Exclusive - Rob Hall and Chang Tseng on Fear Clinic
Exclusive - Rob Hall and Chang Tseng on Fear Clinic
Fear Clinic is the new web-series starring Robert Englund and Kane Hodder.
|
Staci Wilson / Horror.com: I am excited about Robert Englund and Kane Hodder working together in your new web-series, FEAR CLINIC. I know you have worked with Robert Englund before, but have you worked with both of these guys?
Rob Hall: It's amazing, and when we get together, it's like we have been waiting to do this. I'm starting to feel my age I guess, because to me Robert will always be Freddy. Those guys will always be those characters to me and so, what I wanted to do by inviting Kane to join that was to sort of right the wrong that was made by "Freddy vs. Jason". And no offense to the other guys, but everybody wanted to see Kane and Robert. A lot of times silly decisions are made with purely financial considerations. And so I thought, albeit that they are not hacking each other to pieces, it would still be awfully cool if I gave them some tension and sort of right that wrong that was made in that movie.
Chang Tseng: It's unreal to have both of them on set. People were constantly doing double-takes. Off the set, they are both great but very different story-tellers. Robert will talk about the amazing sushi restaurant he just went to and the exotic places he has travelled to. Kane will give us war stories of the great stunts and injuries he's had over the years. It's pretty cool how their stories reflect their characters in Fear Clinic.
Q: I was not on set, so what is the story line? Are they sort of Freddy and Jason'esque characters?
Rob Hall: No not at all. It's totally different. There is Dr. Andover who is this guy who has an absolutely revolutionary top-secret technology that will cure people of their phobias. He puts them in this Fear Chamber [device] where once they go inside, they are in sort of an altered state of reality. And in that altered state of reality, whatever they are scared of haunts them the most. And there are a lot of crossover between the surreal and the real. It's a little like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" in that respect, which is okay because it's probably my favorite film franchise of all time. Kane plays somebody that works for Englund, and things start to go south.
Chang Tseng: Yeah, for once they play mortals and you can see their faces. I hope it's been a bit liberating for them to be able to use all their expressive tools instead of having to communicate everything through sheer physicality.
Q: Well, I have interviewed both of them on numerous occasions, however neither one of them are friends of mine, so I don't "know" them but they strike me as being very different characters in person. So what is it like to work with both of them together? How did they mesh?
Rob Hall: This is something that probably should have happened a long time ago. I think the thing for me that I wanted to highlight with this is that everything is cyclical. And they are making another "Nightmare on Elm Street" with someone other than Robert and I always thought that would never ever happen. I kind of thought the Freddy character was so sacred that there was no way they could do that. So I think for us, by putting a lot of resources into Fear Clinic as a production company and also as a FX company and myself as a director was trying to instill a certain amount of relevance back into those guys and this kind of content. It's like they're still here and they're still viable, they're still relevant and they're still kicking ass. And they can still do it on, albeit a slightly different media. That is sort of the idea.
Chang Tseng: They are both consummate professionals and the whole crew LOVED them. I felt because they played adversaries in the show so perhaps there is a bit of method going on. But seriously, I'm still totally geeking about it.
Q: So is Kane's physicality really utilized to the nth degree in this or do we see another side of him?
Rob Hall: It's definitely the brute force. He's the body and Englund is the brains in this story.
Q: Okay. Now, you were telling me a little bit earlier about how this might have been feature. But you guys decided to make it into a web series. Can you distill that into a good film?
Chang Tseng: In reality it's more like the other way around. We were originally approached when this project was envisioned as a feature over a year ago. Unfortunately we had to turn it down because of other projects. But when it came back as a web-series with distribution this time around we knew it obviously would be much easier to make. We also liked the fact that this series is essentially crafted from the best parts of the script, kind of like a greatest hits collection. The writer Aaron Drane did a really good job. This was just fun.
Rob Hall: And you don't have to spend a lot of time. It can get expensive really quick.
Q: Rob, can you tell if there is a stigma attached to doing a web series now?
Rob Hall: Yeah, there is a stigma. Part of the reason why I wanted to do Fear Clinic is just to knock that stigma out of the water. Because everything is moving towards [the web] such as music. I was just talking to Spider who is in Power Man 5000. He's doing everything himself now on a computer at home, and so like that everything is moving that direction. People are going to the internet for entertainment now. There's no doubt about it. You can watch full episodes and full seasons of all kinds of shows. So I think that once the quality of web programming improves and it's not just a kid kicking himself in the balls, you're going to get more viewers that way. And part of the reason I want to do this is because I knew the team that we could bring together would elevate it in terms of the effects the acting. I watched every other web series that I could find to find out what had been done and what they looked like. And realistically, I thought there was a lot of room for improvements. We approached it like we were making a low budget movie, but still it became bigger than it was. The idea was to raise the standards of that we expected to see for Web content, because when people hear web series they immediately think of bad CG, handheld camera, not lit well, not acted well. And that's not the case in Fear Clinic. It's like a fucking movie.
