High Noon This Saturday, Zombies Take Over The Newport Cinema 4

The weekend is within sight and you may be looking for something to do in the East Tennessee area you may want to drive to Newport (TN) on Saturday and catch The Road to Oblivion premiere. You may remember the earlier post about the short film by Clint Keller about Zombies that was filmed around the Cocke County area. Cocke County is famous or infamous for Moonshine.

The film will premier at the Newport Cinema 4 at 12 noon on Saturday (8/8) and the admission to the showing is free and open to the public on first come basis. Horror, Zombie or movie buffs should take the time to visit Newport and catch the film. If you are on the bubble about watching a film from an East Tennessee film maker here is two words to consider, Quinten Tarantino. The man who brought Pulp Fiction to the world was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. It would have been great to have had a chance to see Tarantino’s first premiere.

I had a chance to interview Clint (via e-mails) about the film and it’s premier. The transcript is after the Road to Oblivion trailer.

Jeff Where did you get the idea for the Road to Oblivion?
Clint I had wanted to do a zombie movie for a while, but didn’t know what direction to take. I wanted to do something that hadn’t really been done before. The script came together mostly because of the movies/games/books I was watching/reading/playing at the time. Namely I Am Legend (book and movie), 28 Days Later(movie), The Road (book), and Gears of War (video game). I also wanted a script that wouldn’t take many actors. The majority of the movie revolves around two men and their struggles as they try to survive in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world.

Jeff This being small indie film how did you get your actors and locations?
Clint All the actors are friends of mine that I convinced to help. The two principle actors, Brandon Foster and David Cooper, had helped me on earlier projects as well. As for the film locations, my Dad frequently buys and sells real estate, so he owned several properties for us to shoot on.

Jeff What type of equipment did you use to shoot and edit with?
Clint I use a Panasonic DVX-100B and an Azden shotgun mic to film. I use the Adobe Creative Suite CS4 to edit with. It includes Premiere Pro, After Effects, Encore, Soundbooth, and some other stuff I don’t use lol. For special fx, I ordered a collection of stock footage from Video Copilot called “Action Essentials 2″ and implemented them using Adobe After Effects.

Jeff How did your Mom and Dad react to you undertaking the film and the subject?
Clint My parents are very supportive of my film making. They have helped tremendously in the production.

Jeff Who do you have as your influences as a film maker?
Clint Quinten Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, etc.), Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen), George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), Clint Eastwood and Sam Raimi.

Jeff Are you planning on pursuing an education for film making? If so where?
Clint I have looked into some film schools, primarly Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. I am going to visit the campus somtime next month. But, all in all, I’m not entirely sure where I will go or what I will study.

Jeff What do you see your next project to be?
Clint I have a couple ideas for my next project. It’s a toss up between a mystery thriller surrounding a small town, and a comedy about a church. I considered doing a sequel to R2O, but probably won’t.

Jeff How long did it take to do the film? Shooting days, pre and post production.
Clint I spent about 3 months developing the script and drawing storyboards. Principle photography took a total of five weeks, but we really only shot 2 full days and 6 half days. We had to film around the actor’s work schedules. Editing took about 2 weeks.

Jeff What is the ticket cost for the opening and will it be having regular or semi-regular screenings at Cinema 4 or other venues?
Clint The showing at Cinema 4 will be free. August 8th is the only showing we have scheduled right now, but the film will hopefully be showing at various film festivals and other local venues over the next several months.

Jeff Are you going to be releasing the film on DVD with a self -publish service like Amazon’s service?
Clint DVDs will be available, although I’m not sure where yet. I’m looking into a few different DVD distributing options.

Jeff Other than Facebook, what other Social Media sites have you used to promote your film?
Clint Youtube, Vimeo, www.twssproductions.webs.com and www.killerkeller.webs.com

Jeff What was your film’s budget?
Clint I spent about $400 on R2O. That’s including props, make-up, tape, stock footage, etc. My camera and mic were about $2200, but I don’t count them because they a reusable.