Camping Trip is a new short film in development that promises to subvert the story of two young lovers, their RV, and an unexpected (and deadly) visitor while offering up some good scares in the process.

Leading the way on Camping Trip are Vancouver talents Amy McLeish (Director), Jaden Braunwarth (Producer), Zlatina Pacheva (Writer/Producer), Kevin Rigney (Director of Photography), Matt Popp (First Assistant Director), Ainsley Barteluk (Production Designer), Hannah-Rose Brearley (Key Costumes), Jenny Zheng (Propsmaster), Christopher Graham (Set Decorator), Emily Walsh (Hair & Makeup), and Tina Marie McCulloch (Casting Director).

We caught up with Zlatina Pacheva and Kevin Rigney to hear more about their horror-fueled ambitions for the project and their crowdfunding campaign.

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Can you start by telling us a little bit about you and your involvement with Camping Trip?

Zlatina Pacheva: I’m a writer/director/producer in Vancouver. I wrote Camping Trip a few months ago and approached the very talented Amy McLeish to direct. She’s brought together an amazing team and I’m now assisting Producer Jaden Braunwarth with pre-production duties.

Kevin Rigney: I’m Kevin Rigney, playing the role of Cinematographer for Camping Trip. Amy (Director) and I will be working closely together to create the look, style and feel of the movie. I love this genre, very excited to be working with a very a talented group of women on this. I’ve been working in film for 10 years and these independent projects are my favourite place to be. When I have the opportunity to work with friends and we get to create something together, I find that to be very rewarding and special.

What should audiences expect from Camping Trip?

Zlatina Pacheva: An unconventional plot with all the blood and guts you’d expect from a typical slasher film. We’re subverting gender depictions while also ensuring the film is scary and super fun. Also, our team is 70% women so we hope the female voice rings loud and clear throughout this – it even starts with an excerpt from a Sylvia Plath poem so… ya know.

Kevin Rigney: I think the technology driven youth of today will get a bit of a connection out of the film, It may make them think twice about social media.

Why do you think the horror genre has remained so popular?

Zlatina Pacheva: Having grown up watching horror movies every weekend with my best friend, I think the main reason is because it’s just so damn fun. Nothing brings people together like cowering under blankets or screaming your face off in a movie theatre.

In a more psychological vein – this Vice article discusses how horror films are a sort of cathartic release for those struggling with anxiety. As someone who has always been anxious, I can wholeheartedly relate to this.

Kevin Rigney: It’s really a way to experiment with the audiences fear, horror has evolved a lot with technology and it leaves people wanting more each time. If you go back 20 years, you didn’t really get to see the actual violence, now a days people want that pay off I think.

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“Nothing brings people together like cowering under blankets or screaming your face off in a movie theatre.”

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Which horror films have influenced you the most?

Zlatina Pacheva: Carrie, Scream and the original Poltergeist stand out as front-runners. I also love The Exorcist, IT, Insidious, The Ring and more recently, The Autopsy of Jane Doe.

When writing Camping Trip, I was very inspired by All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, Stage Fright and Addams Family Values (haha…but seriously).

Kevin Rigney: I really like classic horror and zombie films. The Shining, IT, Halloween, The Thing, Hellraiser and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. New age stuff; It Follows, 28 Days Later.

What are the three most important elements for a successful horror film?

Zlatina Pacheva: In my opinion: Good music and sound design, a mysterious villain or tormenting force, just the right sprinkle of comedic relief.

Kevin Rigney: Give as little information to the audience, to keep them guessing. Put the actors in a remote area with no help nearby. Lots of blood.

What books and authors have been influential to your career so far?

Zlatina Pacheva: Screenwriting – pretty much anything by Syd Field. Directing – Directing Actors, On Directing Film, An Actor Prepares. General – The Film Club by David Gilmour, Film Art.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your career right now?

Zlatina Pacheva: Working with passionate, talented humans who want to make movies for the sake of the love of movies and nothing else.

Where can we find out more about you and the Camping Trip campaign?

Zlatina Pacheva: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Indiegogo.

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Thanks to Zlatina Pacheva and Kevin Rigney for speaking with us!

