Love Gets Gory in New Short “I Love You”
Johnny Butane
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Recently we received a heads up from Axelle Carolyn, wife of Neil Marshall and an established writer in her own right (check out her latest column on IGN UK), about a new short she has a starring role in called “I Love You”.
Directed by Tristan Versluis, “I Love You” is a 5-minute short that tackles a subject we’ve all had some brush with: relationships that end in pain. “It’s something that everyone will feel at some point in life… and this film expresses this feeling in a rather crazy way,” Versluis explained to us. ”After all, emotional pain is often the worse and there ain’t a quick fix for it, you have to suffer and live/work through it. It’s this emotion that I wanted my characters to go through, to show. Hopefully people will see through the gore and pain and read some kind of message here. Either that or just enjoy the blood and guts! I don’t mind either way.”
The blood and guts are certainly in full force, as is evident by the pics throughout, which makes sense since Versluis is an up and coming SFX artist who’s worked on everything from the latest Chronicles of Narnia film to Books of Boood, Adam Mason’s Blood River, Isolation, Broken and a helluva lot more.
”The film was originally part of a larger idea, but it didn’t quite fit this idea and I never really knew why,” Tristan said of the film’s origins. ”At the time I was looking to do another short film, but without all the expense and post production work that my last short film “Pixel” took (which is still ongoing). So “I Love You” was separated to form its own concept, and the more I thought about it, the more I got excited about the way it could work on a simple level and yet still be powerful and have an impact … that’s what I hoped anyway!”
The film stars Leslie Simpson, currently appearing in the new Hammer Film Beyond the Rave, another film Tristan did effects for. ”With a film that involves effects I wanted my actor to get on with that easy, so we could focus on the film and performance,” he explains of choosing Leslie. ”I sent him the treatment and he instantly understood where I was coming from…. offered him the part…. arranged for him to come to London for the time needed and did my utmost to organize a date to shoot the film. It all worked out fantastic; he really gave so much to the part and to me, which really does show on screen.”
“It was Les that recommended Axelle, as he knew her well and had an idea that she was interested in trying out acting again,” he continues about the other lead in “I Love You”. ”I was happy to go with this idea, trusting in Les and his confidence in her. This proved to be a good move. I remember the first take in the shot where Axelle has to deliver her line, first take…in the can! It was so funny, both Les and I were watching the monitor and we didn’t know what to expect…but when Axelle did her line we both just said…wow…that was great; she nailed it. Do we need another?! She was perfect and very professional. Both Axelle and Les performed beautifully together and have added to making a great short film which i am proud of and hope will thrill and disturb people for some time to come!”
”I Love You” has played at the Brussels Film Festival and will be screening at Edinburgh’s Dead by Dawn festival, but I’m sure that won’t be the last we see of it. As soon as we hear more, we’ll be sure to let you know!
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