How Carlos A.F. Lopez Finds Depth in Body Horror
Lopez's new short, 'Dream Creep,' has played at Sundance, SXSW, and most recently, Rooftop Films. Here, he discusses casting, special effects, and sound design.
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by Nevin Kelly-Fair
In Carlos A.F. Lopez’s eerie, shocking, and gloriously gory Dream Creep—which screened this past weekend at Rooftop Films’ “Trapped: Mind-Altering Shorts” program—David (Ian Edlund) awakens in the night to a voice emanating from his partner Suzy’s (Sidney Jayne Hunt) ear. As the voice pleads with him to take extreme measures to save the sleeping Suzy, David tries to understand what is going on and make the right decision on how to best help his partner.
Lopez, a multifaceted filmmaker with over a decade of experience in the Seattle underground/DIY scene, has crafted a horror film that is equal parts intimate and extreme, and all around a bloody good time. Dream Creep succeeds in the difficult balancing act of exploring and physicalizing the nebulous notion of supporting a partner—aided by genre imagery and tropes, to literally hammer in the message that one never truly knows what’s going on in a significant other’s head.
After being bowled over by Dream Creep at this past year’s Sundance, I chatted with Carlos about casting, directing, and financing the short, as well as what’s next for him.
Nevin Kelly-Fair: How did the concept of Dream Creep come to you? Were there any key inspirations for the project? And what was your writing process like after you came up with the core concept?
Carlos A.F. Lopez: I woke up one night from a loud sound and was unsure if the sound was from my dream or if there was something actually in my house. Taking that moment and wanting to explore how someone would operate in the face of some dire, surreal emergency got me on the path to what role dreams have in impacting our reality. The writing process then became taking those two concepts and trying to make them fit in a real-world and relatable narrative.
How did you go about financing the short?
Our producer Megan Leonard went out with the script and was able to bring on a financing producer, Zeus Kontoyannis of Zeus Pictures.
How did you go about casting the short? The performances are so intimate and claustrophobic. Was there anything in particular you did in the process of casting or rehearsing to find and prepare the actors in terms of performing in such a specific environment?
Ian Edlund (David) and Sidney Jane Hunt (Suzy) are dear friends that I had been hoping for an opportunity to work with in a more substantial way. Once I had Dream Creep written I knew from the strengths they displayed in their previous works that these were roles they could step into and elevate.
Having already been friends for several years made us comfortable working in the movie’s intimate setting. We actually recorded all of Suzy’s dialogue before we shot the movie so we were able to use that time to work out the rhythm and pacing of how they would interact, without the time pressure of being filmed on set. It was a more heightened rehearsal in a sense, since we were going to actually use those recordings in the movie.
We also used the recordings as playback during filming for when David is listening to the ear, which I think was helpful for Ian to have so that he was actually hearing Sidney’s performance, since she herself couldn’t be speaking the lines while being asleep in the shot.
In terms of production, how many days did you shoot? Was it all shot in one location? And what was the process like for the wonderful practical effects used for the thermometer and blood effects?
We shot over a weekend at my house in Seattle. That’s actually my wife and my real bed and bedroom, which was a bit surreal to live in after we shot.
Another director friend, Lael Rogers, did our blood and other special FX. That was just a fun process of playing around with old movie tricks and being able to test out different methods that could work within our budget. She was able to research and land on a pretty good blood recipe, which we still have several gallons of in my basement. Our top secret blood splattering device was a pesticide sprayer we had repurposed.
For the meat thermometer effect we used a watermelon, but any more than that I cannot divulge.
The short has such great sound design. I’m especially intrigued to hear about your process in getting the right mix for Suzy’s voice.
I was able to work with another long-time friend and collaborator, Aaron C. Schroeder, on the sound design and score. We know each other from our band days, Aaron being a talented musician as well as sound engineer. He operates a recording studio (Pierced Ear Recordings) out of Ballard, Washington and was very generous in giving time in the studio to develop the sound design.
Aaron has this great library of music and sound elements he’s created over the years, and after reading the script and talking out some of the ideas he was able to send me tracks he thought would work for the atmosphere we wanted for the movie, and those ended up being what we used for the film.
We were able to also record additional foley, utilizing his impressive collection of synths, instruments, and various noise gadgets. When it came to mixing Suzy’s voice, that was a process of dialing in the spatial relationship between what the camera was seeing and what and how we were hearing things. It took some experimenting with adding vocal effects as well as just playing with the volume we were hearing her voice at, to ground it in reality and make the concept land.
