INDIE INTERVIEWS - FILMMAKER KURT DIRT

Kurt Dirt is a musician, filmmaker and self proclaimed Duke of Puke, a well known artist in the UK indie Underground scene having contributed to movies like Troma's 'Return To Nuke Em High' and a string of other Indie concoctions as well as recently debuting his own latest gore soaked masterpiece in the form of the shot on Hi8 'Life is Cheap'.

I recently caught up with Kurt to discuss low budget filmmaking, old skool formats and what inspires him to make movies.

Every journey starts with an origin story, How did you know you wanted to make films?

I was a pretty sickly kid so I'd be asleep most of the day and awake all night, therefore I got hooked on late night ITV and channel 4 horror / weird movie marathons. I'd come in to school the next day and excite & horrify my classmates by telling them about what i'd seen. Of course sleep deprivation, fever and calpol always made my memory of the plot lines a little more trippy! I loved seeing the fear / disgust on their faces and I get the exact same buzz when I screen my movies today!

With more and more people choosing to just go out and shoot their own movies now, what made you take the DIY approach to making movies?

For me it's about maintaining control and the fun, I do this for my own enjoyment and to entertain fellow weirdo's. I have ideas for a hundred movies and I don't think I could ever pitch one of them to a studio / production company without being sectioned or put on some kind of register. I also like the way DIY movies look, to me they feel more dangerous. My main inspirations for 'Life is Cheap' were Troma,Yorkshire low budget film makers Smile Orange and the early films of Alex Chandon such as Bad Karma

As we all know DIY filmmaking can be tough, what were some of the downside of going out on your own?

Money is an obvious one, we were really lucky to have some generous donations via kickstarter (triple figures is mega bucks to us!) but there were costs for things such as travel expenses for actors etc that stacked up pretty quickly, also getting people all in one place can be a knightmare, it certainly pays to sit down, work out where and when you need everybody and plan it properly. 

On the flip side, what were the upsides?

As previously mentioned there's the freedom, we weren't bound to any set in stone script or screenplay so we could kind of riff on what worked on camera and what didn't work. All of our cast were fantastic but Ben & Louise in particular really shone when it came to improvisation and building on their grotesque characters. As a director I think it's important to stick to your vision for the project but it really does pay to listen to your cast and crew and allow people to think outside the box and come up with their own ideas, shoot everything and see what works and doesn't work when it comes to editing. My main indicators for what was going to stay in the movie was if I was struggling not to laugh behind the camera or if I was squirming to the point of thinking "what am I doing with my life?" 

Another great thing is getting to see the enthusiasm people put in to the project, especially the actors / crew working for little or no money, a good atmosphere on set / a buzz around the project as a whole can be really infectious. 

You recently produced 'Life is Cheap', which you shot on Hi8, what were the challenges of working on an old skool format?

Really not as many as you may think. What I love about working with Hi8 is that everything instantly looks kind of grubby and a little worn, you get all these cool little glitches and dirt without having to spend time and money on plug in's. The only real restrictions we faced were when it came to digitizing the footage. I work on a Mac and for some reason the majority of digitisation devices only come with PC software so we had to hunt around for a compatible programe online. The other is sound. Even if your going for the whole grunge / video nasty asthetic it's always worth still recording everything with a boom / sound recorder. I really regret not doing so on 'life is cheap', fixing audio issues in post was a nightmare and left us with lots of great scenes which were unusable due to actors lines being muffled or distorted.

Apart from 'Just make movies' what advice would you give people starting out making their own films?

Be yourself. Don't feel like you have to make films based on what you think other people want to see. Take time to sit down and work out what kind of aesthetic you want, what you want your audience to feel and do your research. Reading books by people I admire like Lloyd Kaufman, William Castle and John Waters and then making notes was a great help. Network and find other people who share your excitement and get them on board. Helping out on others projects can also be a great learning experience, for me working in various capacities on Lloyd Kauffman's 'Return to Nuke Em High', Liam Regan's 'Banjo' and Heidi Moore's 'Dolly Deadly' taught me much more than any film school could. 

And finally, what is next for Kurt Dirt?

Me and Ben (joeby cleftico in life is cheap) have been making plans for our next project, a gory buddy road movie with Jimmy Savilles ghost and Peter Sutcliffe. Ben has written some songs for it already and they're hilarious, definitely secured our place in hell. Also I'd like to take a break from comedy/ exploitation make a really scary, gruelling Horror movie, something that will make people feel like I did when I was a little kid cringing infront of the TV watching Evil Dead or the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, too afraid to get up and stop the VCR. I've been working a 'day job' at pasaje del terror in Blackpool and as well as being fun it's great research in to what not only makes people jump but scares them on a deeper psychological level.

