00:13Breathe in. Breathe out. Remember, you are safe. You are capable.
00:28It's interesting because you sort of play back to the innocence of the time without losing the modern sensibilities of
00:35how we see dating and everything like that. Could you talk about fusing that? Because that's such an interesting psychological
00:42play.
00:43Again, like fusion is kind of where I thrive. I just I just think it's fun. It's just like it's
00:47just so to like, you know, add two things together that never really go together and like make something brand
00:53new is such a great way to do it.
00:54But to me, like for me, Valentine's, like modern Valentine's and the aesthetic and the sound of it isn't very
00:59romantic, actually.
01:00It's a little more commercial, like all the all decorations these days are more plasticky.
01:05So from the beginning, just from an aesthetic place, I wanted to do like 1950s Valentine's as our, you know,
01:11like actual paper doilies and like velvet and like really rich, you know, kind of elegant Valentine.
01:17So from that, I mean, you know, from actually from that place, we were like, OK, we also want that,
01:22you know, style of music.
01:23And I just the nostalgia of the romance back in the day to me is kind of irreplaceable.
01:29And so like infusing that, especially, you know, at the certain parts of the movie.
01:35But also, you know, when the kids are actually at their own, you know, house parties, like what kind of
01:39things are they listening to and like what kind of things are actually more contemporary to them?
01:45Yeah, it was really fun.
01:46For these characters, it's a learning experience.
01:48It's how does Laurel grow?
01:50How does Poppy grow?
01:51You know, and that's also reflective as a filmmaker, the films you grew up with and the films now that
01:57you look at and the films you're making is going to be, you know, people are going to say, oh,
02:01I want to try that.
02:02I want to sort of meld that.
02:04Oh, my gosh, absolutely.
02:05I mean, it all comes from, you know, the feelings you got when you watched it, right?
02:10When you were younger, going to the movies or do it as sleepover.
02:14I, you know, some of my fondest memories are watching these movies with my best friends, right?
02:18So to me, it was really important to replicate that.
02:21Like I keep saying like this, I hope that this is like a gateway horror movie that people can watch
02:26at sleepovers.
02:27Like that is my dream and because that's what I got to live myself.
02:31So, yeah, watching Never Been Kissed, watching Final Destination with my friends and like loving that just life experience and
02:38wanting to replicate something like that.
02:40But through like synthesized through my perspective as a filmmaker.
02:44So there's so much, you know, emotional homaging and aesthetic and narrative homaging.
02:48But again, you hope to mix all that into something that's brand new and unique for the current era and
02:54the current kids, you know.
03:09I like how you said entry points because the thing is, is that most horror films, I do Fantastic Fest.
03:15I do all these big horror festivals.
03:17Plus, you know, everything comes out.
03:18And it's interesting, you know, people were really trying to go for dark, dark, dark, dark and people, especially in
03:24this day and age, don't want something that's so overwhelmingly dark that you can't function.
03:29And it's interesting to see a movie like yours because it is horror.
03:32It does have that romance element.
03:35But it's, as you said, it's accessible.
03:37Yeah, totally.
03:38And I think, you know, there's, there's different, you know, sub genres of horror, right?
03:41And what's enjoyable and what's fun and like, and some horror thrives because of what you can't see and what's
03:47in your imagination.
03:48Versus some horror thrives because you're showing you all the gore and all the blood and all the like absurdity
03:53of like kind of, you know, the, the larger than life gore.
03:57So I think what we were going for is like, you know, the less you can see, the scarier it
04:01is.
04:01And, you know, and especially we're dealing with teenagers and like, we're hoping for the audience again, like we're hoping
04:06for, again, a gateway horror movie for people.
04:09So I think there's ways to make things scary.
04:12And yeah, that's actually like a fun, you know, foundational rule for a horror, right?
04:17It's just like, it's all really about what they don't know is behind the curtain.
04:20What they don't know is, you know, lurking in the halls.
04:23Who is one of my best friends, the killer, you know, the, the, the paranoia of it, all that.
04:28So none of that really requires physical gore or, you know, intensity in that way.
04:33And, you know, for me, you know, I, I hope someday I'll make a rated R movie and I can
04:37go full gore, you know, I think that I would enjoy that very much.
04:41But yeah, you kind of select which types of, you know, which moments you want to do that.
04:46Even in this one, I tried to add little bits, you know, little bits of, little bits of stabby stabby.
04:50But yeah, I think you can, it's, it's a, it's a tool as a horror filmmaker that you can, you
04:56know, calibrate and modulate.
05:11But I do like, in terms of modulating that, that's because it allows you to be creative because how do
05:16you keep the mystery?
05:17Because the script says one thing and you do what you can with the script, but then there's that nice
05:22little space where you can play that white noise space.
05:25Absolutely. You know, the PG, like the PG-13 parameters are so interesting.
05:30This is the first time for me to like really try to match those, like working with the studio and
05:34Blumhouse and everything.
05:35And like, so we had to do like blood tests of like how, how, how bright the colors are, the
05:40blood, like, you know, is it too dark?
05:43Is it too sticky? Is it too runny?
05:44Like, and like those parameters and learning what those boundaries were, were very interesting and fun for me, actually.
05:50And ultimately, you know, if it's not visible and it doesn't translate, it doesn't really function.
05:55So that was really the guiding force is like, can we still see it?
05:59Even if it's not like, you know, Tarantino blood going, going, going hog wild everywhere.
06:05But yeah, you know, again, like it's, whether it's horror or not, it's all about, can the audience like connect
06:12emotionally to what the character is experiencing in the moment?
06:15So, you know, whether it's a moment of suspense or whether it's a moment of suspicion, it really is just
06:21like, you know, when, when I'm behind that monitor capturing those performances on set, it's like, did I feel it?
06:27You know, did I, did I feel what they're feeling?
06:30You know, did I feel the, the, the, the, did I think what I'm hoping that they're thinking, you know?
06:36So I kind of see myself as the first audience member on set, you know, seeing if I'm catching those
06:40moments.
06:41If your characters register and your characters create empathy or a sense of, you know, connection, that's what's doing.
06:49Can you talk about when, how do you know, do you have the instinct at this point to know that,
06:54okay, I got this.
06:55Or do you try different things on different takes to see what might work?
06:59Yeah, it totally depends.
07:00You know, I do, I really make sure I feel like we got it before we move on.
07:07No matter how, you know, hardcore the schedule is, no matter what the restrictions are, because, but I feel like,
07:12because I do a lot of prep work with the actors and stuff like that, where we're kind of, we're
07:16kind of on the same page as what tone we're going for and what we're, what we're hoping for.
07:19But, you know, if I, again, I do try to get options because I do love, you know, finding the
07:24movie and editing as well.
07:25So if I got one good performance, like, even if I love it, if I have the second to just
07:30do one more take, I will be like, you know, give me, give me something that's a little 180 from
07:33there, right?
07:34Like, what if it's this?
07:35What if it's that?
07:35And that part's actually just fun.
07:37And it's like, you know, raw material gathering and you get to get these options.
07:40But it really, really depends on like what kind of day we're having, you know, like, are we fighting the
07:44sun?
07:44Are we, you know, are we, it all, so much of filmmaking is being creatively optimal within a logistically inoptimal
07:52world.
07:53So it's, it's, it really depends on the day sometimes.
