The
Arrow interviews Byron C. Miller
Writer/Director Byron C Miller put his cash
where his mouth is, went through hell with casting, survived a
arduous shoot and completed his film called
NIGHT, a great looking
action and vampire hybrid. I had the opportunity to go a couple of
rounds with the lad and here’s what he punched my way.
What’s your
favorite horror movie?
Tough question… How about some of
my faves. Halloween, Dawn of the Dead (original), Evil Dead 2, John
Carpenter’s The Thing, Re-Animator, Invasion of the Body Snatchers
(78)
What are your
directing credits prior to NIGHT? Was it your debut?
NIGHT is my first feature. I did
however direct a horror comedy short in high school called The
Creeps. A cheesy good time. Before NIGHT I would work on any
local production I could get in with. Grip, Loader, 1st
A.D., actor whatever I could do to get some on set experience. And
in general I’ve been making movies since I was 10 years old with my
dad’s camcorder and some Halloween masks.
How did NIGHT
come about? What was the initial spark that birthed the film?
It all started in 1996…. I was a
senior in High School (new school, different state; sucked) and
wanted to make another movie. I wrote the script, got some people
interested, however being in school and having no money it was just
too ambitious and I sort of put it away for a loooong time. Then a
few years ago after working on some of those local productions and
taking some film classes I decided it was time for my first feature
and out of all of the scripts and story ideas NIGHT just seemed like
the best one to do.
The narrative
structure reminded me of Near Dark! Was the film an inspiration?
Definitely, I love Near Dark. I
wanted NIGHT to have that postmodern approach, no stakes or holy
water. I also wanted to take that a step futher with the vamps
characterizations, making them more like real people when they hang
out. Not overly gothic, or all a bunch of mean assholes. They’re a
bit more like us until they get hungry. Other inspirations were Lost
Boys, Lethal Weapon, John Woo’s Hard Boiled, Alien Nation, Full
Eclipse, Forever Knight, Sam Raimi….
How tough was the
casting process? Which was the hardest role to lock?
Oh the stories I could tell.
Pre-production was a long process filled with false starts and I
cast the film very early. Thus many roles were recast and recast.
During production I had to recast Mike. John Hardy (Mike) originaly
played Jerry and was so good that when we lost our Mike (scheduling
issues) we bumped John up and he did a fantastic job. Tonia was very
tough.
I had a specific way I wanted her
to be, and when we lost Tonia number two during production and had
to rush and hold more auditions no one seemed right. Enter Melanie.
She doesn’t look at all how I pictured Tonia, however she was the
first actress to truly understand what I was looking for from that
first audition. She nailed it. She’s awesome. I have some great
deleted scenes featuring different actors in some of the roles.
What was the
biggest obstacle that arose during the shoot as a result of working
with a low budget?
Let me think of some highlights for
you…. Recasting the leads mid production. Adhering to everyone’s
work schedules. TIME. We did however make a lot of creative
solutions that worked out and didn’t hurt the film…along with some
that did.
Looking at the
film now what are you most proud of?
The sex/kill sequence. I love it.
The score; Jasyn did a great job. The actors, the f/x team, and the
crew (usually Jasyn and Kelly Weaver); everyone worked their asses
off. I’m also just proud that I’ve had to view it now, oh I don’t
know, a hundred times and I still enjoy it. It was a blast making
it. I can’t wait for the next one.
Where is the film
now in terms of distribution?
We have a number of interested
parties. We’ll see what happens.
What’s next on
your plate; any other films in the works?
Yes, we’ve got a number of projects
in development. The next one is a very dark violent and scary as
hell supernatural horror film. I had fun with the action/horror, but
this time I want to do something that scares the shit out of people.
Then we’ve got this dark indie drama, and a Halloweenish Slasher
film that should be loads of fun, and a horror comedy sorta in the
vein of There’s Nothing Out There. Of course if Hollywood comes a
knockin’ I’m there. I wanna make all kinds of films. All genres.
Though most of the things that interest me tend to be on the darker,
stranger side.
What was the
first drink you downed at the NIGHT wrap party!
Funny thing is, we never got to
have a wrap party, but it would’ve been something with vodka. I like
the vodka.
I’d like to high five
Byron for stepping into this site’s ring and going toe to toe with
its inebriated host. Break a neck with distribution for your film
man and keep fighting the good horror fight!
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