5 Questions with Charlie Tyrell
In the form of an oddly revealing personal ad for a dating service, “Hamburger,” follows a day in the life of an awkward, self-proclaimed romantic. We asked director Charlie Tyrell where it all came from, and the process of working with his DP, Amado Stachenfeld, and co-writer, Lauren Neal…
1) Can you talk a bit about your background, how you got interested in filmmaking, and your work previous to “Hamburger”?
I had a pretty standard transition into filmmaking - it was something that interested me when I was younger and then I moved to Toronto to attend Ryerson University for Film Studies. I guess the one thing about me that's a little bit less traditional is that I never made films as a kid. Our household didn't have a video camera, and I was pretty shy about having an interest in the arts so I didn't broadcast it and get friends together to experiment with making anything until my last two years in high school where we had a basic communications program where we had to complete some video assignments. And even those were just class projects that we used as an opportunity to goof off. But since going to film school, I've continued to have a pretty steady stream of short projects that I've made and where I've happily landed over the years is this mixed-media approach to filmmaking. Most of my films incorporate some form of animation like my previous short, "My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes". I try to steadily switch between documentary and narrative filmmaking, so it's fun to constantly bend my brain to find different ways to utilize different techniques into both sides of the medium.
2) What was the initial inspiration for this project? How did it get rolling?
The main motivation for the film was to create an opportunity to work with pals Cassandra Surina and Amado Stachenfeld. We had wanted to make something together for ages but Cassandra and Amado live in Los Angeles and I'm up in Toronto. So every now and then I would kick a script over to them and Hamburger was the one that we all felt good about. But a big part of that was because Cassandra knew Johan Stuckey, our lead actor, and felt that he would be perfect for the role. So I took her word for it and flew down to make this short without even meeting the dude, but fortunately I knew within the first 30 seconds of meeting him that he was our guy.
3) I love the look of it. Can you talk briefly discuss the visual language of the film, what were your guiding principles, and what was the general working process working with your D.P., Amado, Stachenfeld?
We had a pretty loose format that did a lot of the work for us: to start a character off in a downtown/urban setting and slowly get him further and further into the middle of nowhere (ultimately the desert). So we had to have scenic shots to allow the viewer to know where we were, but balance them with these close ups on our character to get a sense of what was going on in his head. Amado has a great background in shooting all things from skateboarding to commercials with a whole whack of beautiful stills photography mixed throughout, so he could make a pile of dirt look good. I really value DPs who are just good utility people - put them in a place with a camera and a subject and they'll find a way to make the elements around them work to the shot's benefit. Whether they have a lighting truck or not.
4) The film was co-written by Lauren Neal. How do you two work together? Are you writing in the same room, or are you emailing drafts back and forth? There’s a fine line between comic and tragic. How did you find the right tonal balance?
Lauren was roommates with Cassandra at the time and generously offered to take a look while we were brainstorming this project. I love Lauren, and her work, so I was very happy when she agreed to help out. We did a simple back-and-forth over email to get this script to the place where it landed. Not only was it interesting to have her do punch ups on the dialogue from a female perspective, but the whole idea of having Hamburger smash the tchotchkes at the end was hers. I thought it was brilliant, and far more warmly suggestive of who he is as a person. My original ending was a bit more sinister and muddy so I was thrilled to switch them out.
5) What’s next for you?
Since this project was wrapped up, Cassandra moved to Wisconsin. So now the plan is for the three of us to meet up again near there and make another short! Apart from that, I'm in post production on another documentary short and developing some other projects.
Contact Info:
Instagram: @charlietyrell
Twitter: @charlie_tyrell