Interview

C h a r l e s   B u n c z k

   &  

J o h n   H e n d e r s o n

www.BudgetFilmMaker.com : Thank you both for agreeing to do this interview with us

                                                   about your short film Finger. Tell us a little more a about

                                                   this film and point of making it. What was the point of

                                                   making a film of this genre ?

Charles Bunczk & John Henderson: We both like horror and the surreal. And for our first

                                                       project, we wanted to do something that was a little more

                                                       challenging (and more unique) than a typical drama. The

                                                       original concept for the short was simple: it would be about

                                                       a  guy cutting off his finger and then reattaching it. It was

                                                       simple, surreal, presented a fun FX challenge, and could be

                                                      done in less than 10 minutes. Then the questions came. Why

                                                      would he cut his finger off? He was working on something.

                                                      What was he working on? A scrapbook! Maybe we can

                                                      flash a gory picture on the screen while he’s working... This

                                                      thing wrote itself in three hours.

BFM:  We noticed that you used no dialog in your film, why did you decide to make the

            film this way?

CBJH: This story focuses around a man making a scrapbook; consequently, there would be no

            need for dialog during those scenes. As we started writing the other scenes into the

            story, we decided to keep it dialog-free in order to preserve the mystery. We wanted to

            leave as much to the viewer’s interpretation as possible. Another reason was that neither

            we nor the actors knew how well they could act. The actors were also more comfortable

            with the fact that they didn’t have to deliver any lines given that this was their first acting

            performance on camera.

BFM: I understand it's important to get the right look in pre- or post-production when

           shooting a film. What digital camcorders do you currently use for your films?

          (Please recommend any new camcorders that would be useful for anyone beginning

           filmmaking)

CBJH: We started this project as fun experiment, but we were not sure how serious we were

           (or would become) about movie-making. Therefore, we did not invest in any professional

            equipment. Everything we used was a mass consumer type product made for typical home

            use. We used: Samsung SCD-103 and a Sony model that we borrowed (not sure which

            one)

BFM: What lighting equipment do you use for lighting your films? (Internal sets)

CBJH: Scrapbooking Scenes: We used a 25-Watt bulb in a metal bowl fixture that was hung

           from the ceiling directly above the workspace. There were 2 candles on the table and a

           laptop computer to the actor’s left. That’s all. Date/Flashback scenes: We used whatever

           lamps were in the room. (Nothing special)

BFM:  What hardware and software did you use to edit your films? Please break this

            down in sections (Hardware and Software)

CBJH: HW: PC - Pentium 4, 1.7 GHz, 640 MB RAM, used approx. 40 GB disk space,

           Win XP OS SW: Pinnacle Studio v7.

BFM: How did you get into making films? What were your influences?

CBJH: How we got into making films: We just decided that we wanted make a movie. We

           used to watch movies at work during our lunch break. After a few weeks we weren’t able

           to coordinate everyone’s schedules to watch feature length films since it took about three

           days to complete them. As a solution, John suggested short films (10 mins or so). After

           watching a few (e.g. David Lynch in the late 1960’s, Un Chien Andalou), we

           spontaneously determined that we can (and should) make one of these. Influences: We

           were influenced by every movie we ever have ever seen, in that each film helped us

           develop a sense of what we think will or will not work. Examples of things that influenced

           this project include: The Evil Dead series (Sam Raimi) David Lynch Clive Barker (film and

           literature) George Romero The special FX of Tom Savini.

BFM: How do you fund your filming projects? Do you get funding from external

           groups, and how you recommend other film go about getting funding for their

           projects?

CBJH: So far everything has come out of our pockets. We bought the DV tapes along with

           pizza and wine for cast and crew. Jamal funded the special effects. That’s all. Total cost

           was roughly $275.00 (US) Breakdown: $150 for pizza & wine, $50 for DV tapes,

           $75 for misc (props, supplies & FX)

BFM:  Name your top ten films of all time?

CBJH: This is a difficult question to answer since our tastes change from day to day. Here are

            some movies that we like: Charles: Hellraiser 1&2, Back to the Future 1&2, The Empire

            Strikes Back, DUNE (David Lynch), Fight Club, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Sneakers

            John: Evil Dead series, Lord of the Rings series, This is Spinal Tap, Bill and Ted’s

            Excellent Adventure, Star Wars series, films by Stanley Kubrick, films by David Fincher,

            lately I have been watching (and liking) a lot of Asian cinema – old John Woo, Takashi

            Miike, horror films “The Eye”, ”Ju-on”, “Dark Water”, and many of the Asian dramas—

            like “Ju-Dou”, ”Scent of Green Papaya”. Oh yes, and the teen-angst comedies of the

            80s!

