Getting his hands dirty with his feature directorial debut, FILTHY ANIMALS, writer/director JAMES T. NORTH gives us all the dirt in this exclusive interview discussing the “making of”.
SYNOPSIS: Set on Christmas Eve, FILTHY ANIMALS tells the story of two outlaw misfits, Lars, a thrill-seeking drug enthusiast, and Freddy, a bodybuilder recently out of rehab, who hunt down child sexual predators. A crime thriller with a western holiday twist!
Written and Directed by JAMES T. NORTH, FILTHY ANIMALS stars Ryan Patrick Brown, Austan Wheeler, Mena Elizabeth Santos, Peter Larney, and Raymond J. Barry.
When James T. North dives into something, he dives in head first and keeps on going. And that’s exactly what he has done here with FILTHY ANIMALS. Creating interesting and compelling characters (who I wanted to see more of in this film and hopefully will in a sequel), a unique and difficult story premise, and a diverse but effective visual style, James tackled everything from the challenges of balancing first-time and non-trained actors to the creative process with cinematographer Nathan Baldonado, to the importance of visual storytelling to editing and music.
Candid, forthcoming, and with a terrific sense of humor, in this exclusive interview, James breaks down not only the multiple production elements, but his personal thoughts on filmmaking and what the future may hold, including, but not limited to:
- the genesis of the story; “The idea for Filthy Animals came from a personal place. I had a friend who was sexually abused, and I wanted to explore that in a respectful way through the film. I originally wrote the script and asked my friend for permission to make a story about this, letting him know that in my fictional world, the characters would seek out and get vengeance on the person who harmed him. So the origin of the film was drawing from that personal experience and wanting to create a story that dealt with those heavy themes, but in a way that was digestible for a general audience.”
- various themes and visual influences
- casting
- collaborating with cinematographer Nathan Baldonado to develop the visual grammar and tonal bandwidth for the film that supported the tone and themes of the film
- watching movies for cinematic references and inspiration and creating a visual lookbook that they could reference on set thus allowing them to align on the desired visual style and pull from specific film references
- developing lighting that kept the film well-lit and maintaining a light, bright visual tone, even though the subject matter was quite dark; a deliberate choice to temper the heavy themes
- effective use of natural light and exteriors in the South Bay location which helped establish the visual aesthetic
- incorporating visual grammar and camera work like dutched angles, particularly in key moments involving the character Lester (Raymond J. Barry) to enhance the power dynamics and visual interest
- the editing process and collaborating with editor Robby Ngai
- describing editing was like “making my own prison for a little bit”, the editing and post-production phase was extended and required watching the footage many ties over
- making use of test screenings to refine the edit; Covid shutdowns and the industry strikes helped James as it allowed him the time to keep refining the edit (the first cut was over 2 hours long and they had to get it down to 1 hour 36 minutes)
- learning to “kill your darlings” in the editing bay
- the difference between the original script and the final film
- a “beautiful education” and learning process that taught him a lot about efficiency as a filmmaker
- needledrops and scoring
- key musical influences and collaborations
- the process of collaborating with Federale and Strawberry Fuzz for the soundtrack
- securing music rights from Citizen Cope
- use of public-domain Christmas music to emphasize the mood and mindset of the characters versus overloading the film with holiday songs that didn’t service the story
- how music inspired the script itself (James listened to Federale while he was writing)
- lessons learned as a filmmaker
- and more!
TAKE A LISTEN. . .
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 12/11/2024
