order of release, are The Killer Krapper, Pervula, Mime After Midnight, The Terrible Old Tran and Panty Kill. They all share a similar tone, a strange mix of inappropriate adult humor and perverse ultra-violence. The first four are named after their killers, while the fifth, Panty Kill, is named after the killer’s credo. Panty Kill’s original title followed the trend, but I’m glad I changed it from Crotchless Panty Face.
The real connection between these shorts is a new killer known as Knife Happy. He has something to say about all of these films, plus a body count to top them all, and he’s the subject of a new wraparound short named after him.

3) How did you handle the special effects?

Mime After Midnight effects artist Rob Fletcher and I tested all of the make-up effects endlessly and went through months of trial and error. We were creating effects live that we had never seen before, for very little money. A lot of the make-up tests were filmed and I hope to include them as a DVD extra someday. Lots of fun, squirting wet stuff and quivering flesh wounds. In extreme close-up.
There was one effect in particular involving a false body, live stand-in, and spinning power tool that must have been filmed over 50 times over weeks before those precious few perfect seconds were achieved. You can’t have this kind of on set fun if you go the CGI route. Plus one real burst finger occurred during another effect, and the shot was used since the effect did work.

4) Explain your shooting schedule. What issues arose during principal photography?

Mime After Midnight’s shooting schedule encountered every problem imaginable. We were filming the majority of it on public streets at night without permits, including complicated make-up effects, in a busy section of the city that had to appear deserted. And since this was in Seattle, we were shooting around the rain. We had to run from police and attacking crackheads, the problems never stopped. But neither did we stop shooting. Principal photography lasted over one year.
Kudos to my cast and crew for believing in the film and going through the endurance test with me. Nobody was doing it for the money, since there was none.

5) What one thing did you learn that you’d like to apply to your next film?

My films following Mime After Midnight were set in more controlled and remote locations. My lessons on Mime were well learned.

6) Do you have any plans for a feature film?

Absolutely. I’m currently trying to secure investment for a horror feature set at a camp. Friday the 13th was the first horror film I saw in the theater when I was a kid. It scarred and influenced me for life. Now its my time to go to camp and create something that will terrify a new generation in an all new way. The wicked humor from my short films is going out the window now as I focus on an exercise in unbearable suspense and big scares.
Anybody with a creepy camp at your disposal, get in touch with me!

7) What is it about horror films that you like the most, as a fan as well as a director.

I love a good scare, on film or in print. I work in this genre with a passion every day, whether writing, developing, or directing. Even though I am a filmmaker and know the nuts and bolts of how these films are constructed, I still get freaked out by them on a regular basis. I scare myself with my own films. I’m a screamer and always looking for that next good scare.

8) How did it feel to be part of the first annual Big Bear Horror Film Festival?

It felt awesome. I’m always happy to reach a new audience, and the first Big Bear Horror Film Festival gathered together an impressive group who share my love of this genre. I hope to be involved with this festival in some capacity for years to come.

9)What is your next project?

Besides Knife Happy and the camp feature, I have many other films in development, all horror features. In the event one project gets stalled, I have many more I’m eager to tackle.