I love a good short film, and I especially love a good short horror film. Trying to cram quality thrills and chills into a shorter time frame is a challenge and a chance to show off some really great creative chops.
So when my friend, director Jeremiah Kipp, made me aware of a short film he'd made with another friend, actor/writer Rob Dimension, I jumped at the chance. I've reviewed two of Jeremiah's other films, Contact and Crestfallen, so I knew I was going to be in for something really good. And I was not disappointed.
Baggage is a short black and white film written and starring Dimension, and directed by Kipp. Believe me, I'm not going to reveal one single spoiler about this movie because even hinting at it would ruin the surprise. I can tell you that the film centers on a put-upon office worker trying to make it through his day, then simply trying to have a drink at a local tavern. When a couple of ne'er-do-wells try to accost him and steal his duffel bag, it escalates into something...well, you'd just have to see. I'm not spoiling it.
The film unveils itself like a puzzle, with things falling into place as the story reveals more and more. Dimension is great as the mousy, tentative office worker who is a magnet for jeers and pitying glances. His character is so intriguing simply from body language and posture, as well as his hushed, unoffensive tones when he speaks. Pulling double-duty as the screenwriter, Dimension's script melds perfectly with Kipp's direction, and Kipp is no stranger to bringing visceral and emotional images to the screen, no matter what those emotions may be. I've long been a fan of Kipp's work, and now you can add Dimension to the list of quickly-rising filmmakers who I will be following - and touting - for years to come.
I also had a chance to ask both guys some questions about Baggage - let's start with the film's writer and star, Rob Dimension:
What inspired the story? Do you have any literary and film inspirations that directly influenced this film?
First,
thank you for watching Baggage...I appreciate it. Baggage was a story
that started as a talk a few years ago, between myself and a friend of
mine, Sal Valente. We were eating lunch and started to discuss how you
never know who you are sitting next to in a restaurant or even who you
live next to. The world is a crazy place...people are crazy. So, after
finishing No Clowning Around and having some mild success, I was
thinking of a new film to write and Baggage evolved from that. After I
was finished writing, I sent Sal the script and he says, "I can't believe
you've taken one discussion and made all of this."
Typically,
I've noticed my writing is influenced by the my current movie or
television watching. I was on a kick of watching a lot of Hitchcock and
Twilight Zone episodes. I really was in love with the black and white
look and the use of shadows. I also was at a point where I was thinking
about camera movement and how it can affect emotions and uneasiness. I
was just in a classic state of mind, I guess.
How did you and Jeremiah Kipp get together for this production?
I
had seen a short film titled Crestfallen and absolutely fell in love
with the movie. The atmosphere, the visuals, just loved the look. At the
time I was hosting a small Horror Club and we were showing independent
films, so I messaged the people behind the film and one of then was
Jeremiah Kipp. Fast forward about a year or so...No Clowning Around gets
accepted at a film festival and Jeremiah was going to attend, so I shot
him a message and we ended up meeting. The crazy thing is I basically
just pitch him an outline about Baggage and he looks at me and says, "I'm
in!" I was flattered and extremely excited and we've become great
friends since. It was really just me taking a chance to reach out to
someone who I respected and it worked out.
How was the process of making the film? Smooth, challenging...any funny stories?
The
process is long but always fulfilling, I mean that. I wanted Jeffrey
Gould and his partner Steve Adams (who will be co-directing my newest
film - Quackers in 2014) to handle the cinematography and these guys
killed it. Jeremiah is a solid director...he pulls no punches, he is
intense and is extremely professional. Every person involved was ready
for the challenge and they all delivered. We filmed for five days and about
60 hours, plus on the fourth day, we filmed for nearly 24 hours.
We
were scheduled to film a chase and mugging scene outside but the
weather decided to be uncooperative...which I feel added to the film and
made it better, but we needed to scramble for a different location. In
Baggage, you see Benjamin at the train station and while filming, we
came across a small subway tunnel that got you to the other platform. I
mentioned to Jeremiah that the tunnel would be a good and we committed
to making that the spot for this scene.
The
next day we start filming and we leave some of our belongings on top of
the platform, so my wife, Kim, continues to check on our stuff. She
occasionally pops her head up and checks to make sure everything is
still there. The next thing we know, we have police there with guns out.
The tunnel has two sides and we had cops on each entrance and we had to
explain we were filming. They had three more police cars on the
way...they thought we were terrorists. It made for an interesting moment
of panic. The good thing was we had a permit and were completely legal
to be there...but it was scary for a moment.
What do you hope happens with the film? Festivals, distribution, more film?
Well, people can purchase the DVD at www.YouveBeenRobbedFilms.com
and Baggage has been accepted to several film festivals as well is
being shown in a few spots for Halloween. Baggage also was shown at
Monster-Mania convention in August, which was a massive thrill.
People
can see my first film No Clowning Around online for a short time also
on my site. I just finished the script for our next film titled
Quackers. Quackers was a concept pitched to me by Buz Hasson from the
Living Corpse comic series and I just got busy writing and elaborating
on the concept. The Living Corpse team of Buz, Ken and Blair will be
working on original artwork for the film also. Jeffrey Gould and Steve
Adams will be co-directing the film and handling the
cinematography...I'm super excited. I think I have an extremely talented
team. I honestly think this is my best screenplay and story yet. People
can read more about it and stay up on things at www.YouveBeenRobbedFilms.com or follow me on Twitter at @RobDimension.
How was the transition from one form of entertainment (wrestling) to another (film)? Similarities and differences?
