Film Name: Mirror, Mirror: TRANSVILE
Directors: Martin W. Payne
Writer: Will Stretch
Starring: Robyn Adams, Bryan Edwards, Georgie Harriet-King
Does the mirror reflect reality or is it a window into the fears of the observer? After just another
day, when bullying becomes too much, what can Alice do? What defines her as a freak?
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask director Martin W. Payne a few questions about his film Mirror, Mirror: TRANSVILE which has been selected for Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 13th January at 22:30pm
Q. Your film Mirror, Mirror: TRANSVILE has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film
Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. Probably some questions (!) but hopefully also a realisation that reality is sometimes worse than the horror fiction that we create on screen. Would someone really take the action that the character Alice does in the film? Possibly, if the provocation was sufficient – and it is a harsh reality that bullying is inflicted on those who know who they are themselves but others can’t recognise that.
Hopefully TRANSVILE is a thought-provoking film. But who is the mysterious Raven Thornwood…..?
And why the mirror….?
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. The look and feel really came from the character that I wanted to have portrayed in the main part of the short film. Set dressing to try to make sure that there was an immediate understanding that we are dealing with a young adult and with me trying to get in to the head of a late teenager / young 20s adult and how their life situation might be. The story, however, came from having worked with ROBYN ADAMS previously, knowing what she can do, and hoping that I could push to get the portrayal of the character, Alice, to be as realistic as possible and also drawn from ROBYN’s personal past experience and knowledge of the bullying that we hear about but do not see on screen. There is, of course, no need to see the bullying – hopefully it is enough to hear about it happening.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. No, everything proceeded quite smoothly. There were a couple of issues that we just needed to work around in terms of costume and JASON IMPEY, Cinematographer, certainly didn’t thank me for finding a bedroom with two mirrors and adding a third! After all, it is very difficult to hide a camera, tripod, and the camera operator when reflections are always going to be a problem. Of course, it would have been easier to remove the mirrors…. But that’s part of the reason for this particular short film existing!
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. I think the overall shoot in the bedroom went well and with the atmosphere being one of a group of friends filming together – important when it very clearly needed to be a safe space for ROBYN.
Actually, my favourite moment was probably after ROBYN saw the film for the first time and commented how proud of the performance that she delivered and confirmed that she was comfortable with the film being screened.
Q. What makes Mirror, Mirror: TRANSVILE stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. The horror genre is so wide that TRANSVILE probably isn’t different as such – but I know that it was a short film that we needed to make to give a focus on, and play to the strengths of, the principal actor.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I’d hope they take some awareness of Mermaids UK and The Beaumont Society from the main part of this short film. Although I know the horror community is very accepting anyway but this is not a pleasant film to watch but hope it lingers in the minds of the audience.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. TRANSVILE is the first of a series of short films. LIFE AFTER is next and has been submitted to a single Film Festival in the UK for its World Premiere (if accepted). And then there are a further three shorts in the pipeline with a desire to try to get each of them to a different film festival before linking all of them together. That’s the idea anyway – who knows if I will be able to pull it off….
Q. If someone was looking to direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Directing, for me, is knowing the story you want to tell in your head and being able to translate that into live performance to be filmed. I hope anyone who is directed by me gets enough to know what they need to do to their satisfaction as well as mine when watching the result. And don’t be afraid to ask your actors for what the script requires of them – they may surprise you.
Links:
MermaidsUK: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/
The Beaumont Society: https://www.beaumontsociety.org.uk
Mirror, Mirror: TRANSVILE has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 13th January at 22:30pm
You can find out more about the Festival and purchase tickets here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