On top of having great practicals, the short opens on a wonderful special effects shot of the camera traveling through Suzy’s ear canal. Can you share how you created that sequence?
Our producer Bobby McHugh is a very savvy post-production producer and took my initial idea of just opening the movie with a simple iris transition that would allude to an ear hole and suggested we reach out to an fx animator who could really make it feel like we’re traveling out of an ear hole.
Bobby brought on Jacob Shroades who really blew us away with the animation he made. It sets us on this twisty, disorienting ride even before the movie really gets going. Everyone was so stoked when we saw that shot and we knew we had to make a movie that warranted such a cool opening.
What was your experience like at Sundance showcasing your film? Any advice to short filmmakers hoping to get in or advice for if you're on the ground as a shorts filmmaker at the fest?
Sundance was great, truly a special place where creators and audiences can get together and share in a love and enthusiasm for movies. Our screening was so fun and the audiences there are just hungry for big, bold cinematic movies. It’s the perfect environment to really go all out in your work.
I would say to any aspiring short film makers, attend any festival you can and just watch a shorts package—with an audience, if possible. Figure out where in that collection of shorts you could see your film fitting, what’s missing from the shorts package, and whether you could make the movie that would fit right in that slot. Also, make it work as a short film, not just a proof of concept. Not that you should limit your ambitions for the idea, but that the idea should be able to stand alone, apart from anywhere it could go after.
Are there other projects you have in the pipeline?
I’m working on developing a feature version of the short. But my advice up top still stands! [laughs.]
Nevin Kelly-Fair is a producer’s assistant at MountainA. Most recently Nevin worked on the Oscar-nominated Todd Haynes’ film May December and the Alma Har’el-directed limited series, Lady in the Lake. Prior to MountainA, Nevin worked at the SFFILM festival where he assisted with programming and filmmaker liasoning for the fest, and The Gotham, where he helped lead public programming. He also founded & programmed Gotham’s under 25 initiative, Gotham Z. Nevin was born and raised in San Francisco's Excelsior District and now resides in New York.
Listings
Josh Palmer is looking for a vacation type-home with some character & surrounded by nature to both shoot and house a small production team in Fall 2024 for a micro-budget feature film. Preferably within 5 hours driving of NYC. Here are inspiration images, but open to all sorts of leads! Send leads to: luxmotustempus@gmail.com
Erin O’Connor is looking for a dj that lives in Nova Scotia or will be there in September for a documentary festival party where the theme is disco. Email talk2erinnow@gmail.com
The 48 Hour Film Project, in Montreal, is looking for teams to enter and make a film this September 20 -22. Winner goes to Filmapalooza in March 2025 and is eligible for a spot in a screening at the Canes Film Festival Short Film Corner. $99 CAD to register. Email jasen48hr@gmail.com or erin48hr@gmail.com with questions.
Breanne Thomas is an LA-based producer seeking remote part-time or full-time production and post-production gigs in film and commercial. Email Bre.Thomas@gmail.com.
Sarah Garrahan (she/her) is available for editing work starting in August. Her credits include the hybrid documentary The Infiltrators (Sundance Film Festival 2019), the Emmy-nominated feature documentary Building the American Dream (SXSW 2019), the feature documentary Silent Beauty (Hot Docs Film Festival 2022), and the short documentaries Status Pending (Al Jazeera), La Isla (The New Yorker) and Love in the Time of Migration (LA Times Short Docs). She is a former Flaherty Fellow, Felsman Fellow and a current Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellow. In 2023, she was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Email sarahgarrahan@gmail.com.
An A24 ping-pong movie is searching for highly competitive ping-pong players for various supporting roles. Shooting in NY this fall. Apply here.
Mary Dauterman is in search of a VFX artist for a music video. Email Mary.Dauterman@gmail.com.
Bronx Documentary Center is taking applications for the 2024/2025 BDC Films Fellowship Program. Apply through July 30, and learn more here.
From Bucky Illingworth: Have an affordable / sliding scale Super 16mm package available in NYC. It's an Arri SR2, PL Mount, HD tap, 2 mags Otar Illumina Lenses (9.5, 12, 16, 25). Insurance is required for rentals but also open to work as a DP / operator. Just looking to make shooting on film more accessible for people! Email: email@bucky.website.
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