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Interviews: Ancanar

posted 5/2/03
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Just a bit of an interview here, but when Ancanar.com's webmaster, Curugon, offered to have writer/director Sam Balcomb and director/producer/costar Raiya Corsiglia answer some questions, I wanted to ask them something interesting without taking up too much of their time. (The website is incredibly thorough on the process and struggle of making an independent fantasy film on a shoestring, so you can't just go in and say, "So, what's the movie about?".) But here's what I asked, and here's what Sam and Raiya replied (and many thanks to them for taking time out to talk to us):


1.) How has making a fantasy film on a low budget particularly challenged your creativity?

RAIYA: In every possible way.  We never limit ourselves creatively  on the basis of what we have or what we don't have.  We conceive our ideas, then figure out how on earth we're going to pull them off.  It's a two part creative process.  It's not as simple as  saying, "Yeah, then we'll get the helicopter shot over the castle and bring in the crane for the cliff shot..."  If these are stylist elements we want for the film, we must figure out other ways of getting them, be it SFX, creative camera angles, unique locations, etc.  The real creativity seems to come into play when you have to make it look like you had helicopters and cranes and a crew of hundreds and you didn't. 

SAM: The opening shot of the trailer is this wide shot of a snowy landscape with mountains in the background -- it looks like the camera is craning up. The foreground is a miniature of a rock, actually shot in my living room. I found the rock at the far edge of a golf course near my house. The truth is we had very little money but a lot of passion for the story, and we did what was necessary to get the images we wanted. We've had a number of fans ask us if our budget was over a hundred million.



2.) How do you plan to gain the confidence of the Tolkien fans and fantasy film fans in general? Is making a film in this genre right now a blessing or a liability?


SAM: We knew that our only obligation was to tell a great story and maybe inspire others to do the same. Honoring Tolkien's visions and themes was top priority. We certainly don't want anyone to think that we're trying to cash in -- I started writing this thing in 1999, and had dreamed about doing a story like this since my dad read me LOTR when I was young. Those book inspired me, and they do to this day; I have a lifetime to repay that debt.

RAIYA: It's both. It's wonderful what Peter Jackson and his team have done for fantasy films.  I have been waiting my whole life for the fantasy genre to be embraced as "the cop on the trail of a killer..." films have. 
Lord of the Rings has now made the fantasy genre more accessible and more popular with the public, simply because it’s so damn good.   Hopefully, this will open the door to others within the fantasy genre to make their pet projects.   For us, we just want to tell a good story with mythical elements in places you can’t get to on the highway.  We’re making the kind of film we always wanted to see as kids.  Now might be a difficult time for us to be making Ancanar, simply because it is Tolkien influenced.  However, our love for our story dictates that we’d be making our film regardless of what others were being made at the time.



3.) What inspires you?

RAIYA: The electric feeling I get when something transforms from a mere idea to images on the screen in front of me.  There's nothing more magical to me.  I know all filmmakers must say this, but, it's true.  There's only so many words in the English language to describe something.  Yet, there's innumerable ways to show something.  

SAM: I think everyone needs a certain level of inspiration to make it through the day. What's great about film and literature is that the New York stockbroker with millions of dollars at risk each minute can find the same inspiration that the cement-truck driver does. Anyone can connect on the most basic of levels. Like Raiya said, there's countless ways to do that. Much of my inspiration comes from seeing others get energized by something I'm working on. But when I really need a break, to get away from things, I hop in the car and drive thirty minutes into the mountains. I love the sensation that no other human being is around for miles -- not a feeling you get much in Los Angeles. Once
Ancanar is done I'll probably backpack across Scotland, which should be a breeze in comparison.



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