You can pick up 'Life is Cheap' now at https://videorgasm.bandcamp.com

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MJ

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INDIE INTERVIEWS : FILMMAKER JASON IMPEY

Jason Impey has had quite a prolific career as a filmmaker. The UK based filmmaker with titles like 'Tortured', 'Home Made' and 'Fluid Boy' under his belt has almost 100 director credits to his name on IMDB and wears his love of exploitation cinema on his sleeve. 

MicroBudget Massacre talked to Jason about his approach to DIY filmmaking and the pit falls of taking on the daunting task of making feature length movies with very little money. 

Every journey starts with an origin story, How did you know you wanted to make films?
My story starts way back when I was just 5 years old and loved sitting at home watching good old VHS’s and TV. I was a bit crafty and watched a few horror videos at a young age I sneakily got my hands on and have been hooked ever since. I really enjoyed viewing all this stuff - but it went further in my head. I was interested in how and why a film was made, why shoot it that way, why use those shots, and was very intrigued as to how it was all put together and ended up being in my hands on this tape. 

This lead to only one thing, I armed myself with my fathers family home movie camera and went out shooting amateur shorts at the age of 10 getting my dad to edit them together on the VCR. Eventually this hobby led me to college to study media and filmmaking and I have never looked back since. It makes me happy, is a way of life and I honestly could not imagine doing anything else! 

With more and more people choosing to just go out and shoot their own movies now, what made you take the DIY approach to making movies?

As I was so young and inexperienced when I started making films it was the only real way to go about it, but I am so glad I did as I learned so much by just going out and giving it a go, and if anything it just fuelled my curiosity in to the world of film and allowed me to discover a real passion I have. I grew a better appreciation of independent filmmaking and discovered I actually really like raw DIY movies and it pleases me to contribute to this society.


As we all now DIY filmmaking can be tough, what were some of the downside of going out on your own?

Finance is always going to be a downside for me unfortunately. Its sad but true that DIY filmmaking can cost a fair bit of your money and extremely hard to make money from, but don’t get me wrong, it can be very rewarding and in some ways wouldn’t change it for the world, but living as a full time freelance indie filmmaker I’ve had the odd tight month and a few scary weeks here and there not knowing where the hell my next pay cheque is coming from.


Another sort of downside I would say is restrictions on your production. Its not always possible to get on camera what you hope for if your doing it all yourself, however there is an up side to this as it makes you think outside the box and can sometimes make the process more creative, it certainly keeps you on your toes!


Time is one of my biggest enemies. Theres never enough of it to get everything done, mainly on the actual filming days and this leads to a major downside for me - stress! I can get really down and a bit depressed when everything starts falling apart like running out of time, not being able to get a location, not finding enough cast members, when it goes wrong it can go wrong bad and be very upsetting and get right on top of you, however you have to try and remain strong and keep trying as when you do get through it you hopefully have a movie there that you can take some pride in and be proud that you made it.

On the flip side, what were the upsides?

Through making films in a DIY manner I’ve met some great people that share the same passion and interests as I have and become good friends. I have had fun times, and being on a indie film set is really one of my main ways of socialising. A real upside is when everything is complete and you realised you actually made a film, that is your special piece of art that will last and can be seen again & again, it feels like a real achievement when you get through it and you have something to show for it, and at the end of the day I’m doing something I love doing so I can’t really complain that much!


You've Produced and Directed nearly 100 films now including shorts over the last 20 years, what is your process for making so much stuff so quickly?

My main way of achieving such a prolific track record of films was just literally go out and make stuff. I managed to get a few good people together and had a bit of equipment as I freelance in the world of film anyway which allowed me to have access to the odd thing I needed, so luckily I was able to phone up who I thought I needed, grab my camera and go out guerrilla style and just shoot stuff. 

I would even sometimes just map the rough idea out back in the day and ad-lib the film and just shoot the coverage I thought I needed to tell the story in a location that was quiet that I thought we would not get bothered at! A bit naughty I know but did the trick, and some of my best work was made this way! As I did most of the jobs on the production myself I really only needed a simple idea I could play with, a few people in front of camera and a place to shoot, once that was sorted the rest was just fun playing about and being creative.


Apart from 'Just make movies' what advice would you give people starting out making their own films?

I would say if you want to make a film don’t run before you can walk. Start with a short, find your own style and way you like to work. Experiment and play about a bit before you get too stuck in and choose who you work with very wisely, it only takes one bad seed to ruin a production.

And finally, what is next for Jason Impey?

Well, I am a lot slower at making films than I used to be. I have become a lot more fanatical how I like stuff over the years and become more OCD with everything. I also take on a lot more freelancing work to get by as a filmmaker, but there are new productions on the way, including shorts and a feature in which I am returning to my roots - the horror genre!

You can check out more of Jason's work at his official site : http://jasonimpey.co.uk

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