Film Name: Conkers for the Brave
Director: Debbie Lane
Writer/Concept: Tony Mardon (embellishments Debbie Lane)
Featuring the voices of: (If applicable?) Debbie Lane, Jes Hammond, & Poem narration by Rich Daigle
Hillbilly buddies, Jesse and Clyde, amuse themselves with their alternative version of a childhood game, however neither are ready for the consequences!
In a new interview leading up to the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, I got a chance to ask director Debbie Lane a few questions about what we can expect from the animated Conkers for the Brave.
Conkers for the Brave will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 8pm on Friday 13th January
Q. Your film Conkers for the Brave has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. It’s a stop-motion animation, obviously horror, but I like to think it’s a bit humorous and quirky too. I totally fell in love with my two little dudes, Jesse & Clyde, after making them, and really hope the audience gets behind them as well, as they’re certainly not the brightest sparks!
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script for Conkers for the Brave?
A. Well Tony [Mardon] contacted me about potentially doing an animation to be included in his feature film The Witches of the Sands (TWOTS), which would be based around a short poem he had written. The poem is only three lines long, so was more of a concept than a story, but we discussed the ideas we both had in so far as how we could see this going, and then he left the details and embellishments up to me. I had no idea how the characters were going to be designed and then noticed some behind-the-scenes photos from TWOTS and a couple of them seemed to have a bit of a redneck/hillbilly theme, so I started working on a wooden shack, and eventually the whole thing developed into that! So, there weren’t really any other film influences for this, I just took the theme and ran with it.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. I love the slightly derelict, run-down look of things, and the hillbilly theme really lent itself to this, so nothing had to be too precise or ‘perfect’. As I work on a very low budget, I tend to be constrained by what materials and tools are available to me, so due to this the style has to be a bit ‘rough and ready’ and a bit ‘wonky’, but I think this gives it character!
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Well we didn’t really have a script, but the concept was quite simple to start with, like I said, based on a three-line poem, and really things seemed to develop as I progressed with the filming. Not knowing exactly where I was going with it meant that I could add things in as I went along and create little additions which weren’t planned as the ideas came to me. Not even Tony knew how the film was going to end until it was all shot and edited!
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. I love doing the blood scenes! I know that sounds weird, but it’s so hard to control fake blood whilst animating, and I tend to film the whole shot before I look back at it to see if it’s worked. Using different types of thick and thinner fake bloods to try to get it looking like things are bleeding and dripping is really quite hard, but massively satisfying when you look at the end results! The other part I was really pleased with was one of the end scenes where I had something planned that I honestly thought was being overly optimistic and was definitely not going to work! I decided to attempt it anyway with an expectation of failing, but no, it worked, and I still cannot believe I pulled it off!
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Having someone else come up with the concept meant that there were many bits of this film that I had absolutely no idea how I was going to go about. And having only done one animation prior to this meant that my experience wasn’t exactly excessive! So yes, I had many issues during filming, but most were issues of my own making! Without giving any spoilers here, there were many shots where using rigs would have been a massive help, but I don’t have them, so trying to figure out how to get things to swing, to fly through the air, to fall smoothly out of boxes, etc was a massive issue. Having said that, I am massively proud of how I managed to achieve most of these shots just through creative thinking!
Q. What makes Conkers for the Brave stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. Admittedly there are quite a few stop-motion horrors if you search the internet for them, but very few use fake blood or look gory. I tried this in my previous short animation, All Consumed, and I really liked how it worked, so I tried to work on this more for Conkers. I think the characters in Conkers are endearing but not cute, and even though it is a very short film, I hope that people will really warm to them despite their slightly unusual nature.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I’d just be happy if people enjoy it! I hope they remember the name Spazm Films and look out for anything I might produce in the future, and I also hope they remember this is part of a larger, full-length feature The Witches of the Sands. Conkers wouldn’t exist if Tony hadn’t contacted me, and I’m so pleased he did, so I’d love it if he gets some additional promotion through this screening and people look out for the finished feature that this will appear in.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Before starting Conkers for the Brave I was starting to produce a sci-fi horror stop-motion based around the expectations of conformity within society. On a personal note I hate the way society and certain institutions have very strict and dogmatic views on how things should be done, and this has been something that has become very apparent to me over the past few years, so I really wanted to somehow represent this within a stop-motion horror. I have started some basic set building for this, and have some storyline ideas, so I am hoping to continue with this in 2023 for a 2024 submission to Horror-on-Sea. Currently I have a working title of ‘The Process’.
The other project that’s literally just been confirmed is for a segment in the Video Shop Tales of Terror films. The third film, Pick’n’Mix, has an animation section which I have just started working on ideas for. I think I need to get the sci-fi done and out of the way first though as I’ve not got enough room to work on more than one set at a time!
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Don’t overthink things, just do it! There are so many obstacles in the way, and so many issues that can stop you from doing this, and if you take all of this into consideration you will never start. Things don’t have to be perfect, or what you think people are expecting of you, you just have to work to your own standards and what you are capable of achieving and use that to your advantage. Creativity and problem solving are just as important as technical knowledge and experience, if you have an idea, go with it and get it shot, make it unique to your own style, and have faith in yourself. Without all of this, I would not have done anything!
Conkers for the Brave will be showing at Horror-on-Sea at 8pm on Friday 13th January. You can purchase tickets and merchandise for the festival on the website 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!
