Film Name: Walking Against the Rain
Director: Scott Lyus
Writer: Scott Lyus
Starring: Sophia Eleni, Reese Douglas, James Swanton, Johnny Vivash
Two strangers, Blair and Tommy are navigating their way across a barren landscape in a desperate attempt to find each other. With their only form of communication being two soon-to-die battery-operated radio microphones and with a new evil in the shape of ‘The Forsaken’ tracking them down, they must learn to confront loss and rediscover a trust in humanity. This slow-burn apocalyptic monster movie is directed by Scott Lyus, making his feature film debut.
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask writer/director Scott Lyus a few questions about Walking Against the Rain which will be making its World Premiere at Arrow FrightFest on Saturday 27th August at 18:00hrs.
Q. Your film Walking Against the Rain has been selected to play at the Arrow FrightFest Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. Walking Against the Rain is a blend of slow-burn human drama and creature feature, with glorious practical effects, created by the one and only Dan Martin and his team at 13 Finger FX. The underlying theme of Walking Against the Rain is an exploration into loss, grief and how our characters are coming to terms with a new life in an empty, but at times beautiful landscape, hidden within an old school practical effects monster movie.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for Walking Against the Rain?
A. I looked at a lot of low budget, minimal character indie films such as Monsters (2010) and post-apocalyptic films such The Road (2009) to get an idea of what could be possible on our micro budget and how to frame a character-driven post-apocalyptic story.
However, with human connection being such an important idea within the story, my biggest influence was talking to people about what human connection meant to them, and what it really means to be alone. Which unfortunately became a very real reality for so many during the pandemic.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. I always try and build out the look and style of the picture around the story, and that was no different on Walking Against the Rain. The first choice I made was to shoot the film with anamorphic lenses as I wanted a lovely wide frame to help showcase the vast, empty but beautiful world the film takes place in.
The second choice we made was to always keep the camera moving, which meant no locked off shots. The only time the camera really stops is when our characters stop. Even then we never used sticks as we always wanted a little life in the frame. I love utilising long takes too, as I like to capture as much in a single take as possible, giving the actors time to breathe and work their way through the scene. Which worked a treat on Walking Against the Rain as it’s all character driven.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Not really. I tend to work a lot with the actors on the screenplay before we get to production, and always allow them to build out their own character as I like my actors to take ownership of the character.
With that said, there were changes that needed to be made before production began due to our original funding partners dropping out. Thankfully we stuck to our scheduled shoot days, found new funding partners and simply scaled everything back, making the film for around 40% of our original budget.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. Every day that featured creature work was a dream come true for me. Even though they were the scenes that were greatly scaled back, I still had an absolute blast directing those and seeing the creatures brought to life by the ever-fantastic James Swanton. Who is always a dream to work with.
I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t love each and every day working with the rest of the cast. I love working with actors, pushing them and trying to bring the best out of them emotionally. And they were all a dream to work with and I’m so proud of what we achieved.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. We had all the pains any indie production has but overall filming went very well. My biggest fear going in was the weather, with the majority of the story set outside and production taking place across the ever-temperamental British Lake District but thank the film gods, the weather stayed pretty consistent for the whole shoot.
Q. What makes Walking Against the Rain stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. Although it won’t be for everyone, I feel the slow-burn character driven angle is a little different than your typical creature features. Also, Dan knocked the creature design out of the park, so we certainly, have that going for us.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. For those coming for the practical creature work, I hope you walk away having seen some really cool, old school creature work and buy into the mythology of the world. For those coming for the slow-burn character work, I really hope you connect with the characters and the overall theme of the picture.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I do. I’m currently developing two features, with a view to head into production on the first at the backend of 2023, that I hope to officially announce very soon.
Also on our slate is a debut feature from an extremely talented filmmaker based on a short, that we are very excited about and again hope to announce very soon. 2023 is certainly shaping up to be a very busy year.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. There’s never a perfect time to make your first feature. Things are going to go wrong, people will drop out, funding will fall through but you can get it made. Walking Against the Rain is proof of that.
Look at producing it yourself. The biggest mistake we made out the gate, was talking to people that promised the world but delivered nothing. Sometimes you’ve just got to do it yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will.
You can find out more about the Festival and purchase tickets here: https://www.frightfest.co.uk/
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!