Chang Tseng: I can't think of any genre web series with the level of cast we have: Englund, Hodder, Danielle Harris, Lisa Wilcox, etc. As for the look, the CG, the music, the sound, we are making Fear Clinic as if it is going to be shown on a big screen instead of a browser window. We don't want to cut any corners at all. We want to make a statement. That's why we convinced people like Joe Bishara, who produced the music for "Repo! The Genetic Opera", to work on the show.
Rob Hall: The funny thing is because of the way we are shooting, I could get a certain actor to show up and he would say like okay this is a web thing, it's not gonna be that good. And then they show up and go, ‘Whoa this is real! You guys have real gear, and people are actually acting. Okay, I better take this seriously.' And I think that's of how we approached it and that's the only real reason I wanted to do it because I wanted to say well, because it's technically just for the web doesn't mean the quality has to suffer. Even if we didn't have very much money. We knew that we could do it and we knew that we could come up with a pretty good look for it. And I think it's going to raise expectations. I think there's going to be less tolerance for things that are not well acted, when the effects are bad and the lighting is bad. I think it's going to hopefully blow that kind of thinking out of the water.
Q: I think you're here at a good time, because recently Angel of Death was very well received and had a good cast with Zoe Bell and Doug Jones. It was on Crackle. People really liked it. So I think that's also good that you are kind of letting someone else be the pioneer to take the arrows. So, you guys will be on HDTV, and then DVD later?
Rob Hall: I don't know about the DVD. I know for sure video on demand, and the Web. And I'm not really sure what the plans are after that. I know that the feature is not out of the question, that's still being talked about. I personally was talking to Englund about this on the set. It feels to me that when we are shooting it, it felt as if it was very much like Tales from the Darkside or one of those anthology shows from the 80s. There is no reason that we couldn't do a Masters of Horror thing and take it to cable and do something like that, because honestly it's similar to some previous cable shows. It doesn't HAVE to be on the Internet because it's not subpar and there's no horror on TV like this now. We could do that but it feels to me that it should be on broadcast TV or at least have a way to see it in full HD.
Q: How did Fear Clinic come about?
Rob Hall: For the most part Englund was instrumental in getting the project going. Mark B. Johnson the executive producer worked on Killer Pad with Bobbi Sue and I. So we all sort of knew Englund. I brought some of the FearNet guys by to show them the shop. And Englund was gonna come too. He showed up on a Sunday and did his thing, so he became attached to it. Having Robert already there made it a lot easier to call people. Kane was one of the first calls. I wanted to do that for the fans. I thought I can either get some regular guy to play that part or I can get Kane Hodder. Once you get those two… I didn't know Danielle Harris but I've been a big fan of hers for a very long time. We sent word to Danielle's people and told them we had Kane and Robert and she jumped on it immediately. Robert then suggested Lisa Wilcox. So it just kind of happened that way. Sometimes we got really lucky like when we lost Jana Kramer to Entourage. We had to hold auditions and one of the Fear Chamber producers Gwen Osborne, who did a lot of casting, suggested Kate Nauta. She came in and she was so amazing. She is just a really talented actress. We were really lucky to have her.
Chang Tseng: We didn't have a lot of money so we couldn't offer them all the bells & whistles like star trailers and car rides. A lot of them came because of prior relationships. We were blessed to have such a big-named cast on our show.
Rob Hall: That's true.
Q: What's next?
Rob Hall: For effects stuff? We just did a Happy Madison movie called "Born to Be a Star" and are doing the Dowdles' next film.
Q: What kind of effects did you have for that?
Rob Hall: Oh god, if I can only say it... Let's just say it has to do with the porn industry and wanting to be a star, and how endowed certain people are…or not.
Q: Well that's popular now. Have you seen Hung, the new series?
Chang Tseng: This is actually the opposite of that, kind of like Un-hung.
Rob Hall: It is a lot of fun stuff like that. We did "The Crazies" before that.
Q: Yeah, "The Crazies" people are really excited about that movie. You have to sometimes tread water in the world of remakes too. How do you find that line of respect and bringing in something of your own to it, hoping the fans will still like it?
