Variety Radio Online (www.theVRO.com) recently interviewed Kely McClung about Altered.
Check out the article here:
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11 questions for “coolest filmmaker on the planet” Kely McClung about his new horror / thriller “Altered”
1. Where does the title come from?
The word itself has so many meanings that apply and dance around the themes I’m exploring. The primary one for me is “to change in form or character without becoming something else.”
That applies to both our pre-conceptions of what horror and terror is, and to the concepts people have of telling stories – the accepted structure of modern cinema. Which, I guess is to say, I’m not accepting it! Or at least, I’m certainly not restricting myself to it!
One of the challenges I created for myself in this one was to give away the ending at the beginning, and yet still build the suspense into the crescendo of horror I want. How to keep revealing deeper levels of understanding while at the same time raising even more questions – forcing the audience to go deeper and deeper – to experience it all along with the lead characters in the movie.
2. The movie seems like it will be quite graphic and gory. Is that your idea of horror?
No. The graphic nature is to free up and move past those bits of our imagination so that the audience can feel the dread and fear of going even deeper, hopefully without the distraction of their minds having to create those images. I’m extremely visual, and I think by searching for the beauty within the shots of blood and violence, the actual play of light and color and space, we sense the dichotomy of the shot – the repulsive yet fascinating image that forces us past knowledge, and hopefully into the desire for understanding. With that – I think the images may speak to a deeper level than we can articulate – at least easily or in cliched terms. But I know of course, that people will try.
3. With the religious aspects to the story, do you ever feel you are overstepping your bounds?
All the time! Not doing it for that reason, but yes, I know it will disturb a lot of people. I guess it’s my way exploring the nature of Good and Evil for myself. Facing it. Making my decisions on it.
Making a movie, especially when done from concept to delivery, is incredibly personal and self-exploratory. Putting this much effort and time, and then the facing of internal fears and doubts and putting them out there for others… is… rough. That I invite my cast and crew into this journey, and that they are crazy enough to go on it with me – and then that someone might want to actually watch it – is to think that maybe we all have at least some of these fears inside us.
A lot of people will feel I’m overstepping – certainly the bounds of good taste – but that’s not what the movie is about or why I am making it.
4. We’re hearing rumors of some really disturbing images. How do you come up with those ideas?
I let a couple friends of mine read it – and they’re convinced I’ll be committed before it’s over. The scariest part is, I never found it that hard. You think of something terrible. Then you think, ‘how can I make it worse?’ You go through a few cycles of that, and then you are only trying to know when to stop. The reality is though, that people are worse than anything they can make up.
5. That seems to be a recurring theme of yours. Is that what you’re trying to get across?
Well… kind of. But only in the sense of the two sided coin. The bigger one side is, the bigger the other side is. What my stories and ideas I hope will always be about, are really about the other side… that people are better and more amazing and wonderful than you could ever imagine.
6. This is a horror film. That’s new for you. What movies do you think are influencing this story?
All of them! Movies like “Love Actually” and “A Star Is Born” and probably “Bambi” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Exorcist” and “Se7en” and all the great Chinese movies, and French New Wave Horror – “Martyrs” and “Irreversible” and “Calvaire” and whatever I just saw last night!
It’s not about me taking scenes or ideas from these movies. It’s about absorbing the feelings they create, and then searching for a way to make some of those emotions resonate in my own story. I guess it’s a bit like listening to a piece of music and interpreting that into a painting.
7. Speaking of music – you did most of the scoring and then used a really eclectic soundtrack on your other films. What can we expect this time?
In the choices of music? Some of the same. Eclectic is a probably a pretty good simple description. I do like to break expectation and use music and song and sound in a way that emphasises the underlying emotional level and beats of the scene as opposed to the actual image or action. Usually, I find they’re at odds or at least hidden a bit.
The goal, or at least one of my goals is to create and direct the stories in my head with the talents of people who are much better than I’ll ever be. In this case, I stumbled across Dan James, a young composer in the UK, power of the Internet and all, who really blew me away. We started having discussions and he made a simple statement in his approach that let me know he was the right guy. Even with that, I flew to England to meet with him and get a feel – just the feel that we could actually work together to translate what is in my head – not the individual sounds or notes – but the emotional goals. It’s another piece of the puzzle that I know will help take this movie much even further in terms of both technical prowess and story impact.
8. What about cast? Are you going for any names this time?
I toyed with the idea and even approached a couple friends of mine in LA about it. A couple pretty big names. “Altered” would be a very different movie if I had decided to go that route. It’s not that I am against it, it’s just that at this time and stage in my career, my only real concern is to find and use the best talents I can for this movie. The fact that nobody has really heard of my actors yet, lets me really push and pull without regard for preconceived ideas of what these people bring to the table. The entire movie and what people can and will do, can stay a mystery until it’s over. And in some ways, it forces me to make an even better movie as we won’t get to sell tickets based on any person’s name.
On the surface, “Altered” is about an undercover cop who is trying to hang on to her sanity as her world starts dancing outside the shadows of a brutal serial killer. A man who may or may not be actual Evil…
I am honored and blessed on this to be working with a young actress from LA, Amanda Dreschler. I was invited to help film and direct a few scenes of my friend Stan Harrington’s movie “Creed” last year and got to see a hint of what I think she can do. And of course, I am juggling my friends Stan and Robert Pralgo in their roles to create the best movie. There are a lot of major characters, and I’ve got just a few of the others lined up. As I start putting faces and voices to the names and lines in the script, it all starts getting very real and exciting.
9. More action?
Yeah. I guess it’s a bit of who I am right now. I really thought I had created something that had very little action in it – was just about the horror and terror. And terror and fear and dread really are the dominant features. But then I start breaking it down – tearing the movie and script apart to understand the nuts and bolts of it, and end up with all these scenes of fighting and action and guns… so I guess whatever labels people toss on it – horror/thriller/psychological/allegorical whatever – will get ‘action’ worked into it also.
10. It would seem that this is extremely ambitious for a super low budget film. Is that the way it will always be with your movies?
The budgets? I hope not! The ambition? Yeah. I think that will always be a reflection on my ideas and probably my ego to think I might actually make something worth watching.
One of the people I am hoping to work with on the next 50 movies – you know – if I live to 3 or 400 years old – is my right hand person Imoto Harney. With that in mind, we have a lot of discussions just on the philosophy of creating, and the work ethic and determination to make it happen. I knew we were on the same page when she told me it was one of the great appeals of working with me on this, that it was incredibly ambitious and my expectations make it so incredibly challenging. I think strong, creative people love to be pushed and challenged.
11. What’s next?
On “Altered?” To roll cameras! We still have about 10 years of planning and pre-pro to knock out in the next couple months. And I’m still promoting and pushing my first two movies, “Blood Ties’ and “Kerberos.” I think my efforts on them will really set up everyone who works on “Altered” in a good way.
And then when I’m done, you know, to seek counseling and psychological help enough that Imoto and the gang can break me out of the asylum so we can do it all over again on the next one!