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Interview with CJ Johnson & Nick Thiel writers and
directors of "Creepers"
By Geoff Bough
Being
the film fan that I am, I put a lot of trust and admiration in the independent
market. It's one thing to have a bloated budget and other people calling
the shots and a whole other story to be passionate about your production,
raise your own capital, cast your friends and make a movie you believe
in.
I got contacted by film makers CJ Johnson and Nick Thiel, two award winning film students from LA who are putting the finishing touches on their sci-fi/horror film 'Creepers'.
Rev: The premise of 'Creepers' sounds very interesting, kind of merging sci-fi and horror elements, can you tell us more about the story and how the writing came about?
NICK: “Creepers” was an idea I had for years but never got around to doing it until CJ asked me if I wanted to work on another movie with him. I pitched him the idea and he liked it. Within a week he had written a great rough draft. CJ had taken my ideas about aliens using our flesh to hide and blend in with us and made it more about two characters and how they deal with the possibility of one of them being one of these things.
CJ: I wanted to make a
more personal story with epic proportions. So, this idea of an alien attack
happening without any clear knowledge of what triggered it or why they're
doing it... its happening and chaos ensues. It's a bit of a mystery story.
I wanted to have a man and woman who were physically and socially opposite
of each other who were forced together. They slowly learn what's happening
and it causes even more tension between them. I can't give too much else
away. But, hey, there's a slight plot twist at the end of the story and
there's a lot of blood.
Rev: You guys both have backgrounds in film,
can you tell us where you studied film and how your studies impacted your
work?
NICK: I had been making movies on my Hi-8 DV camera with friends and showing them off on public access for years. Once I decided to take it to the next level, I attended the Art Institute of California – Los Angeles where I met up with a lot of talented young filmmakers. CJ and I started taking classes together and formed a great friendship and filmmaking relationship.
We formed a great team because of our interests in making the same type of movies. Every few weeks we would be required to shoot a 5 – 10 minute project. Both of us would usually make a horror or action short, which usually the teachers didn’t want us to do. But when we showed them to people, the reaction was amazing and we always stood out from the crowd because 80 percent of the classes were making dramas. At one of the film festivals I ended up winning the top three awards for my horror short “The Last of the Zombies”. I feel what I learned in school showed me the workings of a real set and the fast pace always on the ball nature of it.
CJ: Nick and I both attended
the Art Institute of California - Los Angeles, majoring in film &
TV production. We mostly worked with digital video in the beginning stages
of it really being used in the mainstream film market. So, I can honestly
say we're specialists in that department. We usually had four-hour classes
and had a few weeks to shoot a 5-10 minute project of our choosing on
a quarterly basis. So, Nick and I learned how to shoot quickly, cost effectively,
and were able to develop a shooting style. It had a tremendous impact
on us because we walked away from school with numerous projects and experience
under our belts not including what we were learning on film sets outside
of school.
Rev: Both of you have some prestigious accolades under your belt having garnered numerous awards for previous short films and music videos. Can you tell us a little about your previous works?
CJ: Growing up, I used to get awards for writing and acting which boosted my confidence in the entertainment department. In college, Nick used to own our digital film festivals. It seemed like everyone liked almost anything he made because he was always getting praise and awards for his shorts. The ironic thing is that our school kept trying to persuade us not to make horror and action films and those were the projects that Nick kept scoring awards in.
I was lucky because I acted in almost all of them. I worked on a few
shorts that screened at digital film festivals. Post college, is where
I really started to become comfortable with my style of shooting so, my
hip hop music video, "Motherless Child" did well enough for
me to win the BET’s “Ya Heard?” Independent Music Video
Contest in 2007. My next project, "The Signal" received an Honorable
Mention from the Tabloid Witch Awards (Sci-Fi Horror Film Festival), which
ironically enough had both Sarah and Nick acting in it. As much as winning
awards is special, the best feeling about this whole process is to see
someone's reaction to my work, rather they hate it, get confused by it,
or love it...I sucked them in.
Rev: Tell us a little about the casting process.
I understand you're playing the lead role CJ?
NICK: The casting process was pretty easy because it was such a small cast. Being in LA, almost everyone wants to be an actor so finding a cast wasn’t hard at all. We went to websites and looked at plenty of headshots and reels before picking the ones we thought would be right. Once meeting everyone I knew we had made the right decisions. The character of “Thompson” played by CJ Johnson was written for him. Having worked with CJ before I knew he could pull it off. He brings a real dark edge to the role, which is exactly what I wanted. Sarah Ashley who plays “Bridget” who I had seen in CJ’s movie “The Signal” was the perfect cast. Her character goes through a lot in this movie and she got all the emotions perfect.
