Film Name: For the Commune
Director: Stephen Edward Reid
Writer: Stephen Edward Reid
Starring: Juné Tiamatakorn, Quinn Richards, Jemima Jane, Jack Downey, Laura Castle
Two hikers get lost in the woods and stumble upon a sacrificial ceremony.
In a new Exclusive Interview on Blazing Minds ahead of Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to ask Co-Writer/Director Stephen Edward Reid a few questions about the film ‘For the Commune‘
For the Commune will play at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 11th January at 10.00am
Q. Your film has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we
can expect?
A. Blood, sweat and tears…on-screen and off! For the Commune is a folk horror short film that strips away dialogue and sound FX and plays instead to just a powerful musical score.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script?
A. I knew I wanted to write something in the horror genre and the idea of the ‘folk’ element was always intriguing. I had been watching films like Race With the Devil, Midsommar and Kill List amongst others around that time. Obviously, a film like The Wicker Man is going to be in your thoughts, especially with the idea of ceremony and ritual masks. The idea of a stranger coming into a community and unwittingly meeting their end amongst the madness of it all is a genre unto itself.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Tom (the DP) and I spent a long time discussing the look of the film. Shooting it in 4:3 gave the whole film a slightly more claustrophobic look – even when they’re walking through these expansive woods. There’s a sense of the main character’s world narrowing as she gets deeper and deeper into the woods. We stuck with mostly earthy colours, in keeping with the idea of nature and this wood- based commune. Doing it with this kind of palette meant that when we decided to use a splash of red here and there it had a greater impact.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Absolutely, yes! The original script had dialogue and each draft was trying to layer in various themes and backstory and -at some point- the idea of doing it with less dialogue and just relying on the visuals got into my head. I went through the script and started taking out bits here and there and eventually (quite late in pre-production) I realised it would work if we played it completely non- verbally.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. There’s a tracking shot where several things needed to happen at just the right time as the camera moved and in a very particular way for it all to work. We did about 6 or 7 takes in the end but when we nailed it and everything came together then that was a very nice feeling! On that same day we did the shot of the blood streaking across the white dress. Again, it needed to be timed right and land a certain way and we only had three dresses – so three goes to get it right. Thankfully we got it on take 2!!
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. On the first day of shooting we were out in the woods and were besieged by mosquitos for the whole day. We each got bitten over 30 times each and spent the subsequent days filming covered in bites and bumps and trying desperately not to scratch them. The make-up artist -Sarah- deserves an award for covering it all up on the actors!
Q. What makes it stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I think doing it without dialogue and sound FX immediately piques your interest. Just strong visual elements and the wonderful score from Theo Bimson contribute towards making it feel like it’s not your average horror film. The moment where the main character is bitten and there’s a slow motion shot of her silently screaming carries with it a certain power with the silence. The audience doesn’t need to hear her shrieking to feel her pain and anguish.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I’m hoping they feel like they’ve seen something unique. I hope it stays with them and it’s something they can discuss afterwards and maybe they’ll want to see more of my work.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I’ve just finished off a surreal apocalyptic short film, Cello for a Shotgun, which is having a great festival run at the minute. I’m doing a sci-fi short next involving an astronaut returning from space and then I’m hopefully starting pre-production on a new feature next year.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Just do it. Leave the excuses at the door and get going – especially if it’s your first project. People spend a lifetime procrastinating or waiting for the perfect script or the perfect time. Work with whatever budget you have, with whatever help you can get and just make something. Even if it’s no good, you’ll learn things on the way and as long as you keep doing it you’ll get better.
You can follow Stephen Edward Reid on Instagram
For the Commune will play at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 11th January at 10.00am
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!
