“Students huddle under desks; there is an attack on the school. Who or what is coming for them?” Cami Storm; Gordon Tarpley; Christopher Westbrook; Abbey May; Avra Friedman; Noam Sigler; Emily Dell, writer/director.
Interview by Kaylene Peoples
Answers by the Dell Sisters: Producer Elizabeth Dell, Writer/Director Emily Dell
Tell me a little about your film and what inspired you to make Troubled Youth.
The strongest scares in horror always play on your expectations, and then twist them. With Troubled Youth, we wanted to start with an image that was deliberately provocative – students huddled under a desk in an attack. Unfortunately, we live in a world full of monsters where this is an image that is familiar and terrifying.
And then the goal was to take this someplace unexpected and new. The tagline of CryptTV is “Monsters Within” and with Troubled Youth we wanted to show an entirely different kind of monster lurking within. Troubled Youth was created by the Dell Sisters, Emily Dell (writer/director/editor) and Elizabeth Dell (producer), with CryptTV. From the first inspiration, it was created in collaboration with the CryptTV development team, refining to fit the parameters of the studio and make it the best it could be.
How long did it take to complete the film? What was it shot on? Tell me about the filmmaking process.
The film was shot over a single day on a Blackmagic camera. We specifically wrote it to shoot at a school location that we were familiar with, and knew would be accomplishable under that short timeline. It was still a struggle, though: Our monster takes more than 5 hours in the makeup chair, which means that there’s very little time to shoot once “she” is up and ready! There were approximately 20 cast and crew, it was a long shoot day and everyone worked incredibly hard.
Let’s talk about the cast and crew. Tell me about who was involved and particularly your key players.
The origin of the project was the Dell Sisters, especially Emily Dell, who was the Writer, Director and Editor. Elizabeth Dell produced the film. The story was then developed with the CryptTV team. Chloe Sens and Kaeghlan Ashley are outstanding special effects (SFX) makeup artists who crafted the look of “Fluffy.” Our two stars, Cami Storm (EVA) and Gordon Tarpley (FLUFFY) brought fear and humor and nuance to our cheerleader and our monster.
What was your experience on Troubled Youth? What drew you to this film? What were some of the most memorable moments on set?
The opening sequence, where a student’s fingernails are pulled off, was both simple and grotesque. Our SFX team were all about the details of the bloody nails and just watching it on the monitor made the whole crew cringe. You know you’ve got something special when even the people watching the tricks are still getting queasy while filming! Surprisingly, the hardest shot to get was not the fingernails, or Fluffy’s strut down the hallway… It was the blood droplets! They took forever. Blood drops are the most fussy actors.
As a filmmaker, tell me about your background.
We have been working together as filmmakers since college. Our first feature was the dance movie, B-GIRL, about a female breakdancer. For us, one of the most important aspects of working together as sisters, is the trust. Even when we disagree (sometimes vehemently) we can both trust that we want to make the best movie possible. Feedback and criticism doesn’t come from ego, it comes from a genuine desire to make the best product. We find that trust to be our greatest asset.
What would you say is unique about this film? Were there any challenging moments during production?
I’d say the film is unique because it takes something familiar and turns it on its head. It also packs a lot of story into only three and a half minutes.
And building a full-body monster isn’t easy. The makeup and costume for FLUFFY required about 6 hours in the chair, especially since we were creating and refining the look for this first shoot. The makeup room was the classroom next to the filming classroom and the whole day was running back and forth between the two rooms, checking on monster progress, making slight changes, and building FLUFFY for the screen.
What were some of the highlights of filming Troubled Youth?
The final slow motion hallway walk was the most fun to film. We had a half dozen friends who volunteered to be dead bodies, scattered in the hallway, and we covered them with blood and wounds. The Art Department had great fun destroying a hallway, and our DP did an incredible job making it powerful and cinematic, even as we were fighting light. We knew we had a final shot. It was the song though, generously donated by our friend KoOol kOjAk, that took the moment to the next level. It’s an incredible example of how powerful music can be.
What were some of the obstacles? On your next project what might you do differently and what might you do the same?
Making creature horror isn’t easy, especially on a budget. I think we did many of the things you need to do – writing a contained script, set in a known location, and working with key crew we knew and could rely upon, but it was still a huge project.
What advice could you give to a first-time director/producer?
Be clear on what you have and write/work to that. If you have access to a school, write something about students. If you have access to an office, make the action take place in an office. Use everything you can as much as you can.
