Ti West Interview: ‘Dead & Lonely’ Stills and Exclusive Preview

Yesterday I told you about Ti West’s latest project, Dead & Lonely set to premiere on IFC.com Monday, October 26 at Noon ET/PT. I spoke with Ti today to find out more about the web series which centers around two lonely Los Angeles singles(Justin Rice & Paige Stark), brought together via an Internet dating website, DateOrDie.net. Catch is, one of them is a vampire. West blends the classic vampire mythos with a tale of modern loneliness in this dark, comedic short.

I think the web series is a flexible and exciting new medium. What appeals to you about this format?

It was a series I wanted to get in on the ground floor. I had worked on another IFC series called The Stagg Party with my friend Joe and we were just hanging out making that. I thought it was a really pleasant project and granted, one that was about porn, but Joe was one of my really good friends and it was a fun time with him making something on a small scale. I like the idea of doing something episodic, so I went in and pitched this kinda horrorish idea and they really liked it. They were very supportive and wanted to make it so it was a good way to experiment with something episodic with cliff hangers and short-form. I haven’t really seen a lot of web series that I liked but I like the idea that the web series is becoming a valid area. So, I just wanted to experiment with that.

Is it a step to something bigger, or as you said it just exists as it is and you’re happy with that?

I’d like to do another one but it was an experiment. I had the idea this would work well with something I wanted to do and IFC was really supportive of that. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. If I can do another one with them I will. I had a blast working with them and it was really a fantastic and collaborative experience, so I’d be more than happy to do that again and hopefully we can. I’m more of a feature sort of person so that will always be first and foremost to what I’m doing. It’s a great way to get these little ideas out there. Sometimes you have these ideas that don’t really work well long-form and that’s what this one was. I think that’s what drew me to the web series. It would also be interesting to see if people like it and say ‘Hey, you wanna do a TV thing?’ That would be cool too.

I loved that the series has this very awkward, dark and comedic feeling to it. Do you object to the horror label with Dead & Lonely?

No, I think like–here’s what’s interesting about horror is that within that genre you can just do so much with so many different elements—comedy, drama, etc. People don’t think that with horror. They think lowest common denominator and they think people getting killed. The movies I’ve made don’t really reflect that so with this it’s about a vampire and it has some spooky moments, but I really liked the idea that in 2009 a vampire would be like just as boring as the rest of us and have to sit by their computer just like everybody else. I like this great myth of the vampire nowadays to be stuck doing the same things everyone else is. They wouldn’t be able to have friends, so they would be glued to the Internet. I just found that to be amusing and I liked the situational comedy that came with that. So yeah, I suppose I look at the series as a kind of horror-comedy but it’s subtle humor.

Since you’ve been drenched in horror lately are you ready to try something entirely different for your next project?

Yeah if things go well…as soon as you say you’re going to do something things fall apart so I’m really following the ‘loose lips sink ships’ model a little bit and keeping it to myself. I’d like to make a lot of horror movies but not only horror movies. What’s been happening for the last couple of years is I’ve been trying to not make horror movies and then you’re trying to get the money for that and someone comes along and says ‘Hey remember that satanic movie you wrote? We’ll give you money for that.’ And you just think all right, I’ll just go make that then because I don’t have money for this other thing and I’m not just going to sit here. Sequentially I like all the movies I’ve made and I’ve been very passionate about making them, but they definitely have come out of the experience of something else is not quite happening. I don’t just wanna sit here and twiddle my thumbs.

Paige and Justin have this great reservation about them, but something unusual is bubbling underneath the surface, which makes them completely realistic even though one of them is a vampire. Does the best horror for you hold some semblance of realism?

I think that contrast is what makes art accessible and what makes horror effective. I am really intrigued by realism in horror movies, but not so much when violence kicks in. When you go to a horror movie you have certain expectations. I like going to see a horror movie and you expect this classically structured or cheesy thing and then you see people doing painfully mundane realistic stuff. I think that makes it very relatable and accessible, but it’s also my personal taste. I think Paige, Justin and I all had the same ideas about what we were trying to accomplish which made it easier. I like all the minor details and realistic stuff that comes with Internet paranoia, dating and that anxiety.

Any fun stories to share from the set?

I remember during the date part, Justin had been doing a lot of takes and had been drinking a lot of wine. He got accidentally drunk, so some of the takes got kind of insane. They were hysterical and it would have been nice to include them but they were so outrageous. For me, you always wish you had all these great stories but the reality is we shot it in just under a week with very little time, money and people so really you’re just uber focused and trying to get it done.