Rob Hall: It's tricky, it really is, except for the "Quarantine" movie. I love "Rec". I think it's one of the best movies in the world. But I also think they did a really good job on "Quarantine". I think it was a really well made thriller horror movie. So if I respect something like that it's always easier for me to get behind it, and I thought The original "Crazies", while not a great movie, there is nothing in that they can't really be expounded upon and done better. So that's cool, if you think you can make it better let's make it. But "A Nightmare on Elm Street", can you really make it better? It blows my mind that some kid is going to look at Freddy and think and have no concept that Robert was the original Freddy.
Q: But then again it might inspire some to look back who otherwise would not have watched the original series.
Rob Hall: That's true, I have to really straddle that line because I have to be excited about it because it keeps the lights on. It's like I have to be okay with that because at the end of the day it is a job for me, even if I don't necessarily agree with the movie being remade. But then I probably wouldn't have done it. When it is a job it's not up to me, in a situation like that I'm there for someone else's visions. So I'm totally cool with it.
Q: Is it scary or is it more, like, suspenseful?
Rob Hall: It's really hard to say. I haven't seen anything edited. I was really a big fan of Maxime Alexandre the DP, who also did "High Tension". There is some really genuinely creepy stuff that I saw him shoot. I think it's going to be a really good thrill ride. There's the gas masks as well in that movie, but I think they'll be surprised.
Q: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Rob Hall: I think I'll be making "Leprechaun" movies. "Leprechaun" deserves another shot. [laughter] But it is what it is. I don't know… 10 years… I just like to be doing this thing. The same as I am now making movies with friends, and still having a viable company and still working on some movies that aren't my own necessarily. The same sort of thing with, maybe more money.
Chang Tseng: Especially more money. We'll finally be able to actually pay our friends' their going rate instead of with packs of cigarettes. Great friends like Nick Principie, who played ChromeSkull in Laid to Rest, Lucas Till who is blowing up big time now with a little movie called Hannah Montana, and John Beach who co-starred in Night of the Demons remake with my producing partner Bobbi Sue Luther.
Rob Hall: I like to joke with Nick, because when he pisses me off. I tell him that Kane want's to play ChromeSkull in part II.
Q: So back to ChromeSkull. I want to know, how did you get the inspiration for that look? It must be hard not to copy others, let alone yourself.
Rob Hall: I wish that I could tell you that I had this great grandiose scheme. I honestly wrote this whole movie without ever having a name for the killer or what he would look like. It mostly has to do with heavy metal, and the kind of iconic imagery like that of the 80s. I'm always wearing a necklace with some sort of silver skull on it… I wanted him to be sleek and elegant more than grungy and retarded looking, and he's got money, so it seems to work with his character. There's an e-mail address that I have called ChromeSkull @ something. I thought hey that's cool, I like those two words together, and I started plugging it in as Chrome Skull in the script and that sort of helped me form the world for him a little bit. Honestly his look came last. Since he is always surrounded by the decay I thought his mask and his outfit should be completely polar opposite and be pristine, clean and sterile.
Q: ChromeSkull was such a popular attraction at the FangoCon. So, what do you predict will be the sort of iconic imagery that people will look forward to in the Web series? What's the one image that you think will be a snapshot of the show?
Chang Tseng: There's this scene where Englund and Kane are going nose to nose and the camera is circling them. The lights are flickering and they are both glaring at each other. Just fucking awesome.
Rob Hall: The image of just Robert Englund's head and Kane Hodder's head coming out of the same frame. And not saying a word to each other. We've never seen that before.
Q: Those two, the Mount Rushmore of horror.
Rob Hall: Yeah, exactly, Mount Rushmore. The bottom line is that we did this thing for not much money. But we all wanted it to be as good as possible, and Robert Englund really deserves a lot of credit. He came onto this thing for no money and believed in it and came to multiple meetings and read-throughs, driving himself out to Eagle Rock all the way from Laguna Beach.
Q: What drew him to it? Why'd he take such an interest?
Rob Hall: I think he embraces the new media, and he's a smart enough guy to know that this is where things are heading. And he wants to prove his staying power in the genre, and he liked the show. I don't know, he's just smart about it, he likes Aaron's script and he just really liked the idea and the concept. And I think having us (Dry County Films/Almost Human) involved made him feel a little bit more comfortable, but he's just very intelligent.
Q: I can't wait to read his autobiography. I was telling Chang I was reading about him. I'm surprised that I saw he was working with a writer, because he is so articulate, himself.
Rob Hall: That's because he's so busy. I just think he knows a good thing when he sees it. And I think he sees the potential enough.
Q: What did you learn about phobias and fears while you were sort of doing the script or even when you were shooting the actors? Did the actors or the crew want to share with you?
