One of the genres of Ukrainian cinema that has begun to show signs of life in recent years is the psychological thriller. Last year, for example, Vladimir Tikhy’s film “Green Jacket” was released. True, if the mentioned picture was intended more for festivals, then Maxim Stetkov’s creation “Deadly Alive” was intended for a wide audience. The film will be released on wide screens on April 16.
The film tells the story of a successful writer who has been receiving text messages from an unknown number for three years. Everything that was written in them soon came true. Any attempts to find out the source of these messages ended in failure. The writer would have continued to live like this, but one day he receives an SMS that will change his whole life…
The passionate director, screenwriter, composer, co-producer, editor, and also the performer of one of the roles in “Deadly Alive” Maxim Stetskov talks about how hard work this film was created.
The filming period for Deadly Alive lasted only 15 days. But in general, all the work on the film lasted for years. Why did the creation of the tape take so long?
Firstly, a meticulous approach to the filming process. For example, we were looking for one of the locations for more than three months. Secondly, the process of finding funding took a good part of the time.
How many performances did you have to go to to find actors for the film?
I started going to theaters much earlier than I started looking for actors. I just love the theater! Therefore, when I wrote the script, I roughly understood who could be entrusted with this or that role. I was lucky – from the list of artists ideal for the film, 90% agreed to take part in the project.
In spirit, whose films are Deadly Alive close to? Tapes of Hitchcock, Fincher..?
I was very impressed by Hitchcock’s film Dial M for Murder. This picture was one of the main inspirations for me. Fincher also influenced the creation of Deadly Alive. But it seems to me that stylistically and plot-wise, it’s still Hitchcock.
Often, when working on a non-studio film, the creators are forced to follow the rule “the lack of funds is compensated by their own time.” Those. when there is not enough money to attract an additional professional, the authors resolve the issue on their own. In the case of Deadly Alive, did this rule also apply?
The uniqueness lies in the fact that the Ukrainian film world is very small. And everyone knows each other. Therefore, a whole army of my friends came to help, who liked the idea for the sake of which they helped just like that. In general, I was surprised how many people from the film business, without the slightest hesitation, helped absolutely free of charge. It also happened that they discounted their services by 80%.
My short film “Old Dog” proved that I was capable of making a good product. And let me not only be a director, but also a screenwriter and composer. In the case of Deadly Alive, I just decided to increase the difficulty level 🙂
You do not have specialized education. How did you find your profession?
Through the Internet. Interviews with famous directors in which they talked about how to make films. I watched videos from film sets, as well as documentaries about cult films. I read a couple of books on screenwriting. I also started out as an actor and therefore on film sets I often pestered cameramen with questions: “So, what is this…?” 🙂 But the most important thing is practice. You start filming, and suddenly some problem pops up. And my friends from the film school standing nearby cannot solve it. It’s good that you always have the Internet at hand 🙂
Will the film be released abroad?
We are counting on Belarus and Kazakhstan. Plus we will have distribution through MEGOGO. And they have territory coverage in the CIS countries and beyond.
How much was the film’s budget?
This is a secret for now, but after the rental we will share the information 🙂