You can support Camping Trip right here.

The post The Biz Interview: Camping Trip Feature appeared first on Biz Books.

Can you walk us through the creative process for Insidious?

Leigh Whannell: This film started with an idea that James and I had back when we were just out of film school and we were trying to come up with an idea for a very cheap film we could make. Five thousand dollars. Something we should shoot ourselves. The core idea of Insidious was sort of born during that time, but we shelved it in favour of this other film about two guys stuck in a bathroom – Saw. So we made that and of course, it took us on this crazy journey where now we live in L.A. and we’re doing all this stuff, and we pretty much forgot about the idea until the guys who produced Paranormal Activity came to us and said “We would love to make a film with you guys. I mean really cheap and down and dirty.”

It sort of took us back to that same mindset we were in when we had just gotten out of film school, which reminded us of that project. We just thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a film that we could have complete control over. So many films take so long to get off the ground. Filmmaking is really just a waiting game as James will tell you, you’re waiting for a project to get up and it can take years. What was attractive about this was the immediacy of it.

James Wan: Leigh and I have been wanting to make a really scary movie for a while. We felt like we haven’t really made that film yet. Saw to us – it was a dark thriller with suspense… but we wanted to make a supernatural film cause we feel like supernatural ghost stories are the things that we love the most. If done right, it can be very frightening. We love ghost films and we felt like using the backdrop of a haunted house setting was a good one as a leaping off point that became a film that starts in one way but becomes something a bit different – a different beast – and that’s what we love. Leigh and I love to take something that has been established and kind of spin it around.

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You guys have formed a successful creative partnership together that goes back several years. What has made that work and how is it advantageous for you as a filmmaker and writer to collaborate often?

Leigh Whannell: Several things have made it work. Number one would be that we’re friends. That’s always a good starting point for anything. If you start out as friends, there is a better understanding of who the other person is and how their mind works.

You know, we have a good time, we have a laugh, but also I think there’s strength in numbers. For myself, I don’t know that I could’ve gotten to the place I’m in without a partner in crime. You need that. It’s kind of a shark tank, as everyone will tell you about Hollywood – that world – and I think you need a gang around you. Even with James, he’s formed a gang. He uses the same cinematographer, the same A.D. because there’s strength in numbers and also you feel like you have their protection against all these other elements that are out to get you, as opposed to actually help you.

With Saw you created Jigsaw, who’s an iconic modern horror villain and with Insidious you have a lot of unsettling scenes. What are the keys to creating an effective horror scene and effective villain?

James Wan: I think whether it’s the scene or the character you’re creating, it needs to resonate. Firstly, it needs to work on screen and then when it works on screen, it starts to get into the public’s subconscious and it becomes a collective thing. If lots of people keep talking about one really scary moment that becomes really well-known, the movie becomes really well-known for that one scary moment. In the case of the Saw film, the people would talk about the doll and that becomes an iconic character – the face of the franchise – and the doll is tied in with the main villain who is the Jigsaw character and so he becomes this really iconic character. I think that’s what it is. I think it’s important to make movies that leave some kind of impression behind. If you leave some kind of impression behind and the film becomes successful, it ultimately finds its way into pop culture whether you like it or not.

Leigh Whannell: That’s an interesting point because if you don’t do anything that strives to be memorable in the film – if you don’t take a chance or creat something eye-catching, then the film still may be successful, but it probably doesn’t get [consumed] into pop culture.

James Wan: The best example is people would laugh at how silly or funny or almost goofy in the first saw film when the doll comes riding out on the tricycle. People would crack up or go, “What the hell is this?”

But now that image – the doll on the tricycle and the doll itself – is in the public consciousness. It’s become this pop culture element. Every Halloween you see kids – you see someone out there dressed as that doll riding a tricycle around. That says Saw more than anything else in the film.

Leigh Whannell: With something like Insidious we hope that the same thing happens where the more outlandish stuff over time becomes the stuff that people love about the film.

Insidious is in theatres April 1st, 2011.

The post The Biz Interview: James Wan and Leigh Whannell of “Insidious” appeared first on Biz Books.