I
was involved with professional wrestling for almost 15 years. Wrestling
taught me so many things...it taught me performance and working in
front of large crowds. It taught me to drop my inhibitions and be a
character and not be scared of the camera. It also gave me an outlet for
writing, as I wrote storylines and even wrote for live TV. It also is
the harshest reality check about business and people. It really makes
you become your own biggest, promoter. I'm fortunate and love to talk,
so I think that has also helped make the transition easier.
Most
of my wrestling career I was a villain, so I guess playing an over the
top villain in movies is like a lateral move...haha! I've always loved
horror films...so I just decided to get off my ass and decided to make
what I wanted to see. I encourage anyone who is sitting, debating to
create something...go do it. It's the greatest reward when it's
finished. When I got the final cut of No Clowning Around, I remember
sitting on my sofa and just crying...I felt accomplished.
And here's director Jeremiah Kipp with more insight:
How was it working with Rob? Do you see more
collaboration in the future?
Rob is an intense and charismatic guy, with a wicked self-deprecating sense of humor. What I loved about our work together was his sheer willingness to push himself as far as he needed to go. He was playing a troubled character, and he’s so committed that I think in many ways he took the work home with him. But on set, you knew the material had strength to it. I’d work with him again in a second; we’ve talked about it and have been making plans.
There was a slow building dread in the narrative that built to an operatic peak moment at the end. After doing an incredibly phantasmagoric experimental film called The Days God Slept, I was intrigued by the possibility of locking into a plot-driven thriller which was all about building a mood of tension. Rob told me the story in person, and even before he asked me to direct it, I found myself drawn into his macabre tale. It felt like a modern variation of Edgar Allan Poe.
The director of photography Jeffrey Scott Gould shares a tremendous enthusiasm for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. We took the classical black and white 1960s retro feel and pushed that into areas of the grotesque.
It has been having a strong festival life so far, playing at Monster Mania, New Jersey HorrorFest, Macabre Faire Film Festival and DOA Blood Bath Entertainment’s Blood Bath V Film Festival. We’re happy to be able to present the film to audiences, and hope they enjoy.
There must have been, but when I lock into making a movie it’s all about the execution. It’s not that I don’t like to have a good time; it’s just that I place all of my thought into making what’s happening in the frame as expressive as possible. I remember doing crazy stuff like making the actors jump up and down until they were exhausted; I made Rob sprint across city blocks for half a day, we put actors through some grueling special effects makeup. And yet I remember having a really good time making this movie, and had the sense that we were surrounded by generous friends who were excited about the work. That’s what I probably remember best; working with people I love and trust as well as making new friends. There was that one moment we were filming a scene where the local police surrounded us because what we were doing seemed criminal, but we were able to laugh about it later…
Right now, I’m going into production on a new scary movie called The Minions. It’s a dark urban fable about a man’s walk home one autumn night, and he decides to walk down The Witch’s Path. He almost makes it past safely, but then two drunken girls appear…and they’re the minions. What happens next is not very nice… Find out more at: http://www.indiegogo.com/
Rob is an intense and charismatic guy, with a wicked self-deprecating sense of humor. What I loved about our work together was his sheer willingness to push himself as far as he needed to go. He was playing a troubled character, and he’s so committed that I think in many ways he took the work home with him. But on set, you knew the material had strength to it. I’d work with him again in a second; we’ve talked about it and have been making plans.
What drew you to the story?
There was a slow building dread in the narrative that built to an operatic peak moment at the end. After doing an incredibly phantasmagoric experimental film called The Days God Slept, I was intrigued by the possibility of locking into a plot-driven thriller which was all about building a mood of tension. Rob told me the story in person, and even before he asked me to direct it, I found myself drawn into his macabre tale. It felt like a modern variation of Edgar Allan Poe.
What kind of visual influence played a part in how Baggage
looked and felt?
The director of photography Jeffrey Scott Gould shares a tremendous enthusiasm for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. We took the classical black and white 1960s retro feel and pushed that into areas of the grotesque.
Will we see Baggage at any festivals or screenings?
It has been having a strong festival life so far, playing at Monster Mania, New Jersey HorrorFest, Macabre Faire Film Festival and DOA Blood Bath Entertainment’s Blood Bath V Film Festival. We’re happy to be able to present the film to audiences, and hope they enjoy.
Were there any funny behind-the-scenes stories?
There must have been, but when I lock into making a movie it’s all about the execution. It’s not that I don’t like to have a good time; it’s just that I place all of my thought into making what’s happening in the frame as expressive as possible. I remember doing crazy stuff like making the actors jump up and down until they were exhausted; I made Rob sprint across city blocks for half a day, we put actors through some grueling special effects makeup. And yet I remember having a really good time making this movie, and had the sense that we were surrounded by generous friends who were excited about the work. That’s what I probably remember best; working with people I love and trust as well as making new friends. There was that one moment we were filming a scene where the local police surrounded us because what we were doing seemed criminal, but we were able to laugh about it later…
What's coming up on your schedule in terms of filmmaking?
Right now, I’m going into production on a new scary movie called The Minions. It’s a dark urban fable about a man’s walk home one autumn night, and he decides to walk down The Witch’s Path. He almost makes it past safely, but then two drunken girls appear…and they’re the minions. What happens next is not very nice… Find out more at: http://www.indiegogo.com/
I want to thank both Rob Dimension and Jeremiah Kipp for taking the time to answer my questions and especially for their (and their crew's) hard work on Baggage. I highly recommend getting your hands on it, dear readers. You really won't be disappointed.
Be sure to keep an eye out for more from Rob and Jeremiah, and you'll see more coverage here!
Until next time, dear survivors, see you on Halloween!
