Gravestoned | Movie Review and Interviews
Gravestoned (NOV 2009)
Painted Pictures Productions
Director Michael McWillie
I had a change last week, while shooting in Chicagoland, to take the time and watch Gravestoned. I was pleasantly surprised. Many times lower budget comedy flix just don’t make the cake, but Gravestoned pulled it off. So many times people forget how important writing is, especially in comedy. The bad movies are loaded with jokes that don’t end up being funny unless you’re part of some inside group that the filmmakers are in. With a title like Gravestoned, I’ll be honest I wasn’t expecting much, but I found myself laughing at the charatcers banter and chuckling throughout the film. I noticed attention was paid to camera angles and shot composition, which is not the norm for this genre or dare I call it a “movement” rather than a genre.
The director Michael McWillie must have chose his cast with talent in mind rather than just availability of when a person could be on set. For example Eryn Brooke who obviously had some previous talent under her belt. She stands out from the crowd of this cast. I feel like even location scouting and wardrobe had some actual thought involved.
Gravstoned follows a large cast of all sorts of characters. Some funny, some strange, and well, some that just get high. As a movie mogul from what seems like Australia is looking for new special effects talent to provide him with the best of the best in gore, he ends up with the real thing. Ya, a real arm, sawed off of some poor sap in the basement. That’s only the beginning. Let’s not forget that while everyone in the film is running around trying to get a movie produced on location, in a cemetery, that there’s a killer on the loose luring less than innocent actors into his private torture crypt just off set. Will the crazy killer guy with the suffocating bag over his head kill every actor? It probably doesn’t matter because no one left alive is going to remember the next day after they dig up their burritos.
It’s sounds like I’m high just writing this. The storyline for Gravestoned is good, its contains enough interesting ideas to support the many times the characters talk to each other without any blocking involved. I believe that isn’t an easy thing to do and still keep an audience’s attention. The story actually plays out and make good use of what could have been limitations. Although I would have liked a few more of the characters to have been better introduced, things like the hilarious stereotypical “token black guys” and the “white girls can’t dance” scene totally made up for it. Sorry if that wasn’t suppose to be funny girls, but it was!
I had the opportunity to get some quick interview questions in with the director Michael McWillie and actress Eryn Brooke . I tried to ask them some questions that maybe don’t get asked too often…
MICHAEL MCWILLIE:
NATHAN: Thank you for giving me the time to ask you a few questions about Gravestoned. I thought the film was very witty!
NATHAN Q:Did you encounter any obstacles filming mainly at night in a cemetery? How willing was the location to work with you on shooting the film there considering the hours of production.
MICHAEL A:The main problem was finding a cinematographer who wasn’t intimidated having to light such a large space and actors moving around in those conditions. I lost one guy after shooting some tests because he just couldn’t handle it. I thought the weather might be a problem, but we got lucky and it wasn’t. The caretaker of the cemetery was great. He is actually in the film (he’s the guy on the tractor who picks up the box with the arm from the gazebo), we did hire one of his buddies to handle security so he didn’t need to stay up all night with us. The graveyard was in a rough area so gun play was an issue.
Q:Was the inside of the killers crypt part of the real crypt or a different set all together.
A:The actual crypt was only about 5 feet by 7 feet and it was empty (the previous tenant was relocated to Chicago) except for some tools and lawn mowing equipment and spiders. By the way one of those spiders later killed the guard dog of the cemetery. We used a warehouse basement with a vault in it for the inside of the crypt. It is located in a building owned by the fellow I use to frame my paintings in the fine art world. By building an extension at the top of the stairs it was made to look pretty seamless.
Q:Did you encounter any problems with any of the actors and actresses being uncomfortable during the shooting of the sexually oriented scenes? If so what methods did you have to use to make them more comfortable?
A:Actually no I didn’t have any problems. Summer and Max (from the sex scene in the crypt) actually dated in college. But I did take some precautions. I did have Hope Latimer help me coach the actress in the scene to help make things more comfortable. Especially for me. I made certain a number of females were there during the shooting of the scene. The actress was also totally covered from her front side so nobody actually saw her with her clothes off on or off camera. We just shot it from angles so it appeared she was unclothed.
Q:Do you have any future plans for your next film? Will it be another in this same genre?
A:I have a coupe of films in the works. A romantic comedy and an action/ thriller, but I have to say I like this one so much that I may just do another one in this genre!
Thanks for the opportunity for the interview and for your kind words about the film.
Michael McWillie
Director of Gravestoned
ERYN BROOKE:
NATHAN: Thank you for your time. I thought you did very well in Gravestoned and look forward to watching other films you are working on now or have just completed.
ERYN: WELL IM FLATTERED THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
NATHAN Q: Can you tell me about your experience working on Gravestoned compared to other films you have been in? Were there any new challenges or something you had to do that you have not had to in the past? Did you learn anything new?
ERYN A:I had a great time it was a lot of fun shooting. As far as being different I think everytime you work with a new director you are learning how their mind works and working with a painter in particular its is truly interesting to see how his mind was working. As far as challenges, I have to say the cemetery was a bit scary and it was really cold- so we would be all bundled till right before action and then trying to keep our breath from showing- was a challenge but also a great experience! Oh and working with animals :) I am a huge animal lover, but Michael’s is quite the handful. Ask Michael about the shirt that was made for him!
Q: Can you tell my readers about any new films you are working on or will be staring in?
A: Absolutely, These are a few films you will be able to see here in the very near future!
Imago (2010) (post-production) I was also AD on this film.
Red White & Blue (2010) (post-production) ….with Noah Taylor and Amanda Fuller! A Simon Rumly film
Walking Distance (2009) (post-production) …. I was also AD on this film as well, and worked with Katie Featherston from Paranormal Activity
Hermosa Silencio directed by Jorge Jimenez- this film is in post – production I played Anna I am very excited about this film and there will be more to come on it very soon!
Thank you!
Eryn
