Halloween is over and it seems that every store is decorated for the winter holidays (sorry for ignoring you Thanksgiving). However, there is still a huge amount of buzz going around with a film short that has been at the top of the film festival lists for months now, and finally getting attention.
Hell No is directed by Austin, TX filmmaker Joe Nicolosi and, within its 3 minutes and 32 seconds, reveals how easy it would be if you removed all the cliches in horror films and inserted sensible, smart characters. I had a quick chance to sit down and talk to Mr. Nicolosi and ask a few questions about his approach to directing his award-winning shorts (Star Wars Retold winning multiple awards) and how he feels being asked: Will Hell No evolve into a full length feature and what’s next?
Kris: Your humor seems very tongue in cheek and, at least to me, you seem to be making fun of genres (especially with your short Kittywood). Is this deliberate and, if so, with Hell No, did you mean to blatantly make fun of the horror genre?
Joe: The idea is definitely to tap into a genera or sub-culture and make some commentary about it. I’m a little hesitant to say I’m making fun of things though because everything I make a short about is something I deeply love whether it’s Cat Videos, Horror Movies, or the Mario Bros. I like to think that I’m celebrating these things by commenting on them but maybe that sounds a little pretentious. For Hell No part of the idea was to show people how horror movies would actually be pretty dull if the characters were any smarter.
Kris: I have been seeing so many posts on Facebook and Twitter sharing the Hell No short and almost everyone wants to see a full length feature. Have you given this any thought and, if so, are you thinking about bringing the idea to fruition?
Joe: Well, first off I think it’s nice that people say they want there to be a feature because the point of any trailer is to make you want more. If people are wanting more, than I did my job. I don’t think a feature of Hell No would satisfy though. Here’s why: There’s two types of scenes in Hell No. Scenes where the characters avoid bad situations, and then scenes where the characters avoid making bad situations worse. Both of these kinds of scenes release tension. That’s all well and good for a three minute short, but for a feature things need to be always getting worse and worse for the characters. You need to build tension and anxiety, and so the same dynamic doesn’t really work. Any premise where the characters are saying ‘NO’ to everything has to be short short short.
Possibly we might make something that has a similar but different approach. Maybe following the villain of the story as he tries in vain to trap and kill college students, like Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, and he’s always outsmarted by them. That’s an angle we might pursue in a feature, but we’ll see. Got a lots of ideas for movies and precious little time.
Kris: Can you give me any hints to what you’re planning next and what we can expect?
Joe: Some more videos where my mom watches movies are on deck. And I’m working on a short film about slacker space pilots playing pranks on each other. And I’m working on a TV pilot about time travel. And a feature script about a apocalyptic Renaissance Faire. And I’m building a space ship in my garage.
Check out Mr. Nicolosi’s other shorts at his website http://joe-nicolosi.com (particularly Mario Trailer and Kittywood). A big thank you to Joe and you can watch Hell No below!
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