Nikki Wedemeyer, a good friend of mine, and a very talented horror director from Phoenix has been asking me for an interview lately, and I finally got to do that interview with her. Nikki is one of my best friends, and I know that she's definitely going places. Now, rarely do I post two blog posts so close to one another, but I feel like this is an important interview to post as soon as possible.
A little backstory on the film. It's called If Found: Do Not Return, and follows two killers, Kemper and Elizabeth, and their two friends/cameramen, Lindsay and Lucas. The film chronicles the rise and fall of these...well, fame whores. Helping Nikki create this film has been such a privilege for me, contrary to what she might tell you (wink, wink Nikki). If Found: Do Not Return will be the most gruesome, disturbing, hilarious, and heartfelt horror film of the year. I hope that everyone except my parents gets a chance to see it. If they saw the part that I was playing, they'd most likely disown me. With that being said, I present to you my interview with director Nikki Wedemeyer. Enjoy!
1. What inspired you to make this film?
Oh wow, I've definitely had a lot of inspiration for this film. When I first stumbled upon the idea, I was researching the Dnepropetrovsk maniacs. They were these three guys, living in the Ukraine who, to satisfy their sick cravings, took a video camera into the woods, picked up a hitchhiker and proceeded to kill him with a hammer. The footage was leaked onto the internet and is commonly known as Three Guys, One Hammer. After I began reading, and actually watched the video, I decided I wanted to make an Americanized version of it, and from there, If Found: Do Not Return, was created.
2. If Found: Do Not Return can be considered to be a "faux-snuff film." How do you think people will react?
With shock? I mean, how else does the audience react to a portrayal of real murders? I definitely have this vision of the audience being completely dumbfounded and not knowing whether they're supposed to laugh, cry, or be mortified by what they're seeing. I know there are a lot of really hilarious scenes in the film, but they're so closely intertwined with the disturbing ones that it makes the movie very darkly humourous. It's one of those things that the audience will laugh at, but then take a moment and think...wait...that was awful.
3. Compared to your other films, how do you think this will be received by viewers?
A lot of my other films have been pretty tame, as far as special effects go, so this will be a definite shock to some of my past viewers. However, anyone who has read my scripts, specifically, my only other feature length, Fatal, should not be in for any surprises. I think the biggest shock in this film is the body count. Most films have five, six, maybe ten max. Right now, I believe, I'm up to twenty. Like I said earlier, I think they audience will be shocked, for sure, but it'll be shocked in a good way.
4. The film went through a LOT of edits, adding in characters, sub-plots, etc. Do you look back now and think that these changes were for the better?
Oh yeah... When I first began writing the film, and I started planning my plot, it was just Elizabeth and Kemper going around murdering. No story. Just blood, guts and a bit of sex talk. After a few days of that, I added Lindsay, and a couple weeks later Lucas came into the picture. I definitely feel like since the film is based in such a dark, heavy subject, it needs a lot of those extra details. What I think is really interesting about the way the film is written, is the fact that it ultimately follows four journeys. We see each character change from what they want to be, into what they truly are, and I feel like that makes for a really powerful story, regardless of the blood and guts.
5. Are you ever weary of what you can and can't show in a film?
Well, the beauty of independent film is you can pretty much show whatever the hell you want and not have to worry about what will be said. The only thing I have to keep an eye out for is nudity. Like I've expressed many times, I'm not going to jail for my art.
6. What inspired you to create characters as, involved as Kemper and Elizabeth?
I felt like it was something I had inside, honestly, and it was something I really had to do for the film. If Kemper and Elizabeth weren't these intense, three dimensional characters that you can almost relate with, I think the movie would fall on its face and drown in its own shit.
7. Without giving away too much, how many endings did you ponder before actually deciding on one?
I have thought about so many ways to end my film before I was set on the final one. I really had to take into consideration whether or not I wanted a sequel, what kind of feeling I wanted to leave the audience with, etc. The very first ending I considered was going to be a huge cliff hanger. I wanted to have Elizabeth and Kemper get into a huge fight, which would eventually end in violence. Right as the fight reached its peak, the film was going to cut. I thought it would leave room for a sequel, and be a realistic ending for the type of film I was going for. After a bit of thought, I decided that I wanted something more than a fight scene, which lead me to the ending I have now. I suppose you'll just have to see the movie for yourself to know what that is. ;]
8. Do you hope to ever experiment with a film not in the horror genre?
I know that my expertise is definitely in horror. I mean, it's something I love writing and always will. As for writing something outside the horror genre, I'm actually considering writing an angst film in the near future. I definitely know that I love writing heart wrenching scenes, and would like to explore that genre a bit. However, that won't be for a few years, after I finish this series.
