It’s surreal to think that my very first film was in April, and I find myself in July in a field in Essex at a lethal pie-eating contest for “Pie-Thon” – a segment in Horrorscopes Volume 2.
I arrived to a very lovely welcome, not only because indie is a small world and a lot of us have worked together before, but also because whenever I meet anyone new on a film set, they are always friendly. And we all want two things: tea and to be on set. Once you are on set, you’re family in an indie film.
By the time we get up to shooting, someone mentions it’s windy. And then a tent pole leaps out of the ground! Our tent became a kite or a parachute, lifting off with each huge gust of air from whatever storm was hitting the area. In theatre the show may go on through most things, but in indie film, the show is happening. Period. So we grab anything sharp and Jay, the special effects guru, grabs steel wire and we do everything we can to secure the tent. Today, when you are off camera you have a big mallet and keep securing tent pegs that get pulled up with each gust.
It sounds mad, but it’s weirdly just the thing for all of us to bond immediately, so in a few hours, when we are vomiting milk all over one another, it’s all laughs and smiles when Alex says cut.
And that is, in a nutshell, one of the loveliest things about Indie horror; yes we all work together and we all support one another – but there was never a frown. We are all here in a field in Essex because we love it. We are excited to be spewing blue goo, and can’t wait to hold up the tent poles because it will make the shot. Because we are part of something we have always dreamed of – the movies – and no matter how many times we do this, the magic doesn’t fade. Because the magic is also us.
And that is probably a lot of soppiness for a horror post, so here’s a photo of me looking ill:
