Last month I reviewed Capture Kill Release, written by Nick McAnulty and co-directed by McAnulty and Brian Stewart. The film, which follows a young couple as they plan to kill someone on film, ended up being one of my top films of 2016 and one of my favorite found footage movies in general. So, I was very excited to recently get the opportunity to interview McAnulty, along with stars Farhang Ghajar and Jennifer Fraser about their process in finding the right chemistry and what their experience has been like promoting the film. Spoilers are kept to a minimum, but if you want to go in completely blind, check out the film for yourself when it releases on iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu, XBox, FlixFling and more on the 7th. You won’t regret it.

HB: “Capture Kill Release”— Aside from being a catchy title, this concept plays a major role in the film. What significance does it have to you?

Nick McAnulty: Titles are a tricky thing. We wanted something that was catchy and had a few layers to it. In the film, our characters are capture a victim, kill them and then have a “release” of euphoria from what they’ve done – at the same time they’re capturing the footage, executing their main goal (the Kill) and then finally we are seeing the “release” of the finished product. It’s weird and different, but felt right in the end.

Jennifer Fraser: I think the title plays into the cognitive and emotion process for my character. Capture: not just in the physical sense of the victims, but in acquiring the loyalty and complacency on the part of her husband in the crimes.  The “Kill” part is pretty obvious, but the “Release” aspect I found to be more in the appeasement of her sinister desires. Like an itch scratched.

Farhang Ghajar: Hah! Yeah, I’m a fan of good wordplay so I like that the title works on a few levels. I think it does a great job of encapsulating the found footage form with a glimpse into the protagonist’s dark obsessions.

HB: What was the casting process like? I’ve read that a fair amount of the film was shot with different actors, when did you know that you had found the right dynamic with Jennifer and Farhang?

NM: The casting process focused on chemistry – we wanted to pair people up to see how their chemistry was and how they could react in certain situations on the fly. When we made the difficult decision to recast when we felt we weren’t heading in the direction we wanted, we actually recruited Farhang who we’ve worked with in the past and seeing what his chemistry was like with different actresses. Once we met Jenn and saw the two of them together, we instantly knew that she was the missing piece and that this was our couple.

HB: What made you choose the found footage style for this film? Was shooting this like a traditional film ever an option, or was the intimacy of found footage just too essential? What are some of the challenges of shooting a film this way?

NM: Very early concepts of the film would have been shot in a traditional style but those concepts were a completely different movie. As we explored deeper into the type of story we were looking at we switched gears to a found footage format to explore some of the themes that were popping up. We found really wanted to explore themes of vanity, our ‘selfie culture’ that’s obsessed with documenting everything and how we present ourselves to the camera. Not to mention the validation we get from putting a camera on ourselves and how we’re always willing to go further and further when a camera is watching us in the age of YouTube and reality TV.

While there are some nice advantages to the format, there are a number of challenges that come up that often seem to be ignored by some filmmakers. You have to craft very deliberate artistic choices to tell the story while making them feel as organic as possible in the scene to seem like “reality”. You want to make everything feel authentic but then are also making certain choices to make sure it doesn’t feel too amateur so the audience isn’t turned off by what they’re watching. In real life the audio wouldn’t sound this good, the camera would probably be a lot shakier – It’s a very delicate balancing act where you want something to feel authentic but not come off as too amateur that the audience is going to tune out. There are also a lot of technical considerations you always have to keep in mind – the genre has a lot of “rules” you have to abide by so you’re always testing which ones you can bend without cheating your audience.

HB: Something that really struck me about the dialog is how organic it feels, due in no small part to the subtle imperfections throughout. Awkward pauses, characters interrupting and talking over one another, it all comes together to create something that feels real. How do you go about writing and rehearsing something to make it feel not written or rehearsed?

NM: We had a script that had everything in the movie we needed to tell the story, but were very open to breaking things open and letting the actors play with the dialogue. Each day of shooting we knew where we had to get but went through the scene in a very linear order, breaking down and reworking it as we went along which we’d then build on. Some of these wouldn’t work and we’d have to reshoot the scene on another day with a different approach while others turned into these incredible moments that we captured on the fly. We ended up with a LOT of footage due to this approach which we then had to trim down to tell the best story possible. An early cut of the film ran 2.5 hours, which our brilliant editor had to go in and remove an hour from without feeling like we’ve lost anything from the film.

HB: Not to give too much away, but there is a scene in the film with some (simulated) animal cruelty. What was your intent in including this scene and what has the response been like?

NM: The scene in question is the one where things start getting real. While the subject matter of the film is very dark, everything up to that point has a darkly comical “theoretical” feeling to it. This is the point where we wanted to show the violence was real and it was ugly.

There’s a very famous screenwriting book called “Save the Cat” – the title coming from a screenwriting trick of getting your hero to do something nice and noble early on (like saving a cat) to establish a trust and likability factor with the audience. This was the point where we wanted to hit home who these characters are and what they’re doing so we did the exact opposite.

Most audience members know what type of movie they’re getting into with this one but we have definitely had a few walkouts at different screenings whenever this scene comes up.

And for the record: I love the cat we used in the film very much and specifically wanted him for this scene.

HB: Farhang, your character couldn’t be much more distinct from Jennifer’s. It’s a very subtle, subdued performance that is expressed just as much in body language as in the dialog. Was this a conscious choice to act as a counterweight to her mania? You’ve also done work in the past as a writer and director, how do you feel that experience informed this performance?

