Diabolic behind the scenes interview

Diabolic behind the scenes interview

Diabolic is having its world premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival in just a few days. So, what better time to share an interview I recently had with Daniel J. Phillips about Diabolic. Coincidently Daniel was also the writer, producer and director of Diabolic, and he shares some of his insights during this interview too!

Dan: We obviously worked on this feature film together, what was the overall visual style you were aiming for on this project?  

Michael: The visual style we were aiming for on Diabolic was something dark, atmospheric. You and I spoke at length about some references and movies, watched a few films and decided how we wanted this horror film to read. Things like the colour of the moonlight, the level of darkness in the forest during the moonlit scenes. They were things we decided on beforehand.

Dan: You might say, texturally, we talked about it being grounded in naturalism so that everything looked real, but still menacing and foreboding with a desaturated colour palette. We chose the aspect ratio very carefully to not be super wide. The way that we would normally lean, is to do something in 2.39:1, which is cinema scope, quite a wide cinematic frame. We chose a more vertical frame, which was a 2:1 aspect ratio, so that we could fit the trees into the frame, because the trees were such a big part of the visual look of the project.

Lots of the colours we ended up going with were really muted and we were steering away from the 90s horror look and made it more modern with lots of soft lighting, not hard lighting. 

Michael: Exactly Dan, thank you.

Dan: What were some of the visual influences for Diabolic? 

Michael: We watched a lot of movies to find the style we wanted. We looked at the original Evil Dead for the candlelit interior scenes. Those orange tones were a big part of it. The Conjuring also had a great visual style that we drew from. The Ritual, the grey and earthy tones, and the subdued natural colours. 

Dan: How did you settle on the style? 

Michael: The style was a discussion with me, you, and Jonah Booth-Remmers, the production designer. In my opinion the way to really get everyone on the same page stylistically is to build a mood board and a palette. A document that outlines the references. You've got your moonlight page and then you find images from movies or the world that are exemplary of that. You've got your candlelit interior, and you've got your daylight scenes. Different pages for each different kind of stylistic look of the film. And then everyone signs off, everyone gets to see it, and then you have everyone on the same page. 

Dan: What were the biggest challenges on location while shooting Diabolic? 

Michael: The biggest challenge for this project was definitely the weather and the location. It was a forest and quite remote from the city. We filmed during winter in South Australia, there was a lot of rain, and it was very cold. The location we chose within the forest was a valley or a low point in the terrain. It turned out that it became a bit of a bog with any amount of rain. Within a week of shooting there, the ground was 6 or 12 inches of mud underfoot. It was incredibly challenging to move the camera around, to get lights in the right spot, and to have any track or camera movement that needed stable and level ground.

Dan: How good was it to go into the studio after the location?

Michael: Heading into Sunjive Studios after the location shoots was an absolute dream. Having air-conditioned, controlled temperature, and level floors. You really appreciate the studio once you've been on location at night in winter.

Dan: Were there any particular tools that were invaluable during this project? 

Michael: The most invaluable tool was the knuckle booms or cherry pickers that we used to get our moonlight sources high and far enough away from the frame. This film has a lot of moonlit scenes in a forest. They are a challenge at the best of times. Really, the only way to achieve them is to have a large light source high and far away. Without these aerial work platforms, we wouldn’t have had the right visual feel that we were looking for.

Getting the knuckle booms and the cherry pickers into the forest was a real challenge. They're not designed to be off-road. But once we did, they were essential. We could put up our big moonlight source and remotely pan it and turn it and dim it as we needed. It sat in the same spot for the two or three weeks that we were in the forest. It was the foundation of all our looks for those exterior scenes.

Dan: What was the most difficult shot for this project? 

Michael: The most difficult shot for the project was an image that we both loved on our mood board. It was a silhouette running across the horizon. There was some thick smoke and haze behind it. When it's backlit from the moonlight, it's like a silhouette running across in front. It looks quite beautiful. We really wanted to try and do that on location.

We had a field on location, and it turned out that the wind and the weather wouldn't allow the haze and the smoke to sit. We didn't have enough haze and smoke machines to get the level we were after. That turned into a very difficult shot.

Ultimately, we decided to pivot, and we pulled the shot back into the forest amongst the trees, which allowed the haze and smoke to sit a bit more sheltered from the wind. I think we were both really happy with the shot and it turned out to be better than it may have been otherwise. 

Dan: What was your favourite behind-the-scenes moment on Diabolic?

Michael: One of my favourite behind-the-scenes moments was working with Glenn (Glenn Boswell, the stunt coordinator) to execute one of the key stunts we had in the film, which was when Elise (Elizabeth Cullen) throws one of the characters across a room and he flies and ends up hitting the font in the Baptistry. There were trusses, rigging and pulleys, and guys jumping off of boxes to pull them across. It was quite a fun little moment that ultimately worked quite well and looks really good in the film. 

Dan: What are some of the location challenges you find filming in South Australia?

Michael: The film is set in Utah in America so one of the fun challenges was finding locations in South Australia that could convincingly represent Utah. Part of this challenge was sourcing roads that didn't have street signs, finding the right trees, avoiding gum trees, and avoiding the classic Australian outback look. It definitely was a challenge, but it was a fun one.

Dan: What are some of the things you look for when deciding to work on a project? 

Michael: The first thing I look for when deciding to work on a project is whether the script is interesting, captivating, and has a lot of cool visual ideas in it. So, script is the primary decision maker, but also, the director and the other people working on the project. Working in film is similar to being in a relationship, so you need to consider the people that you want to work with. Those are the two key points that I like to check before choosing to work on a project.

End

I hope you’ve enjoyed this interview. I think it gives a great glimpse behind the scenes and the thought processes that go into a lot of the decisions made for a film like Diabolic. Filming in a forest in the middle of winter certainly had some challenges, but the result was amazing and worth the challenge. If you want to see Diabolic, it is premiering at the Adelaide Film Festival on the 17th of October. Tickets available here. Come out and enjoy the movie!

Stay tuned for more interviews about other projects I’ve worked on!