CJ: Yes, I am co-starring
with Sarah Ashley. I've got a lot of acting chops so, when I wrote this
short; I knew I had to play the "ass-kicker" of the story. Sarah
worked with me before on a previous short I wrote and directed so; I knew
I wanted her to be "Bridget" in the story. So, that was established
in the beginning. We then spent a few weeks casting, looking over headshots,
checking out online acting reels, etc. Usually I audition actors and actresses
for roles but Nick and I took a very risky route and chose talent based
off of experience, reels, and their "look". It almost seemed
like destiny was glaring us in the eye because, everyone we chose did
an incredible job. It was a bit challenging for me as an actor because
I was both producer and writer. I'm also a pretty "funny" guy
who talks way too much. So, in "Creepers", "Thompson"
is this guy who's a bit short with words, a man of action so, between
takes after, I made sure everyone was okay I'd go off by myself. I wanted
to isolate myself so I could explore that feeling in my performance. I
scared the crap out of Sarah a few times during takes, so, hopefully that
will translate onscreen.
Rev: I've read that the cast and crew worked
on the production for free, did you find this at all difficult to direct
people or were they more passionate about the vision of the project?
NICK: Making a movie is like going to war. But, the crew did a really good job and stayed really excited and pumped about making it. A big part of the crew were people who we went to film school with and they all knew the difficulty in making short movies on a little budget. Every movie I have ever made has things that go wrong but it’s at that moment when you and the crew have to be on your feet ready to switch things and make it through the problems that lay in front of you. I believe every one on set stood up to challenges that were put before us.
CJ: Everyone that worked on "Creepers", I personally spoke to about Nick and I's vision. There was a make up artist who quit on us during pre-production because they weren't being paid. But, it didn't hold anything up. Everything continued on as planned and everything turned out the way we wanted. For the most part, production went very smoothly.
There was only one person I can think of that made production a bit difficult
but everyone seemed to just ignore it and move forward. They were being
very professional. It was very chaotic on our last day of shooting and
it was the large bulk of the action sequences. So, people were covered
in blood and running around in the blazing sun...no one complained. In
fact, two of our "Creepers" came before they had to shoot, got
into make up, and actually had the most intense make up portion of the
production. They had to run, fall on the concrete ground, get knocked
into stuff, and when their scenes were finished, they got cleaned up,
ate some food, and then took off. It was quite amazing. Sarah (Bridget)
was getting exhausted but, she was sick on the second day of shooting
and her role in the film was very emotionally draining. Even then, she
didn't complain. She just took naps between takes. 
Rev: The film is a sci-fi horror hybrid; can
you tell us what films have influenced the writing and production of 'Creepers'?
NICK: My main influence was John Carpenters “The Thing”. With “Creepers” we really tried to play up the fact that the end of the world is here and you can’t do a thing about it. “The Thing” really captured that dread like no movie ever has. The pacing and tension in that movie is so intense. “Creepers” pays a lot of homage and brings some knew elements to it.
CJ: Nick and I are big fans of horror so we wanted to create something we've seen before but with a modern day twist to it. There are a lot of cheesy elements to "Creepers" because horror in a sense is a bit cheesy but for the most part "Creepers" takes this cheesy essence of horror and makes it a bit grittier. John Carpenter's "The Thing" and Zack Snyder's version of "Dawn of the Dead" played a large role in the style and themes we wanted in "Creepers". We also used elements from ABC's "Lost" in our short. If you watch "Lost" there's this constant paranoia and tension that's almost emotionally draining as a viewer. We wanted to create that essence with "Creepers".
Rev: The film addresses
some social issues such as racism and emotional tension between the two
main characters; can you tell us a little more about that?
CJ: In film, audiences are usually turned off by outright political and social views, when these issues emerge onto the screen as underlying themes people seem to have views expressed to them unknowingly. We don't have to use any characters in our story throwing out racial slurs or exploit our views on politics with monologues. Instead we present elements... Our two main characters, "Thompson", a black man and "Bridget", a white woman are trapped together in a house under extreme circumstances that have forced them together. This creates emotional and mental tension between two people who probably would never have even known each other if it weren't for the severe circumstances. The attacks that "Creepers" is centered around are "terrorist" guerilla like attacks. So, whom do you trust? Should you trust anyone? Who is the enemy? Is it someone you're waiting and preparing for or is it someone right beside you without you even noticing?
Rev: You shot the film on DV, can you tell us how long of a shoot the project was and where was it filmed?
