Interview: Ninety Seconds and The Boogeyman director Gerard Lough speaks with Matt Wavish





Irish film director Gerard Lough has taken time out from his busy schedule of showing his stunning new short film, Ninety Seconds, at festivals and watching Prometheus, to have a bit of a natter with yours truly about his new film. It is always a pleasure speaking to a director who truly loves his work, loves his films and, more importantly, loves to chat! If you can catch Ninety Seconds at any film festival, and you appreciate independent film making, then  I suggest you give this one a watch. Ninety Seconds is bursting with ideas, and influences of classics like Blade Runner can clearly be seen. However, influence or not, Lough is his own man and while other films may give him the incentive to direct, his films are clearly his own version and very unique to him.

You can see my review of Ninety Seconds here, and click here for reviews of Lough’s other films including The Boogeyman and Deviant, as well as a previous interview.

MW: Hi Gerard, what have you been up to lately, and how are the festival shows for your new film Ninety Seconds going?

GL: Recuperating! Because this film was the most ambitious, it unsurprisingly became the hardest to make and left me physically, mentally and financially burnt out. But I wanted to do a cyberpunk film and that was never going to be easy. The film has gone down very well at screenings with folks loving the futuristic visuals but also engaged by some of its all too topical themes.

MW: Do you feel Ninety Seconds has been a success?

GL: Certainly critically speaking as reviews to date have been terrific with a general consensus being that it’s not only stylish but does have lots of food for thought which is not always an easy mix.  It has certainly been harder to promote and market than my last film The Boogeyman. Because it was a Stephen King story, it opened a lot of doors, some of which have swung shut again when it came to trying to get the word out about this film. Mantra always is “it looks great but our readers aren’t interested in short films”, which is editorial bullshit. People are always interested in a good story told in a different and exciting way regardless if the running time is 30 min instead of 90. But it is still a success in the sense that the film is exactly as I intended, a luxury not every director has. It has also started to attract Trolls, those reclusive, bitter, jealous and probably sexually frustrated little creatures who stalk cyberspace… so clearly I must be doing something right.

 

MW: In the film you have kept a lot of the same actors who have appeared in your previous films like The Boogeyman and Deviant. You must enjoy working with them?

GL: Well Michael Parle, who I have worked with five times in a row, is one of our best kept secrets; a versatile actor who has an edgy screen presence. He’s like Britain’s answer to Christoper Walken, which is to say when he’s on screen you always seem to expect him at any given moment to pull out a sawn off shout gun, blow you way, have a good chuckle while he does it and then go back to finishing his tea. He’s also a director’s dream. No ego, no bullshit. All he needs is the script and the date of when you want to shoot him. It was the second time to work with Simon Fogarty who I feel has really grown as an actor since The Boogeyman. Even though he only has one scene in Ninety Seconds he certainly makes an impression and has what will probably be the most memorable line in the film.

 

MW: In Ninety Seconds, you cast Emma Eliza Regan as the love interest of the paranoid Mr Philips (Michael Parle). Regan has been a dancer for Cheryl Cole and also appeared at the MTV movie awards as well as featuring in a number of short films. How was it working with a sort of celebrity?

GL: Emma was perfect casting as not only could she act and has a striking look, she also has a background in dance. Since she only has one scene I didn’t get a chance to get to know her well but I do know she took her part very seriously and put a lot of thought into make-up, clothes and a dance that she choreographed herself. She did the same dance about twenty times with Nosferatu playing behind her on a cinema screen on a loop. The cleaning crew got an eyeful that morning! But yeah, she came to us straight from the set of one film and then left for another so a name to watch in the future. Same goes for Claire J. Blennerhassett.

MW: The film Ninety Seconds is mostly about people being paranoid, and shows just how that paranoia can lead to much darker intentions. Do you feel your intentions for the film were presented as you’d hoped?

GL: Its’ hard to discuss without giving too much of the story away but suffice to say that while Mark’s past catches up with him, for the person who gets his revenge it’s a futile victory and he’s morally diminished for having done it. Whether that comes across clearly is up to each individual audience member.

