5 Questions with Frank Mosley
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I've been making movies since I was about six years old. My dad once had a Hi-8 camera on loan and made a little recreation of The Wizard of Oz, with me playing all the roles. I was amazed to play it back and watch myself on screen, telling a story that I loved. That put the bug in me so that I started making horror and action movies with my friends from then on through high school (while also stealing actors from the high school theatre program I was president of). I eventually went to college for a literature degree, but I got a minor in film there too. Many of the friends I made during that time in film school are still collaborating with me today. As far back as I can remember, I was always bouncing between both sides of the camera. My love of literature, theater, and film have all been inextricably linked, I think.
2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?
It all started with me wanting to work with Lily Baldwin on something. I'd seen her in some films that my best friend had been a colorist on and then had reached out about the prospects of working together. It took about ten years for me to finally come up with an idea that felt like a right fit, but it did. The two halves of my film were originally separate short film ideas. Once I knew one character would be the bridge between them, create an arc for these two duet scenes.... then I knew it clicked as a whole story. I'd just come off making a few films that were very dialogue driven, so I went into this with the specific intention of doing a (nearly wordless) one in contrast. I'd been wanting to make a film about bodies, communication, and perception. I'd seen Wiseman's National Gallery and had been re-reading a lot of Beckett. Things were swirling in my head. So I knew I wanted this to have this wry, metaphysical construct, but also provide a quiet desperation for the character---a yearning to be seen, a need to be understood... all without words. Once I decided to put Lily in the film, I knew it was possible to get this across. And honestly, if she hadn't been able to do it, I would've been hard pressed to make it with someone else.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the most, and the least?
The biggest challenge, honestly, was finding the art class in NYC (and with our meager location budget). I also was living in Texas at the time, so it was impossible for me to check out potential spots on the fly. Thankfully my dear friend and producer Lauren McCune was my on-the-ground force in the city, serving as an assistant director and location manager (she can do anything!). She found the space at the NY Academy of Art, and not only was it barely within our budget range and shooting dates, but there were already these Greek mythological statutes in the space. Just waiting for us. Which blew my mind because I'd wanted statues in that sequence but had resigned myself that it wouldn't be possible since none of the other locations had had them. So it was an incredible surprise.
One of my favorite parts of the creative process is the rehearsal process. This could be because of my theater and improv background, but that first sequence in the film wouldn't have been possible without it. It's such an intimate, dangerous, physical opener to the film that we had to nail. There were a lot of beats to hit, so Lily, Thiago, and I worked several times over a week to prep, to get comfortable, and work out any kinks in the blocking. Since there were no words to rely on, it was important that every beat was advancing the tension, keeping the momentum. Every beat was scripted, but we ended up losing a few extra beats within that scene to tighten up. (By contrast, though, I don't always think rehearsal is necessary---I purposefully didn't rehearse the second sequence with Lily and Tallie Medel, so that it would be fresh and surprising--even while following those scripted beats.) I also really love the editing process of filmmaking---to me, post and pre production go hand in hand. Looking at all the pieces and playing with the arrangement like a piece of music.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
I recently saw some shorts that have really blown me away---and all made my friends, no less! "Still Processing" by Sophy Romvari is a delicate, vulnerable piece of filmmaking that takes the documentary to new heights in form. "Vesuvius At Home" by Christin Turner is an experimental film mixing the director's old home movies with footage she shot while traveling as an adult on a trip--they coalesce into a haunting marriage of past and present. And "All that Perishes at the Edge of Land" is by Hira Nabi and just played Sundance. It's about a shipyard and the toil of the workers making a living there---but told from the ship's POV. All three of these have stuck with me.
5) What’s next for you?
I have a 1970s serial killer dramatic thriller that I'm attempting to get into labs and workshops. It's a huge ensemble that takes place over a long period of time. It's the biggest thing I've ever written and would love to make it someday. But I also realize that it's been almost ten years since I made my last feature, so I'd like to make a smaller feature first, to get my sea legs back for something large. So I've just started writing this tight, claustrophobic drama about faith and fate. It's a smaller, more intimate story---imagine Cassavetes doing "Teorema", and I think you'd be in the right ballpark.
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IG: @frankrjmosley
Twitter: @francomos