Rob Hall: They all shared, they all like to share. Bobbi Sue is emitophobic. Do you know what that is?
Q: It sounds like bugs. Entomology.
Rob Hall: No. Emit. She's afraid of things emitting from people's mouths: she's deathly afraid of vomit of any kind. I would say I'm mildly claustrophobic. There are certain planes I can't sit on, and I have to sit with my back to the wall. in restaurants, I can't have anyone behind me. People shared their phobias quite a bit. You definitely get people talking about it. It's almost like fetishes there are so many different weird phobias that you could do. This could be a wonderful television show or a web show where you could really explore all the different phobias.
Q: What really constitutes a phobia? I mean, if you just don't like being in crowds are you truly claustrophobic?
Chang Tseng: If it incapacitates you.
Rob Hall: If it affects your normal life. All of these are taken from reality but these are pushed to an almost supernatural level. When they're inside the Fear Chamber, because that stuff can really manifest and almost become a like the nightmares in "A Nightmare on Elm Street".
Q: So is that where you get to use your imagery? Will that be CGI or how will that be accomplished?
Rob Hall: We did it very old-school in terms of the effects. It lends itself to the old-school kind of vibe, because we got these iconic guys. To tell the story effectively we're doing both CGI and practical effects, whatever we can afford to do. I know I can do this effect much easier on set, and I know I can do this later in post so I don't have to worry about it. But honestly I didn't do anything special. It is just me being a director who knows how that stuff works. I can put my foot down and not change my mind and not change the angle and not change the way it's supposed to be shot. I design something as I'm writing it and the guys build it just as it is designed. The process itself isn't anything special. It's just that we didn't falter. We know this is the plan and we stick to the plan.
It's a magic trick anytime you build a set for any kind of movie. It's a collaborative thing. You don't bring it in a box, open up the box, take the box out from under it and it dances. It needs lighting and it needs cinematography, and it needs grip help and sometimes it needs every single department, everybody coming together to make it work. And when one of those components fail like bad lighting you have to speak up, "Hey, don't light it from the back because it makes it look opaque." If they don't listen to you, then everything is blown. And you can only say so much. I've gotten very vocal about it in my later age. They can either listen to me or not listen to me. The smart ones listen to me. You hire good people and you have to trust them. That doesn't mean you have to control everything.
Q: Are you feeling as though now that you have directed a few things that you have a directorial style that viewers will be able to recognize?
Rob Hall: I would love to ask people that. I don't know, you know, I see similarities that other people don't see. That's a good question. I would probably have to ask someone other than me about that. All my favorite directors I love have a style. Hopefully, I do. Maybe mine will start developing.
Q: It could well be your visual style. "Lightning Bug" is really beautiful and colorfully soft. As you know, I didn't really like the movie, because I had completely different expectation. They kept saying it's a horror movie. They sent it to me to review for horror.com for horror fans. I admit I need to see it again. But I do remember that the color saturation was really beautiful, the composition and everything is sort of a different vibe than "Laid to Rest", which is more hard rock.
Rob Hall: Yeah that's true. I mean, "Lightning Bug" was my softer side and "Laid to Rest" is my fun side.
Q: Is there any kind "MPAA" for the web-series?
Rob Hall: I didn't really shoot any safety versions of anything. So I don't know if it's TV-MA or what that means. I think TV-MA is kind of one of those really vague things at the moment. So hopefully not, because I didn't shoot any PG-13 stuff.
Q: How does the film start? How do you draw people in what's your grabber?
Rob Hall: It all starts where Danielle Harris has got this stolen BlackBerry to blog about fears and plagues and all of this sort of stuff that people are finding on the Internet. She starts recording and uploading files and basically narrate what's going on, and it takes you into the world that way. The first one starts out as hydrophobia (with Lucas Till) and you sort of see how one patient goes through the process, to varying degrees of success. It's not ambiguous.
Q: And since I am so ignorant on the project [at this time], is there anything that I have forgotten to ask or anything you would like to add… something that you want to cover?
Chang Tseng: I'd like to say that Bobbi Sue kicked ass in producing this film. We definitely didn't sit in video village all day. It's all hands on deck here at Dry County Films. We just like to get our hands dirty. And it certainly helps when the producers don't have to babysit the director with Rob at the helm. We have an incredible comfort level with each other.
Rob Hall: Yeah, I mean realistically, it's true. Chang and Bobbi really made stuff happen in terms of getting the crew, gear and all the stuff that we probably really couldn't afford. They were the ones that make the thing look more expensive than what it was.
[end]
Photo of Chang & Rob (c) 2009 by Staci Layne Wilson [click image to enlarge it]