THIRTY2 won Best Horror award, plus a honourable mention Best Photography (Arturo Cho), in our LCF’s First Edition.
Interview with director Tim Luna.
How did you come to write and make this film?
The film was already planned at the end of 2019. In the first draft it was a color film with original historic costumes, a historic art direction intended to date from the time when E. A. Poe was writing the story. Thirty2 is based on the short story "Berenice," which was released in Richmond, USA in 1835. When it was published in a periodical The Southern Literary Messenger it was a scandal because of the violence in the story. Poe censored himself when he published Berenice a few years later again, shortening the story in some crucial places. Script-wise it wasn't much different than today's version. But it would have been a very different film in color, with the historically accurate costumes and different production design.
But then the big pandemic came and I lost my producers and also some people in key positions who wanted to help me with the project. The colored version would have needed a bigger budget.
While researching for another project, I came across an interesting article about dreams. It was described that someone would dream in black and white and when they did, all their spaces would be empty. That was something of a big bang for me. I still had the location, the house available. And I thought that is it! The idea right for Thirty2! We'll be filming in black and white; the dream phase will be highlighted a little more and all the rooms will be empty except for a few props. That could be the right concept. I was so happy because I thought the project was lost. I explained the idea directly to Harrison and we started immediately to produce Thirty2.
About your cast & crew: had you already worked with some of them? And how did you meet the new recruits?
Harrison Jones was on board with me with this project from the beginning. He loved the story and saw the challenge as an actor. Of course, we needed more people for production, but we actively produced it together in many positions. I met Harrison a few years earlier on a set where we were both cast as German soldiers in a commercial for a Mexican cinema brand. We worked together again and I directed him later in a commercial for a German horror film magazine. And for me he was from the beginning the right guy for the role of Egaeus.
Berenice was a lengthy casting process. I wanted an actress who was as close to description of Poe's Berenice as possible. After a while I found the right actress. Two days before filming began, she fell ill with Covid. You can imagine what kind of stress it was back then when it was said that the main actress was not more available. There was only a small-time window to find a new actress. We also had problems with the dental prosthetic that were made for the ill actress. In that short time, it was not possible to make new dental prosthetic and so they were newly designed later as best as possible by our two special make-up women so that they reasonably fit for a new actress. But I had help from an unlikely place. It was a lucky moment to meet Lili Juarez one day later. I sent her the script, met her, we just talked briefly about the film and the implementation of the story, she loved it and we started filming the next day. It was a small miracle. Filming with her was just no problem and she was wonderful in all situations.
I cast the two children through a children's casting agency. I had worked with children before and relied on my feelings when casting. It turned out to be completely unproblematic to work with both of them.
Tim Luna & Santiago Hernandez Lopez
When & where was THIRTY2 shot, and how much time in total did you have?
We filmed in the fall of 2022 under Covid pandemic conditions and precautions in Mexico City. Three days in the house / interior and half a day in a studio for all the different facial expressions of Harrison which I would later use for the Egaeus nightmare animation / compositing, the dead Berenice in a lying position for the later image combination (cemetery scene) and on the same day the outdoor shots in two different locations. For the beginning filming in daylight and the cemetery/coffin scenes at night.
At the Little Croco Festival, we’re fond of anecdotes. What was the shoot’s most difficult scene? And on the contrary, was there a magical moment, a sequence or a shot that everyone loved to do?
Personally, I think the dolly tracking shot that moves away from Harrison as the light changes on set to black and he rests his head on his hands is very beautiful because his eyes are in exactly the position they should be for the camera. Not that easy to achieve, especially for an actor, but also for the whole team, because many things are happening at the same time. That was a magical moment.
Harrison Jones & Arturo Cho
As you know, we particularly liked the pictures in your film. How did you work with your DoP? Did you share pictorial references beforehand? Did you have very precise requests? Did he make suggestions/discoveries on-set…?
At first, I couldn't find anyone who understood the lighting concept and could then implement it. I met Arturo Chu after a longer conversation with one of my associate producers Carlos Melendez, whose short film I had supervised in parts and sent on a longer festival tour. Arturo was the D.O.P. of Hambre/Hunger - a short horror film, which was shot like an Italian Western. I really liked the way the film was photographed. At the beginning of my career, I often worked as a lighting technician and later always looked closely at how it was done, especially with the different lighting techniques. I knew what I wanted. With him, I found somebody who not also had the experience with digital black and white photography but also the right guy with the third eye for good ideas. I came to him with many photos and less with film clips. I wanted a mix of film noir and German expressionism. The film I watched, which served as a model, so to speak, was the 1926 silent German drama film Secrets of a Soul directed by G. W. Pabst. The movie already had these image combinations in a kind of way, which I was looking for and these scenes could be seen in the film as multiple crossfades. And Arturo understands the concept very well that every scene in Thirty2 should have a great cinematic quality. And he brought his entire team (gaffer, lighting technicians, camera assistant and special equipment) with him, without whom it would not have been possible to shoot the film with this lighting concept in the limited time.
How came the idea of adding colours for the end-credits?
Was it a dream, was it not a dream? A dream within a dream? With the colored sequence at the end of the film, I wanted to make it clear how insanely obsessed Egaeus is with Berenice's teeth. And how crazy he actually is. And that it wasn't all just a dream. It also gives you time to think about what you have seen. With the certainty that Berenice is still alive and he will do it again. That was the horror into the story for me. That was my pure Poe moment in color.
Do talk about THIRTY2’s postproduction!
Post-production was long and partly complicated. That had to do with the fact that we had problems with the various post-production systems, such as the editing suite, the animations for the image compositions, the camera system we shot with, etc. - which didn't always work together. The editing and compositing took place in Germany, the color correction, the final outplay with film grain in Mexico and the mastering again in Germany. You might think it could be easier. But it was a co-production and, in the end, it worked with the help of many people.
Where can people watch THIRTY2? And if it’s not available yet: do you know how it might be soon?
Thirty2 is still on an international festival tour in 2024. It could be that the film becomes part of a horror or Poe anthology or, when the festival tour comes to an end, will be released on a short film platform.
About yourself: what got you into filmmaking? your studies...?
It was the fascination for film, the moving image and the possibilities you have to express yourself with it. I started as a set security, runner and lighting assistant on film sets. I then worked as an assistant director for a short time and then, more by chance, became an apprentice to a film producer who specialized in music videos and music documentaries in the early 1990s. I was learning by doing. One of the skills I had was to improvise, to make decisions against all odds, two things which you really need in the film business. I never attended a film school in the true sense of the word.
Any projects you made before or after this one, that you would like to share?
I am proud of two true independent films that I have produced. In 2004, "Tears of Kali" was released after a successful festival tour and a few wins at festivals worldwide and in 2011 "Masks", a homage to classic Italian horror and giallo films, the famous murder mysteries of the 70s and 80s which also had a nice festival tour and international distribution. If somebody is interested in music videos (I produced and also directed a lot) and like to watch some movie trailers of my past go to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MrLunavision
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