FG: Thank you! The relationship dynamics developed naturally as we improvised most of the scenes. At first glance, it’s clear that if Jenn is going to succeed in getting Farhang to go through with these horrendous acts, she needs to have massive control over his life. Nick and Brian were clear that Jenn holds all of the power in the relationship. So it became a journey to find the motivations that lead a person to abandon their autonomy. My character’s happiness is dependent on her reward system; Jenn uses sweetness and intimacy to entice my cooperation every step of the way, and when that fails – she resorts to outright abuse and beratement. So it all kind of fell into place as we discovered the intricacies of the relationship. I think those experiences definitely helped me find the honest behaviour of this character. I think good writing and acting are both in search of truthful representations of human beings so the more you do either, the more you learn about the other.

HB: Jennifer, when doing my research for the review, I came across something that surprised me: this is your first credited role. This seems like a very challenging role that you seem very comfortable playing. So, my question is, do you have an acting background outside of TV and film or are you just an actual psychopath?

JF: I do have an acting background. I acquired my BFA in Theatre from the University of Toronto, so that was 5 years of training geared toward theatre performance rather than film.

Haha, not a psychopath, just the normal level of crazy for any of us have when geared toward the unguaranteed careers in the arts.  Previous to this film and aside from a short walk on role in a Sci-Fi short call Emily 2050 (TIFF) in 2015, all of my work has been on the stage.

HB: What I really loved about your performance is how layered and nuanced it is. There’s a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sort of thing going on, where she can go from happy and charming to vicious, but all of the facets of the character seem to be present throughout, just to varying degrees. How did you maintain this balance?

JF: I find the best way to keep a balanced, realistic portrayal comes from meeting in the middle between yourself and the character. As an actor, one cannot approach even the most detestable of personalities from a place of judgment. You have to find a way to get in their mindset and invest in their justification for any action taken. It’s the only way to tell the story honestly.   I’m grateful that the character is being met with such visceral responses from the audience, as she’s an extremely deranged person. If the audience responds that way (as I hope they would as the movie shows some truly horrible acts) it means I’ve played the character honestly.

HB: This is the first horror film any of you have made. How has that experience differed from filming other genres, and what has the response been like from horror fans?

NM: The biggest difference between this and something in another genre is all of the fun gore you get to play with. Outside of that, our goals were the same – we wanted to make a great film with a focus on great performances, so none of that should change just because the genre is different. Critically, horror can sometimes be seen as “lesser” but it really shouldn’t be.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive which has been great. The horror community is amazing and very supportive of the independent scene. They truly are the best audience and will really support and champion a film based on merits without worrying about what “name” is in it.

JF: It is indeed the first.  I haven’t played anything like this before, it was a huge risk and the fans have been extremely supportive.

FG: It’s definitely far more messy! Luckily we had Mitchell Stacey (Inde FX Studio) leading us through some truly disgusting effects sequences. Aside from that, the work is the same: be present and react honesty. The response has been fantastic! We’re so grateful to enjoy the kind words of this awesome community.   The response has been overwhelmingly positive which has been great. The horror community is amazing and very supportive of the independent scene. They truly are the best audience and will really support and champion a film based on merits without worrying about what “name” is in it.

HB: By all accounts, the film has been a huge success on the festival circuit, what are some of your memorable experiences from the screenings you’ve attended?

NM: The audience reaction to this has been very positive which has been great. I was very surprised that we took home such big wins like Shriekfest which was amazing, but for me some of the most ‘memorable’ festival moments are the walkouts. We’ve mostly been focused on the genre circuit where the audience knows what type of gory film they’re getting into, yet we STILL managed to be a little too much for some of them. When a couple audience members in a horror festival have to leave because a scene is STILL too extreme for them, you can’t help but smile.

JF: Well, Nick and I used to take bets on when walkouts would happen, specifically the “cat scene”. We were not disappointed. At our World Premiere at SunScreen in Florida, I met Gary Busey, which was kinda cool. He kissed me on the cheek twice and we had a photo op. What was especially awesome was our hometown premier here in Toronto at the blood in the Snow festival, where my parents got to see the work (they were highly traumatized but very supportive)

FG: I think my favourite thing was the walkouts we had during our Toronto (hometown) premiere at the Blood in the Snow film festival. That’s right. A genre festival. Where people came specifically to watch a disturbing film. Then were so disturbed that they left early. That’s a weird point of pride to have but it’s pretty cool!

HB: What’s next for you? I know Nick and Farhang have worked together in the past on Uncle Brian, any chance of more collaborations in the future?

NM: Brian and I are working on a few great ideas – some a little more fun, some a little more twisted – but all in the the same genre. We would definitely like to collaborate with Farhang again in the future – and this entire cast – they’re a very lovely and talented group and we are so lucky to have been able to create this twisted picture with them.

JF: Now I’m focusing on getting an agent. Doing theatre auditions here in Toronto. I would absolutely LOVE to work with any member of our team again, we had such an amazing time during our shoot and that kind of talent and passion is always a pleasure to work with.

FG: I’m at the Stratford festival (going to be in Twelfth Night and School for Scandal this season) so I’m doing more stage work in the near future. Nick knows that I’m always interested in collaborating with him so the ball is in his court!