BFM:  When working with actors, what do you think is the most important factor

             when directing them during a scene?

CBJH: The actor needs to be able to understand the role and relate to it in order to deliver a

            natural, comfortable performance. We try to help the actor find the compromise between

            the character and the actor. That way, the actor can use some of their own personality to

            play the role.

BFM: What difficulties have you come across working when with digital technology?

CBJH: Computer platform stability... the computer kept crashing during our editing sessions.

            hmmm yeah, Pinnacle Studio 7 can be quite problematic from my experience, it’s

           definitely worth considering another video editing package such as Pinnacle Studio 9 or

           Adobe Premiere version 6.5/Pro.

BFM: What difficulties have you come across during the production of your films?

CBJH: We didn’t anticipate the amount of time needed to do the makeup effects. This resulted

           in two extra taping sessions and three angry actors.

BFM: How would you do things differently for next project?

CBJH: We’re working on new sound recording/editing techniques. We now have 128 tracks to

            record, mix, and enhance dialog, sound effects, and music. We are also investing

            significantly more time in the planning/pre-production phase of the project. We’ve

            actually written a shooting schedule (this was not done for Finger). Oh... one more thing:

            There will be dialog!

BFM: What is the next project that you are working on?

CBJH: Our next project is to be another short horror movie titled “Closet.” We have already

            begun a variety of pre-production tasks for this project – lighting tests, shooting

            schedule,  musical scoring – and actual taping is due to begin in February 2005. This

            story centers around a young woman with a tortured past. She tries to make a fresh start

            by moving into a new house. It seems like things might improve for her…until she hears a

            strange noise from the closet…

BFM:  Do you prefer to write and produce your own ideas for films?

CBJH: Yes. The development of the story is just as exciting and rewarding as is the directing of

            the movie. We have already developed ideas for another six movies after “Closet,” so we

            should be able to keep ourselves busy with our own material for a while!

BFM: How did you recruit your cast and crew for your filming projects?

CBJH: We got lucky with “Finger.” We cast two of the three parts immediately by asking our

           friends to participate. Literally, the day we came up with the idea for the movie, we got

           commitments from Jamal and Lara. Vicky signed on about a week later. We were

           fortunate to have friends willing and able to do this. As for a crew, we did not have one,

           other than Charles, John, and the three actors. All of the work needed to complete the

           film was handled by the five of us. Occasionally we had outside help (see Finger credits),

           but that was rare.

BFM: What advice would you give anyone writing his or her own scripts?

CBJH: That’s a tricky question since we really didn’t write a script for Finger. Check back with

            us after we write at least one… “Closet” does have a working script, but no work

            (outside of testing) has happened yet.

BFM: Did your project come out like you expected?

CBJH: John: I would say yes. When we were writing the story, I could envision many of the

           scenes in my head. I would say we were able to get very close to capturing most of them

           as I saw them. Charles: I agree with John. In the end, some of the scene angles were a

           little different that what I originally pictured, but the actual scene content was not

          compromised. I think the movie turned out better than I had expected.

BFM: What makes a successful film?

CBJH: That depends on how you define successful. Did you accomplish what you set out to do?

           If you wanted to make a film that you like, and you end up liking it, then it is successful.

           However, if you want to make a movie that everybody likes, you will never be successful.

BFM: What advice would you give anyone getting into to budget filmmaking?

CBJH: Do not write a story too complicated to direct. If your budget is only $200, then don’t

           write anything into your story that you know you can’t either afford or borrow. Also, do

           lot’s of testing. If you are doing “low-budget” filmmaking, you are likely working with DV

           media. DV tapes are relatively cheap, and they can be re-used! Make sure you shoot

           plenty of footage testing your light and sound options so you can be sure to choose (and

           use) the right look and sound for the scene.

BFM: How do you build up your characters during the duration of a script?

CBJH: Character development takes on a life of its own when we plan our stories. Usually, one

           of us (Charles or John) will start with an idea. It will trigger another idea in the other

           person, and we keep bouncing ideas back and forth until both the story and the

           characters have, in essence written themselves. Then we take this to the actors and let

           them offer their own contributions that would make the character more natural for them

           to play.

      Charles Bunczk & John Henderson's film 'Finger' can be seen in the 'Films' sections of www.BudgetFilmMaker.com.