9. What do you have in mind for the film, and for future products after post-production?
Well after the film is complete, it's getting sent off to several film festivals all over the country for competition. As for later films in the series, I would love to do a prequel for the 2012 film festivals. I feel like one of the biggest questions the audience will be asking during the film is: How did all of this start? Yeah, we know how Kemper and Elizabeth met, but how did they start killing people? What about Lucas? When did he come into the picture? And lastly, where the hell did they get the camera?! I think a prequel would have a lot of say about each character's origins, what lead to them running away and especially how they got their start as murderers.
A lot of my other films have been pretty tame, as far as special effects go, so this will be a definite shock to some of my past viewers. However, anyone who has read my scripts, specifically, my only other feature length, Fatal, should not be in for any surprises. I think the biggest shock in this film is the body count. Most films have five, six, maybe ten max. Right now, I believe, I'm up to twenty. Like I said earlier, I think they audience will be shocked, for sure, but it'll be shocked in a good way.
4. The film went through a LOT of edits, adding in characters, sub-plots, etc. Do you look back now and think that these changes were for the better?
Oh yeah... When I first began writing the film, and I started planning my plot, it was just Elizabeth and Kemper going around murdering. No story. Just blood, guts and a bit of sex talk. After a few days of that, I added Lindsay, and a couple weeks later Lucas came into the picture. I definitely feel like since the film is based in such a dark, heavy subject, it needs a lot of those extra details. What I think is really interesting about the way the film is written, is the fact that it ultimately follows four journeys. We see each character change from what they want to be, into what they truly are, and I feel like that makes for a really powerful story, regardless of the blood and guts.
5. Are you ever weary of what you can and can't show in a film?
Well, the beauty of independent film is you can pretty much show whatever the hell you want and not have to worry about what will be said. The only thing I have to keep an eye out for is nudity. Like I've expressed many times, I'm not going to jail for my art.
6. What inspired you to create characters as, involved as Kemper and Elizabeth?
I felt like it was something I had inside, honestly, and it was something I really had to do for the film. If Kemper and Elizabeth weren't these intense, three dimensional characters that you can almost relate with, I think the movie would fall on its face and drown in its own shit.
7. Without giving away too much, how many endings did you ponder before actually deciding on one?
I have thought about so many ways to end my film before I was set on the final one. I really had to take into consideration whether or not I wanted a sequel, what kind of feeling I wanted to leave the audience with, etc. The very first ending I considered was going to be a huge cliff hanger. I wanted to have Elizabeth and Kemper get into a huge fight, which would eventually end in violence. Right as the fight reached its peak, the film was going to cut. I thought it would leave room for a sequel, and be a realistic ending for the type of film I was going for. After a bit of thought, I decided that I wanted something more than a fight scene, which lead me to the ending I have now. I suppose you'll just have to see the movie for yourself to know what that is. ;]
8. Do you hope to ever experiment with a film not in the horror genre?
I know that my expertise is definitely in horror. I mean, it's something I love writing and always will. As for writing something outside the horror genre, I'm actually considering writing an angst film in the near future. I definitely know that I love writing heart wrenching scenes, and would like to explore that genre a bit. However, that won't be for a few years, after I finish this series.
9. What do you have in mind for the film, and for future products after post-production?
Well after the film is complete, it's getting sent off to several film festivals all over the country for competition. As for later films in the series, I would love to do a prequel for the 2012 film festivals. I feel like one of the biggest questions the audience will be asking during the film is: How did all of this start? Yeah, we know how Kemper and Elizabeth met, but how did they start killing people? What about Lucas? When did he come into the picture? And lastly, where the hell did they get the camera?! I think a prequel would have a lot of say about each character's origins, what lead to them running away and especially how they got their start as murderers.
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