Toomy (2019)
Director: Kirk Redgate
Writer: Kirk Redgate
Stars: Jessica Sargent, Travis Booth-Millard
A teenage girl wakes to a violent storm, but the nightmare has only just begun when she gets a visitor in the night.
Following the premier of the short film Toomy at the Horror-on-sea Film Festival I got a chance to ask writer-director Kirk Redgate a few questions about what we can expect from the film.
You had you short film played today at the festival today, for those who didn’t see it what can they expect from the film?
I really made it to freak people out to be honest with you. Because it’s my first short film, I decided to make a piece that was cheap to make; the film cost me £800 in the end. I wanted it to be quite stylised, so I had quite a clear vision of how I wanted the film to look. That’s why I did the production design and bought all the props for the bedroom, except for the bed which was already in there and the mirror. By I bought pretty much everything else, all the costumes… I wanted to do something cheap.
I wanted it all set in one location as well, because once you get more locations it gets complicated. I wanted to shoot in all in a day, which respectively wasn’t the best idea. We really needed two days, but I was trying to keep costs down, so to do it in two days would have cost more money.
You ask what people expect from the film; just to get creeped out really, I wanted to create this nightmare and I had this idea of the Toomy character in my head. He was kinda creepy outside the window, messing around with her mind and that’s where the idea come from and bloomed.
What were your influences for creating the character in the story?
I can’t really put my finger on anything in particular. I get all my influences from the filmmakers I enjoy, but I don’t know if any of them show in my film. I wanted it to be a bit of a period piece. I like director like Roman Polanski, Kubrick and David Lynch. I wanted it to be quite strange and very stylistic, which I wanted to be hands on with all the props and costumes, I wanted it to look a particular way.
When you were writing the script did you have an idea of what props you wanted, because you use a lot of the props in the film?
Yeah! In the early concepts he was going to get in through the window, but when we were looking at locations, we used the producer’s bungalow and we realised that his big window wouldn’t open. I am giving away the whole film to people (laughs) so then we got him into the room through other means and then come up with the box. It took a long time then I found that red chest and said, “That’s it”. I don’t always know what I want, but I know what I don’t want. Once I start looking for stuff and I discover it I am like, that’s what I want, and I have to get that. It’s puzzle pieces that get themselves together until its ready.
So, did the film change whilst you were looking for stuff?
The script stayed the same. I mapped out the short before I started writing the script, so I know where I am going to start and end. It’s a short film, the script is about three pages long. no dialogue and just action. To be fair it didn’t change much when we shot it, but I did do a lot of drafts. I couldn’t tell you specifically, it did change but I couldn’t say where and the concept was always there.
Obviously, you were shooting in a day which was difficult at the best of times, but did you experience any issues during the shoot?
Lots of issues! It’s like talking to the filmmakers here today, you obviously learn as you go along. I have done a lot of cinematography for my friends’ film, but this is my first as a writer-director for me. I was a bit ambitious because I story boarded about 90 shots to be done in a day. We did a long day shoot, about 13 hours, 14 hours and we got to about four o’clock in the afternoon and I had only shot about 25 shots, so I still had over 50 to do. So literally I had to work on the fly, I was axing stuff and at that point I was running out of time. I had to get rid of tons of stuff and just say “If we can get this, this and this I might be able to make a film by the end of it. It was a real panic on the day, but I managed to pull a film out of it in the end. I wouldn’t do it again, not in a day. Its one of those, if I has two days it would have benefitted me so much and it just didn’t happen, so I had to make the best out of what I had. We kind of went back to the location on the second day just to get a couple of pick-ups, but that was just an hour or two and wasn’t a lot. Live and learn, I will definitely schedule more time in the future.
Were there any bits in the original script that you took out where you think, I wish I could have kept that in there if I had more time?
Definitely, when the girl panics and she tries to escape from the bedroom, I had a whole special effects shot which was going to be in there, because the Toomy character he eats people. So, because he was playing with her mind and she was imagining stuff, I was going to have her look down at her hand which was going to be chewed up. My make up guy had all the prosthetics with him, but we didn’t have time to do the effects, because to set up the prosthetics was going to take a couple of hours and time was flying by, so we had to scrap that. There was more, but that was a big one and I was disappointed about that.
There are also certain shots in the film that I had to get all in one shot. I had them all storyboarded in pieces, but I couldn’t film it like that because we didn’t have time, so I had to do it in one long shot instead. Especially when comes out and he slivers across the bed and traps her in the corner. It was all different shots and I didn’t have time to shoot it. I think we used the first take as well, we did it and we were going to have to use it. It really was thrown together on the day, I thought I was quite prepared, but you can never really be prepared enough.
What was your favourite moment during filming?
I don’t know, it’s kind of a blur thinking back over it, it was such a stressful experience. It was fun for me because it was my first time directing a film. I made a couple of shorts years ago, but they went straight onto YouTube and died, so I don’t really count them to be fair. This is my first real attempt and it was just a good atmosphere. Duncan the producer was great, because we were doing it in his bungalow, so it was a mad house for 15 hours. It was really nice of him to let us in there, play around and make this film. I think it was just the atmosphere, everyone was trying there best to create this film, we were all on the same page, but it was really stressful trying to direct stuff and the time. That was the most stressful part. Overall it was fun, but at the end of the day I was in panic, thinking am I going to be able to make a film out of this stuff, which is why we went back for some pick up shots. There were some things that we still needed, but we were making the best of the situation.
If someone is looking at directing their own short movie what advice would you give them?
The advice I always took on board from filmmakers that inspire me is just go out there and make a film, just go out there and do it. I’ve wanted to make a movie for so many years and its just a case of just doing it. If you want to make a film, don’t wait for anyone to give you a lucky break, check your pot, see what you’ve got and if can get a couple of hundred quid together. I have been speaking to other filmmakers and I want to make a feature film next. They were saying just go make a feature for zero money, it’s just practising your craft. I would say go out there pull your friends together and whatever resources you have, ask all the favours you can. I asked for lost of favours for Toomy and I had a few hundred quid to spare to make it, but I was asking for lots of favours. Unless you just go out there, ask and just do it you don’t know what you are capable of. I wanted to do it for years and it is just a case of, pull yourself together and just take action. That’s all I can advise just go out there and do it!
You can find out more about Kirk Redgate on Facebook and Instagram
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!
