Dark Soon (2019)
Director: Nina Romain
Writer: Nina Romain
Starring: Sonya Seva, Izem Ustun
“Dark Soon” is an Los Angeles-shot found-footage spliced with Ringu creepiness. Four young LA filmmakers head to a nearby ghost town called Murphy’s Ranch.
In a new interview in the series leading up to Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, Dark Soon writer-director Nina Romain talks about the joys of filming found-footage on £50 cameras, creating and casting “the small shadow in the sunny day the best horror has”
Q. Your new short Dark Soon has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
I was on holiday last January in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, and staying at my favourite 1970’s style motel. And as I had brought a second hand camera to get some clichéd holiday snaps, I thought I would see if I could shoot some atmospheric footage that maybe I could use later.
The first day after I flew in from London, next morning I was in my favourite Venice Beach café, ordering a massive mug of coffee to fend off the jetlag. There I met some great performers-slash-actors, Shuhan, Rosie, and Christie, and we started shooting that afternoon.
I needed to find the perfect creepy, overcast location in a city famous for being sunlight and photogenic, so it was looking pretty difficult to locate something suitable.
I Googled Murphy Ranch and it seemed the perfect location, with not too many people around as it’s off the beaten track. The Ranch was built in Rustic Canyon, near Los Angeles in the 1930s and turns up in the work of American writer Richard Kadrey. Murphy Ranch is a ghost town is incredibly creepy location and like all the best horrors, a character in its own right.
It’s the fact that you can just walk into a deserted wooden town the Nazis built in the early 20th century with the intention of taking over LA. The place is supposedly fenced off as the buildings are literally collapsing after all this time, but people have found ways of creeping in, and that’s where we filmed.
Q. What were some of your inspirations when writing the script?
I’ve always loved J-horror so Shuhan’s performance was inspired by some “Ringu”-style creepiness. I’ve added a tiny moment to one of my favourite US disaster movies, “Cloverfield”. Right at the beginning, when the crew are happily eating lunch at the Santa Monica Beach pier before they head to the Ranch, there’s that small shadow in the sunny day the best horror has. I wanted to add a very brief reference to that. Hopefully my fellow horror hounds will pick up on it!
Q. Why did you decide to film it as found-footage and what were some of your influences for the look and style? How did filming in the US come about?
My short is basically a love letter to LA, as I’m obsessed with there anyway. I shot my other two short that screened at Horror-on-Sea, “U Never Listen” and “Halloween Girls” there as well. So I saw it from my fictitious filmmakers’ perspective: they’re 20 something LA filmmakers shooting a docu about how the Nazis built it to take over the City of Dreams. But as the sunshine fades, they realise that there could be some remaining World War 1 evil lurking in the deserted location.
So Shuhan, Christie and Rosie’s characters think it’s going to be an easy shoot, but as they explore the ruins of Murphy Ranch they meet a stranger who warns them that they should leave, adding ominously that it’s “gonna be dark soon.” Only of course they don’t listen, and their dream location turns into a nightmare. As you’d expect.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
I had to meet potential actors the day after I arrived, as there very little time to actually shoot. There was one actor who sat down to read the script with us over coffee, after turning up nearly an hour late. He literally skimmed half the first para, and before finishing the first page, announced loudly he didn’t like it and “had to be somewhere else NOW”. Then as the rest of the cafe watched in delight, he got up and strode masterfully out of the coffee shop, slamming the door behind him, leaving me, Christie and Rosie just staring after him in astonishment.
The best part was that he was probably halfway across town before he realised he was still holding our script! It was the perfect LA incident, and probably my favourite moment in filming.
Q. Where there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
We only had three days to film it as that’s all anyone had around the rest of their normal work schedule, so we were up against the clock. To get to the Ranch at the bottom of the valley, we were climbing down more than 500 steps to descend about 200 feet, which made for some impressive footage.
We had to be very flexible around people’s schedules, and deal with the unexpected. We did originally shoot an extra character who appeared in the Santa Monica Pier scene, where the crew eat lunch before they get to the Ranch, but the actor unfortunately couldn’t commit to the rest of filming so we had to cut their character out. Fortunately found-footage means you can be quite flexible and your finished footage tends to be as real life would have happened.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
As I couldn’t find a real life director at such short notice, I had to direct and shoot it myself, which was the first time I’d ever done that and pretty stressful.
Shuhan, Christie and Rosie did an amazing job in the middle of nowhere. Not only were they dealing with harsh weather conditions, but with me as a first time director! They were incredibly patient with my first time director nerves, overthinking endless requests for: “just one more take here guys, please…”
My amazing editor Craig Ennis made my footage really work, and the American voice artists, Sonya Seva and Izem Ustun, who voiced the characters when we got back to UK, were great to work with as well.
We had weather problems to deal with as on the third and last day. Obviously unusually for Los Angeles, it suddenly bucketed down, and the rain caused road floods, traffic accidents…we could have filmed a disaster movie instead.
Q. What makes Dark Soon stand out as something different? What do you hope people take away after watching the film? If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
Maybe that you don’t need a huge amount of money to make a short. Just turn up with your £50 second hand camera, and if you’re as lucky as I was, you’ll find a great crew and a suitably off-the-wall location!
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
It’s early days, but hopefully it will be shot back in the UK – and possibly filmed underground…
Dark Soon will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 12th January at 10:00 hrs
You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for the festival 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!