 

MW: What are your thoughts on today’s”big brother is watching” sense of non privacy, and do you believe that people simply cannot do anything anymore without someone watching?

GL: I’m all for the extensive use of CCTV at night in city centres and big town as anti-social behaviour both here and in the U.K. has gotten so out of control that it needs drastic measures. When we behave like children it’s hardly surprising that we are giving an open invite to Big Brother to keep an eye on us. More disturbing is the fact that social networking is for a great deal of people little more than a subtle means of keeping tabs on your peer group, a constantly updating feed of envy and unhealthy competitiveness.

 

MW: Ninety Seconds is probably your biggest film yet in terms of scale, scope, special effects and ideas. How was the experience making the film?

GL: It’s a massive pain in the ass making a film like this. If you want to go down that kind of film noir / Sci-Fi road it inevitably entails shooting most of it at night, in the rain or in rooms full of smoke. The problem with making a science fiction film is you have to show stuff that doesn’t exist yet, so somebody has to design them and then somebody else has to build them. Everything from a gun to a computer screen.

 

MW: You have managed to hold on to your bare bones tactics of filmmaking while opening up a much bigger, sci-fi type of film which at times reminded me of Ridley Scott’s classic Blade Runner. Would you say Blade Runner was an influence, and how did you achieve some of the terrific lighting and special effects?

GL: Blade Runner is definitely an influence as it represents thought provoking science fiction for adults as well as having shit hot visuals. So this is something I was aiming for while trying to make a film which is distinctive in its own right. However all the rain was both coincidental and real. When Scott does a location scout for Blade Runner 2, he might want o pay a visit to the North West of Ireland. I would also have to tip a hat to author William Gibson and the Francis Ford Coppola film The Conversation. In terms of photography I would say its not so much as taking hours to meticulously light a scene – you just don’t have time for that on a low budget film – it’s more about being imaginative and not being afraid to shoot things in an unconventional way. One of the film’s most striking images (a shadowy Philips sitting at large boardroom table in a blue looking room) was achieved by simply turning all the lights off with the only source being the evening daylight coming from a window which back lit Michael Parle and the room in a really magical way and created a cool image. But it was so simple it was shot during a break when the other actor had to go to the loo. Effects are to the credit of Paul Barrett who also designed the titles and all the graphic displays. I would give him an idea of what I wanted and he would improve it every time. But it takes a lot of back and forth as you have to create stuff like holograms that does not yet exist so what’s your reference?

 

MW: Is the story of one man’s paranoia and needing to spy on his girlfriend, or even the shady people who do the spying, from any personal experience?

GL: No, thankfully. But to be perfectly frank, I think we can all understand the motivations without condoning them. The partner who has to listen in on the phone calls of a love rat to get the proof, the employee who fears for his job and so hacks the boss’ e mail. But as you see in my film and in recent events, once you take that short cut, whether it is to get control of a situation or get the upper hand, it’s a slippery slope.

MW: Where did the idea for the film come from?

GL: Well I agree with Stephen King’s theory about writers getting an idea for a story as the result of three unrelated ideas that somehow join up in your mind one day. I read an article about modern day Private Detectives. In it they seemed not only very proud of the new surveillance gadgets they were using but had a cynical worldview which they seemed to think rationalized the morally dubious aspects of their work. For example they claimed that nearly every time they were hired to follow someone to obtain proof of their infidelity, they got it and it proved their partner was right to be suspicious. Off course, they would say that, it is probably part of their sales pitch I imagine. I remember a subplot in Michael Clayton with two surveillance experts who cleaned up corporate messes and I was intrigued by that. And finally I wanted to do a futuristic thriller. Combine all three things and you’ve got Ninety Seconds.

 

MW: In the film Mr Philips mentions how an empty room used to be a video shop. Video shops are all but extinct in today’s world of VOD and the like, was this a hint by you that you feel technology has moved forward a little too quick, and that some of us still wish for simpler times?

