This week I bring you a very ambitious young filmmaker, Torin Langen. His short film TRASH has slowly been making its way around these here interwebs. Below I will include the film itself for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully you all enjoy it as well as I do. Please feel free to share and help spread the word.
Enjoy my friends!
- Brandon
1. Tell us about how your film TRASH came to be? And what kind of equipment you used?
TRASH was the result of desperation. I had just come off of finishing another short and was between projects, which is a situation I hate above all else. I was itching to get something started but didn't want to do anything too lavish, and just wanted to have fun making something cool. At the time, my buddy Zach Ramelan had been making a number of 3-5 minute shorts where he carried out every aspect of production himself, including directing, acting, camera work, editing, etc. As a result, I thought I'd give it a try myself, but what I initially intended to be a 3-5 minute project evolved into something a bit different.
The equipment I've got access to is certainly sub-standard, but for this particular short I think it worked to my advantage. I have yet to upgrade to HD, so TRASH was shot on DV tape with a 12-year-old Sony VX-2000. As far as lighting goes, I was just using a couple clamp lights and some bizarre looking thing that is supposed to emulate sunlight. However, unlike the films it's meant to pay homage to, TRASH was edited with Final Cut. I would have shot myself if I'd tried assembling it tape-to-tape!
2. How long was the process? From conception to filming, and finally editing.
I shot TRASH all over the place. I started shooting it sometime in the middle of May 2011 and finished it in November later that year. There wasn't really a conception period; like I said before, I was desperate to start work on something, so I started shooting before I even knew what it was going to be about (which by the way, is a horrible idea). Also, because I was the only one involved for the majority of the shoot, it was one of those situations where I'd set up the camera, try and frame it as best I could, start recording, then run into frame and "act". Because this shooting process was so frustrating, I'd sometimes only grab a few shots in an evening, get fed up, and leave it for another week or more. However, I edited as I went, so once I finally got all my footage together all that was really left to do was score it. The one thing I did know from the get-go that it was going to be a SOV-throwback, so while i was still shooting I contacted my friend Struan Sutherland (www.bloodthirstymelonproductions.com) to make a retro logo animated logo for my company. I also ended up running the film through a VHS tape to muck up the image quality a bit. If I'd really wanted to I probably could have shot it all over a few days, but it wasn't something that I thought would turn out well or was taking seriously at all. It was really just something to keep me busy until I started a "real" project, although ironically it seems to be the thing I've done that people have enjoyed the most!
3. TRASH truly shows your love of horror, and maybe specifically the SOV subgenre. Who are some directors, and some films that inspired you?
I started getting into SOV movies back in the 8th grade, which was when I saw Todd Sheets' Zombie Bloodbath Trilogy, Jon McBride's Cannibal Campout, and JR Bookwalter's The Dead Next Door (which, granted, was shot on 8mm film, but the spirit was the same!). I'd say the most inspiring thing about these types of films for me was simply that these guys were able to go out and make movies with limited resources, get them released, and create something cool that wound up generating a cult following. I loved the films and still do! Never underestimate the power of a few horror fans, a camcorder, and a wild imagination!
4. What has the reception been like to the film? I know you had a premier, can you tell us how that came about and what kind of response you got?
The reception has really surprised me! Like I said before, it was just a goofy project that I was doing to keep me busy, yet it's shaping up to be one of the more successful pieces I've put together! I think a lot of that just has to do with timing, seeing as it was released in the middle of this whole "VHS-revival" thing that's happening on the indie film circuit. The premiere of TRASH was awesome, the first public screening was on January 6th at one of Horror In The Hammer's Fright Night Theatre movie nights, and it was a fantastic time! I contacted them literally the day after I finished the film, sent them the link, and they booked it then and there! It screened on a double bill with James Bickert's biker-sploitation flick "Dear God No!", which was gloriously offensive and funny as hell! I'd say the best part of the whole night was the audience reaction to TRASH. Heckling is encouraged at these screenings, so luckily I was able to capture all the crowd's audio and will be uploading it synced with the film in the near future. It was really well-received and I've met a lot of great people as a result! Can't wait to do it again!
5. I have in my possession, a VHS copy of TRASH. How many of these were made, and do you plan on releasing any more?
As VHS has become increasing more collectible, is this something you may continue to do in the the future?
Those VHS of TRASH were made specifically for the premiere as raffle prizes, but I made up a few extras and only 3 were given away at the screening. I believe that only 7 tapes were made up in total, but I'll be throwing more together with actual bonus features on them for an upcoming Canadian horror convention called Shock Stock that I'll be selling at come April. I'll also be making up copies of my other short Case Study 2: Hide and Seek, and my upcoming short Merry Christmas, Daddy, both on VHS and with bonus features. Right now, I'm thinking these tapes will only be sold at this con, but if I have any leftovers I'll have them for sale online. But yeah, the version that you have was limited to only 7 copies. I'd better not see that thing listed on eBay!
6. What is next for you? Another short film, or perhaps a feature?
The plan at the moment is to complete another couple of shorts, then take everything and make an anthology film out of them, currently titled "Scribbles". There's also a possibility that the shorts may be divided up into episodes and air on the local access channel as a series. However, I won't make any guarantees about that as of now since you never really know what might happen down the line, but things are looking good as of now! Anyway, once the anthology's finished, I've got some ideas for another very different type of short I'd like to do, as well as a "real" feature, currently titled Daisy's Daughter. There's tons I'd like to do, but I'm trying not to think too much about that right now and focus on the tasks at hand! There's lots coming though, so stay tuned!
Oh, and since this is my last question, I'd like to take a moment and thank Mickey Conde for his work on the film TRASH, Struan Sutherland for the fantastic Candle Flame Films logo he put together, and all you guys who have watched the film, shared it, or support no-budget indie cinema as a whole!
Many thanks to Torin for being joining us here at The Indie Film Revue!
