Film Name: The Cigarette
Director: Zachary Snygg
Writer: Jasmin Flores, Zachary Snygg
Starring: Darian Caine, Tina Krause, Valerie Bittner, Sarah Marable, Jasmin Flores
Deadly laced cigarettes cause chaos and death in New York City.
In a new Exclusive Interview on Blazing Minds ahead of Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to ask co-writer/director Zachary Snygg a few questions about his film ‘The Cigarette‘
The Cigarette will play at Horror-on-Sea on Friday 10th January at 12:30pm.
Q. Your film has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Well it is a feature horror film (Hopefully the crowd at Horror-on-the Sea) can sit through a feature film. It is a horror film about greed and how we test our morals for financial gain when desperate.
Q. You co-wrote the script with Jasmin Flores. What was the process of you writing together and what were some of your influences when writing the script?
A. Originally, I wasn’t going to produce this film. I had raised partial money for a film called REHAB, but wasn’t able to raise enough funds to produce a film that would require taking a bunch of actors from NYC and housing/feeding cast and crew in a cabin in the woods. Jasmin Flores had an idea that I felt I could produce on a lower end, and we were able to make that project happen. There is a lot of improvisation in the script since we wanted a natural feel from the cast.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Oh many. Everyone from Walter Hill, John Carpenter, Rob Nilsson, and many filmmakers from the 1980s. You have a limited time to film movies on a very low budget, so you have to look at filmmakers who can shoot efficiently while creating a tone. For many scenes (I was the cinematographer as well etc.) I used a lot of coloured gels which was a big thing in the 1980s to create an off kilter style. I would generally shoot all my dialogue scenes with 3 cameras (a wide, and close ups of each actor) as they were improvising. This was something Rob Nilsson (a relatively cult filmmaker from San Francisco) would do.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Constantly, due to budget constraints and people would come up with interesting ideas. Film is a collaborative experience and if anyone can come up with interesting ideas, we should all use it to make a better project.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. A lot of film was hectic, but I would say my favourite shooting day was with Jasmin Flores and Luke Couzens. We had film one of the opening scenes in my condo which was a “oner” in which the couple had a “breakup” regarding their relationship. The rest of the day we filmed mostly in NYC including scene in Grand Central Station and Times Square. I felt that day since I was dealing with limited actors and logistics it was a good day of filming.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Many of the biggest issue was the weather. We had many exterior shooting days, and it seemed almost every day we wanted to film we got hit with pouring rain. So before or during each shooting day, we had to change the schedule around due to rain. We were just really unfortunate when it came to the weather. So we would move around what we could, and could not film. Many scenes were filmed in the rain, even though audiences may not be able to tell. This film was only shot on weekends, starting in the fall and finishing up in January. Jasmin was wearing fall clothes, but had to keep the same outfit on during the winter shoots. It was quite cold, but she is a trooper. Also, many of the film was shot outside of NYC. So finding actors or a crew member that could get transportation to the set was always an issue.
Q. What makes it stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. LOL, I don’t know if it is. I think there is some quirky humour to it. I just tried to service the script to be honest.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. That’s really for an audience to decide to be honest.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Jasmin and I are floating around an idea about a horror film in a beauty pageant. We are looking again to raise funds for the film.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. With the access to equipment that is so inexpensive compared to when I had to shoot on film in the 1990s, my suggestion is just go out there and do it. This was shot on 3 DSLR cameras, I gave the actors wireless lavaliere microphones, and I had one assistant and that was it for the entire production. I cast the film, secured locations, props and did the special effects you name it. Think about logistics and how can you produce your film in a limited time on a limited budget.
The Cigarette will play at Horror-on-Sea on Friday 10th January at 12:30pm.
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!