NICK: The main production
was filmed in an apartment and a city block in Los Angeles California.
We shot there for 2 days, with neighbors and people driving by giving
us weird looks because half the cast was bloody and their face was torn
off. The other day we shot at night at Pacific Ranch Market in Orange
County California. The Market closed at 9 PM so we got the rest of the
night to shoot the remarkable News Report scene.
CJ: Filming went underway
for three days with three different locations (Los Angeles, California-House
Residence, Orange County, California-Pacific Ranch Market, and Los Angeles
California-street block). The Pacific Ranch Market in Orange County provided
a critical scene that entails a suspenseful newscast filled with chaos,
including gunfire and smoke. The crew for “Creepers” was able
to shoot uninterrupted, for hours in the market for free because Nick
worked as a manager at the market as a teen.
Rev: Did you have trouble finding locations?
NICK: No, because CJ and I had talked about where we can shoot the movie before most of the script was written. Knowing that we can get the locations for free made it very easy on the budget and us.
CJ: Since we already knew
the possibilities of shooting locations in drafting the screenplay, it
was easier for me to imagine the story. If anything, we had to troubleshoot
shooting in these locations with blood and chaos going on everywhere within
the world of "Creepers".
Rev: Was there a budget for the project?
NICK: The Budget was very small. It only cost a couple of thousand, which came out of CJ’s and my pocket. The budget went to food; make up effects, visual effects, and post production costs.
Rev: What can we expect to see in the way of special effects? Did you have effects artists on the production?
NICK:
I think the special effects are marvelous. I tend to like to do as many
effects live and on set as possible. We had two special make up effects
artist who did a great job creating the fleshy looks to the creepers.
I went to every Halloween shop in town and got gallons of fake blood.
We also have a lot of visual effects. The eyes on the “Creepers”
were all done in post and they look startling. Chris Buongiorno took our
shots and added white zombie like eyes. They’re very creepy and
bring so much to the “Creepers”.
CJ: I tend to use digital
effects in most of my projects. Nick tends to use more special effects
during production so, it was an interesting mix of what we're doing effects
wise. One thing I love to do is mix effects in so they seem seamless.
Expect to see a lot of blood and eye effects. When you see the eyes of
the "Creepers", they're cold white eyes like zombies. Most of
the movie was shot handheld so, compositing this eye effect was a major
challenge. Especially keeping in mind, you usually see this done with
big budget studio movies with a SFX production house. These eye effects
were done by one person. Chris Buongiorno. He's an up and coming director
who was incredible in compositing the "white eye" effect. Especially
at the end climax of the film, he had to composite this "white eye"
effect on a specific character in near complete darkness, so the eyes
are almost hand drawn. There are also a few more gems but, I don't want
to spoil it. Hopefully, you won't be able to tell where most of the effects
are.
Rev: You've promoted the film independently
with a viral online marketing campaign. How has that contributed to the
film thus far?
CJ: We had a specific marketing strategy for "Creepers" so; we always knew we'd show the "Channel News 7 Report" before anything else. It was the first piece we shot and it set the mood for things to come. We were very satisfied with what we shot and it really boosted our confidence with "Creepers". So, it mainly contributed to our own morale. The internet is an easy outlet for independent filmmakers, especially those like Nick and I who are a part of the You tube generation. We littered the "Channel News 7 Report" throughout the Internet and it thus far we've had nothing but, positive responses. As time goes on more and more people are exposed to the world of "Creepers".
Rev: After having completed the film, what is your aim for the film? Will you be going the festival route?
CJ: Our aim for "Creepers"
was to create something that was both challenging to us as filmmakers
and something we could showcase a number of talents that were involved
with this project. We will be shooting "Creepers" off to film
festivals to see if we can make some noise.
Rev: The film is a short film, if 'Creepers' does well on the festival circuit, do you have another project waiting in the wings?
NICK: Well, hopefully if the response is good we can get more work off this movie. CJ & I have talked about turning “Creepers” into a feature and have some really fresh ideas for it. I have also been working on ideas for other movies in the horror genre. But only time will tell what’s in store for “Creepers”.
CJ: Nick and I are continuously
working on new projects so, right now, ideas are being tossed around.
I just wrote a short, "Monster in the Basement" which has a
"Twilight Zone" style and is being produced with an independent
film company J.Jahnke Filmmworks. I also have a number of shorts I wrote
that are being produced by various outlets. I'm personally focusing on
the feature film route. If "Creepers" gets a great response
from a lot of people, it does have potential to become a feature. I purposely
left a lot of open ended questions in "Creepers" so, you never
know, this entertainment business is a funny one.