Bieber, Todd & Brafa, Juliana (All is Normal)
Recently I had the pleasure of watching All is Normal, a distinctly different type of horror film (see my review). This one is pure psychological horror, effectively laying all of the terror out within the mind of one young woman who may or may not have her psychotic ex-boyfriend stalking her. The film is about color, nuance, and performance — a real treat for genre fans of something different than your usual loud Hollywood hack and slash.
Co-directors/writers Todd G. Bieber and Juliana Brafa, who also stars in the film, were groovy enough to talk with me about their influences in making the movie, having genre icon Linda Blair onboard, and how cuddly leeches really are…
D. W.: All is Normal is a unique film. It goes for a very subtle approach to its subject matter, which seems to be a 180-degree departure from what is in vogue for horror films these days. Why did you choose this approach?
Juliana: First of all, I personally tend to favor films that have a more subtle approach over ones whose focus is on showy blood and gore. Sometimes subtler can be scarier. Also, I think our subject matter calls for something a bit more subtle because the character’s experience is a very psychological one.
Todd: I think we did this for a few reasons, sometimes consciously and other times it just kind of happened that way. The only way I can think to explain is that, for me, watching a scary movie can make me jump and make me close my eyes, but I get really scared when the movie is over and I have to walk to my car in the dark or I come home to an unlit house. I start scaring myself way more than movie scared me.
We wanted to show a character in this state and try to put the audience there as well. You almost know that nothing is there, but you can’t help thinking, “But what if there is?” A person’s imagination can sometimes be way scarier that actually having a monster. We did a lot of research on Vietnam vets who are living in this constant state of heightened fear. It turns out that survivors of domestic violence suffer from the exact same symptoms as a post-war soldier. They never know when the feeling of extreme fear is going to hit, whether the fear is real or imagined, or if the fear will end. That idea really influenced how we made the movie.
D.W.: Names such as Hitchcock or even Argento arise when I think about All is Normal, but these guys are more archetypes nowadays. When making the film, where did you pull inspiration from?
Juliana: Hitchcock of course, but also the film Diabolique as well as some non-thriller/horrors like Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind.
Todd: Hitchcock was a definite inspiration throughout the movie. David Lynch was also a big influence on the suspense aspects of the movie. I could go on and on with a huge list of directors that influenced various parts of the movie. We definitely studied movies and scenes from movies that we liked, or we thought worked, and we tried to see how we could take those techniques and apply them to our movie. We owe a huge debt to a lot of filmmakers for stealing (borrowing?) their techniques.
D.W.: I loved the colors, and the distinct manners in which they are used in the film. I really do not want to say much more, as to avoid spoiling anything for people who have not seen the film yet. It added an interesting visual dialogue to the film.
Juliana: Yes, we tried to choose our colors with care. Since film is a visual medium, we wanted to take advantage of it as best we could.
Todd: We were really careful with our color palette for the film. We didn’t want it to be over the top, but certain characters weren’t allowed to wear certain colors, and we took time to dress every set so that colors correlated with the scenes. It makes me happy when someone notices it because we took a lot of time to plan it out.
D.W.: Linda Blair in a horror film? Who would have ever thought of that?
Juliana: Ha ha, yes, good question.
Todd: Yeah. Crazy idea. Ha. We had written the part and knew we wanted to cast someone that would draw attention to the movie. Because of The Exorcist and some of her later movies, she always seemed to be cast as the victim, especially her role of Regan, where she became the classic victim for the horror genre. We thought casting her as a strong character in a horror movie would be an interesting choice. I think it worked out really well.
D.W.: My personal favorite performance in the film is that of the boyfriend/stalker. He was pitch perfect. It actually made my skin crawl to listen to him. Duane Wallace just seemed to become that sort of person. I do not think I ever have seen a more realistic portrayal of such a character. Quite impressive.
Todd: I’m glad you felt that way. In real life Duane is one of the sweetest, nicest guys I know, which I think helped create a complexity in his performance. Juliana and I didn’t want the character to be a stereotype, and we knew Duane could pull it off.
Juliana: Duane is a superb actor. I love working with him. We actually wrote more and more scenes for him as we shot because he was so great, and we’re so glad we did. It was important to us that he was not a pure villain—we needed people to understand why my character might be with him in the first place and why it might be difficult for me to leave. Too many movies about domestic abuse make the woman seem stupid for being with such a horrible person, and we wanted to make sure it was more complex than that.
D.W.: Juliana, you are a woman of many differing talents. Co-Writer, Co-Director, Producer, and Actress. How was it balancing all of those roles and still having the focus to turn in a really powerful and at times emotional performance?
Juliana: It was challenging of course, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to fill each of those roles. It was a great learning experience. Also, filmmaking is so collaborative. Everyone on the set was so supportive, which was really important for me in the emotional scenes.
D.W.: There are a lot of strong female roles in the horror genre. Any favorites?
Todd: The main character’s name is sort of an homage to Janet Leigh, whom Juliana and I had the opportunity to meet a few years ago. It was an amazing experience to talk with her about working with Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. Not only is she an amazing actress who has been in some of the best movies ever made, but she was very open and willing to give insight and advice to young actors and filmmakers.
Juliana: I’m a big fan of Grace Kelly in Rear Window. She is gutsy and classy and just plain cool.
Todd: Also, Angela from Sleepaway Camp. I guess that really doesn’t count though, does it?
D.W.: Angela is a ballsy chick, sure enough. Speaking of balls … you could not have paid me enough to wade in that pond, and I have to give you kudos on utilizing REAL leeches! But, I have to ask … Juliana, did you really touch them?
Juliana: I must say that I fully intended to put the leeches on me, but when it finally came down to it and I saw them up close and when I was informed of exactly how they latch onto your skin with little rotary razor-blade mouths, I wimped out. We used little dummy leeches to put on me. I did pet them though just to see how they felt. I was scared of the pond too because there really were leeches, snapping turtles, and snakes in it, which was especially scary when I was walking around in it. I kept thinking that a snapping turtle was going to bite off one of my toes.
Todd: Yes, there really were leeches in the pond along with snakes and snapping turtles. I’ve got a bit of grudge here because everyone talks about how brave Juliana was for getting in that pond, but everyone forgets that the poor cameraman (me) had be in there too. Ha!
D.W.: There is such an overbearing sense of dread, especially in the end of the film. This is a pet peeve of mine as a lot of films are unable to either create this mood or maintain it. How aware were you of this, and how were you able to maintain it?
Todd: I guess we were slightly aware of it when shooting, but editing and sound were key. We were lucky to work with a lot of smart people who gave us great feedback throughout the editing and sound design process when making the movie. They let us know when a scene didn’t work and were helpful on giving advice on how to make it better.
Juliana: I think a lot of that has to do with combining all of the elements in certain ways—the music, editing, sound. And it took a lot of revision. In the editing process we went back and back again countless times to rework things.
Todd: To be honest, even though we put a lot of time and energy into every second of this movie, I am completely unaware if it is good or if it makes people scared or if it makes people think. I worked on it for so long and am just too close to it at this point. I am really happy when I hear different people’s reactions to the movie, especially when they ask thoughtful questions and notice the details.
Big thanks to Juliana and Todd for taking the time to speak with us. All is Normal will be playing at this year’s Eerie Horror Film Festival. You can check out the film’s official site here; make sure you sign up to be notified when the DVD is available.
Categorized:Interviews News