Lee’s character is as mundane as the rest of us. Is this partly a comment on the current vampire trend?

Not intentionally, no. I wasn’t trying to bash the Twilight or True Blood world by any means. I like the idea of chasing the myth of the vampire and taking the wind out of the sails as far as what you have in your mind about vampires flying or the powerful Count Dracula. Then there’s a girl that looks just like everybody else, uses the same face products and the same websites–and is just bored like everybody else.

The story takes place in an intimate setting but you really capture the loneliness of the characters and a dismal emptiness. What was the mood on set like?

There were only about four of us at most the whole time. Yeah, I wanted it to be a lonely, early Michael Mann, Tangerine Dream empty vibe. People say ‘Oh there’s so many close ups,’ but I didn’t want to do the cliché thing with a little person in big empty room the whole time. Also I felt for a web series, it’s not a very big screen you’re watching on and I wanted to make sure that the performance is there. I think that a lot of the loneliness is in their faces and performance instead of the strong visual aesthetic of like ‘Oh, look at this person in their empty apartment,’ or something. That just felt kinda cliché to me.

You worked with Graham Reznick again for the music, which I absolutely loved. You’ve already mentioned a few things but what else were you going for here?

It was really a mix of Tangerine Dream from Risky Business to early John Carpenter stuff. Usually I work with several people, but on this–Graham and I have very specific tastes when it comes to this stuff. It was a short schedule so we just partnered up on this one. He did a really awesome job, coming up with this weave that goes through everything. He was also into coming up with the end of each episode the way they end with the same swell. He was coming up with these iconic sounds—just an episodic vibe and I think he did a really good job with that. I really like the music—it’s different than what most people expect which I like.

I really sense that you have a great affinity for objects and the way things exist in a space. Can you talk a little more about that for Dead & Lonely?

I’m an only child so I’m outrageously observant of what seems like meaningless stuff. It’s just something that I think I do naturally. The stuff I’m fixated on, I somehow make the characters fixate on. It goes back to that mundane realism. In House of the Devil I really liked how when she talks on the phone it has a really long cord and she has to pull it across the room to do what she wants to do. Those are weird things you’ve done your whole life and I fixate and obsess about it. I just really remember things very clearly. I don’t know why, it’s just the way my brain works. In this maybe I used that as far as the computer a little bit in that way of connecting with people but it’s not so much a specific choice as a subconscious thing. It’s just my taste I suppose.

You’re very much in the spotlight right now as an indie success story. Do you feel a lot of pressure from that?

No, I suppose when you’re in the so-called spotlight you don’t notice it as much. I have certainly been doing interviews and things like that and people have been paying attention. I hope that the spotlight grows and that House of the Devil and Dead & Lonely do very well. I hope that it offers me more possibilities to make another web series or another feature that I can do the way I want to do it. Filmmaking is very personal for me whether it’s a web series, features or whatever and I just want to keep that experience alive as long as possible.

You’ve said before that you feel the horror genre has hit rock bottom. What needs to happen to turn things around?

It’s simply the audiences, not really the filmmaker. There’s an element to it that the filmmaker adds but the audience is the reason that the movies are so bad. As far as mainstream movies go, the general audience dictates what is made. Everyone rolls their eyes that Saw VI is coming out but it’s only coming out because everyone saw what a blockbuster Saw V was—they don’t make these movies just for fun, they’re just successful. People always go ‘Why aren’t there more movies like Let the Right One In, The House of the Devil or Paranormal Activity?’ Well, it’s because you go and support all the stupid stuff. As long an audience makes the choice to spend money on the lowest common denominator and, I don’t really like the term, torture porn–all that sort of stuff, you’re getting what you deserve. You really need to make a progressive effort. When G.I. Joe came out so did World’s Greatest Dad and no one saw it but I told everyone it was good. It just doesn’t register on the multiplex radar. It’s the general responsibility of the audience to support companies like IFC or Magnolia that are these quasi art house but independent film companies putting out good quality content. People wonder why they didn’t hear about movies but why didn’t they search them out? Why not be more proactive and progressive in what you’re doing? People go to the movies and they look at the marquee and they choose what to see that way. They wonder why there isn’t better content. Why aren’t there better audiences? If good movies make money, good movies will get made. If bad movies make money, more bad movies will get made. It’s really that simple.

The House of the Devil is coming out October 30 and we need your support. Dead & Lonely comes out October 26 so you have a double threat coming from me and I hope people enjoy it.

Image Source: IFC