GL: It’s part of a theme that runs through the film that technology is relentless and sometimes it has such an influence on us that it can leave something that was once important now redundant and you have to wonder is it really progress? That location was once a video shop in real life, full of activity. But on the day we shot there it took on an eerie atmosphere like the Nostromo in the opening scene of Alien. But yes I do miss the way video shops were in the 80’s. Privately run by a single entrepreneur, someone who knew all the customers, knew what you liked and might even throw you a coupe of free posters. Now it’s as impersonal as getting a burger and fries at McDonalds. I also like the chaotic selection, the rare films from all over the world side by side with new releases. I miss looking through an old stock and finding an original 1981 video cover for Heaven’s Gate covered in dust like an artefact because it hasn’t been rented by a member of the public in donkey’s years. A little piece of film history that’s been sitting dormant and is waiting to be discovered. I previously worked in one and it’s something that I would recommend all wannabe film-makers do at least for a limited time as it will open your eyes to the harsh reality of what sells and that sometimes good films don’t find the wide audience they deserve. My first day on the job, I asked why we had no copies available of Strange Days (an influence on Ninety Seconds) even though it was a recent release. “It’s a great film!” I pleaded. To which the reply was, “Yes, Gerard, but it was sticking to the shelf…”

MW: Ninety Seconds is clearly you as a director getting comfortable with your way of filmmaking, while still challenging yourself to try something different. Do you have any plans for even bigger films in the future?

GL: I would love to do to a film that at least opens on outer space as a massive ship sails by, or a nomad living in a post-apocalyptic world. I’d be crazy enough to attempt it on a tiny budget but those things I have just described would only make a great opening scene. Need a good story to take it from there…

 

MW: I felt Ninety Seconds could easily have stretched to a feature length film. Are you planning to make the jump from short films to feature films anytime soon?

GL: That is the most common remark I have heard back but while it does look cinematic the story as it is now cannot sustain being stretched to a feature length running time. If it was all story logic would snap into pieces. Mark and Ralfi following some dancer around for a mysterious business man just would not cut it so a major overhaul of the material would need to happen. I just don’t see it right now but that’s not to say it’s a world I won’t return to someday.

I would give my left arm to direct a feature as I’m at a crossroads now where I feel I have gone as far as I can with the constraints that come with a short film. But it’s all about finding a story that really grabs you and one hasn’t come my way yet that I would feel excited about bringing to the screen.

 

MW: With your film playing at a number of festivals so far this year, have you had time to catch any films yourself at these festivals? Do you have any favourites?

GL: The only short film I’ve seen this year that impressed me was Tuffty which I found really original and pretty disturbing… in a good way. I missed out on seeing a new film called The Looking Glass which looks interesting and has an appearance from our old friend Michael Parle.

 

MW: Finally, being a fan of horror, what has been your highlight so far this year and which horrors are you looking forward to most over the next few months?

GL: I was pleasantly surprised by The Cabin In The Woods which I thought was a breath of fresh air as it put a clever post modern spin on the genre and had fun with it instead of getting too smart for their own good. I don’t think I’ve seen a film before where the start is crap and clichéd on purpose. Glorious ending and priceless virgin joke too. But highlight so far for me was Prometheus which is a statement which will probably attract internet trolls quicker than a sack full of face huggers. In a lesser director’s hands, they would have simply taken the safe and easy option and remade Alien. Instead Scott and company made a rod for their backs and bravely took things off into new, unexplored territory. It might have had its flaws but it was damn exciting to be back in that world and I’ll be queuing up on opening weekend for the second trip.

 

Everyone here at HCF wishes Gerard Lough every success with Ninety Seconds, and we all are very much looking forward to see what the director brings next. Matt Wavish would also personally like to thank Gerard for taking the time to do this interview.

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About Matt Wavish 598 Articles
A keen enthusiast and collector of all horror and extreme films. I can be picky as i like quality in my horror. This doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a classic, but as long as it has something to impress me then i'm a fan. I watch films by the rule that if it doesn't bring out some kind of emotive response then it aint worth watching.

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