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THN Speaks With Perdita Weeks About ‘As Above, So Below’

Perdita Weeks

This weekend you’ll have the chance to check out the latest horror found footage feature AS ABOVE, SO BELOW. It’s a claustrophobic tale set in the catacombs below Paris. We had a chance to talk with the film’s star, Perdita Weeks, who plays intrepid professor and explorer Scarlett, as she searches for the Philosopher’s Stone. Perdita was kind enough to tell us all about what it’s like being part of a found footage feature, as well how it was filming in such a gothic and scary location.

How did you get involved with the project?

It was quite odd. It was quite a quick thing. I got handed the script by my agent and said “They want you to send a tape in.” So I did, and then my self tape wasn’t very good because my mother and I did it together and she didn’t know how to use my SLR, so I then had to do another one with the casting director and then they wanted me to come in and screentest in Paris. The entire thing took about three weeks which is unheard of in terms of being very quick. Apparently Drew (Dowdle-Writer) and John Erick (Dowdle-Director/Writer) saw two different videos of me, so two different versions of my tape, and both decided that they liked me, independently which is quite funny. And then it came to a draw and they said “this is the girl I like,” and “this is the girl I like,” and it was the same girl.

How does the filming of a found footage feature differ from other productions?

It was incredibly exhausting being found footage because with the action we were doing 10-15 minute continuous scenes where we were playing out a lot of action. With it being a horror film we spent quite a lot of the movie being terrified or exhausted, or hurt and injured, or running away from something. So being in that hyper energized state for sort of 7-8 weeks itself is exhausting, but doing it in this found footage way with these continuous scenes was very much like theatre. There wasn’t any stopping and starting “And now we’re going for the close-up,” or “And now we’re going for the master shot,” they would just film. We’d occasionally end up doing just one scene in a day, over and over again with a different outcome every time. Nothing had to match, because they could just do hard cuts, or because of the continuous shooting, so that was very freeing, it was very enjoyable but being hyper energized all day, everyday for 8 weeks was absolutely the most knackering thing I’ve ever done. But you know, so fun to able to go and act out an entire scene with 5 other great actors, just playing around within that amazing set. There are sequences within the film where we unlock certain riddles and we were able to travel through certain kind of tunnels, which we actually did. All the rooms existed and to act within that space for real. I think I’ll have to wait awhile to do another found footage because I need to save up my energy. I think it’s best to do one of those every couple of years.

As an actress did you find the process more liberating?

Yes, absolutely. The fact that we were able to, y’know John Erick and Drew Dowdle were kind of, we very much used the script as a framework and we would just play around with the space and see how and what worked between the 6 of us. How we thought the scene would play out and where’d we’d need to go. The stage directions were very…we would just make them up as went along.

So there was plenty of room for improvisation then?

Absolutely, yeah. Lots of the time John would just say “Right, walk off down that tunnel and we’re just gonna roll and see what happens.” There wasn’t room for any action but it was just really fun, and we were all incredibly…within a week we were so comfortable within our characters that it became…we had rehearsal period as well but we got up to the point where we were so comfortable within our characters that he could just throw anything at us and there were times when we didn’t know what was going to come next, or we knew but he wouldn’t show us. He wanted to be able to register our real surprise or whatever. He was kind of toying with us like some crazed puppet master.

As Above, So Below

This is the third found footage movie for director John Erick Dowdle. Were you familiar with his work, and did his experience help you in your performance?

I really like this kind of style of shooting as a movie watcher, I feel like you can get rid of that fourth wall which I think is a really interesting thing to do, especially when talking of in the horror genre because it invites the audience right there with you, there’s no barrier of “Oh, this is a camera, that’s a lens and there’s the whole crew there,” it very much brings you into the space so I really love that. And they (John Erick & Drew Dowdle) are experts at it, which also shows a lot in the post-production. They really know what they’re doing and they do so much work but always incredibly quickly. Their style of editing, they’ve known their editor (Elliot Greenberg) for ages, so it’s just incredibly slick. The film moves at such a pace whilst giving so much action  in and I think they clearly know what they’re doing with this style. I think it’s a really enjoyable watch. Exhausting to watch.

In the film your character handles the camera and is equipped with a camera on her at all times. Did that affect your performance in any way?

There were quite a few different ways that we would capture the footage. The main camera, I was holding that for some of the time. They got round the fact of “Why would they have it?” with it being a light source. Because it was this theatrical thing we kind of just played on. There was no moment where we didn’t have that camera, we were all always thinking about it. It was a lot different to anything I’ve ever done, as there were some scenes where it was shooting from the head cameras point of view and you would have to be wearing quite a large helmet with a rather heavy camera attached to it with weights on and everything to keep it balanced. When the other person is acting to that camera, they wouldn’t even be able to look in your eyes, they would have to look just slightly below the camera at a piece of tape that had 2 googly eyes on it attached to the helmet, otherwise if you looked at their eyes it would look as though you were constantly staring at their chin whilst talking. There was also the lighting, with there being no other sources other than the headlamps and the camera, whomever was holding the camera would have to really angle it in the right way and whoever had the headlamps had to light whichever bit of action the main camera was trying to see. There was a lot to think about and we got quite good at it towards the end. It was really fun, and being able to operate… I’ve never…seeing parts of the film and going “That’s operated by me!” is quite exciting. The first 10 minutes, using all different kinds of rigs and things, was really nerve wracking, as well as having to remember your lines, stay in character, not look like a div, and get the light right and take notes for the DOP. Much more fun than standing in front of a camera.

The film takes place in the catacombs below Paris, and I hear you shot some of the footage down there. What was that like and how was the atmosphere?

We shot more than some, most of the stuff that is actually shot in the catacombs in the various different systems that there are around Paris. It was pretty extraordinary. We went down to have a walk around with John and Drew and it was quite a daunting idea thinking “We’re gonna spend a good 6 weeks down here, day in and day out.” It’s a beautiful summer in Paris and everyone’s outside drinking wine and having picnics and you’re thinking “Oh my God, I’m gonna spend all day underground.” It was logistically difficult, obviously for a shooting set, for a crew to get everything down there. We kind of got used to it, the atmosphere was very dark and damp and you can feel the pressure of thousands of tons of limestone above you and God knows what buildings on top of that, and cars and transport and the rest of it. It was the kind of situation where you couldn’t think about it too much because it would freak you out, especially when going down the longer tunnels and you could get yourself disorientated. Nothing goes in a straight line. It’s man made but they seem to have mined the limestone out in every which way. There are massive cracks in the ceiling and pillars of 10 or 12 boulders holding bits up, and some which have fallen down which are slightly dubious. It was very atmospheric, and an amazing experience. There were no days where I thought “Oh God. This is my office,” I can’t believe this is my job. The sets we were in for the last week to recreate the catacombs, with the details and rooms they had to construct were just so realistic it was like being back there. All in all, really helpful for one’s performance.

One thing the film does very well is create a horrid sense of claustrophobia. Were some of the more cramped shots difficult to pull off, and was some of the trepidation and panic genuine?

There were quite a few of us in a small space, so when everyone is getting hyped up and freaked out, that group hysteria catches on somewhat. There was only one cast member who was truly claustrophobic, poor guy. It was very unsettling watching somebody be that uncomfortable. You can’t just say relax when somebody’s clearly struggling. There’s a particular scene where he (Edwin Hodge), in character, has a sort of fit and whilst in danger of the claustrophobic aspect of it, it was absolutely horrendous to watch. It was really terrifying and brilliant and moving, but pretty awful. You can’t even imagine the actual kind of physical situations we were in. The bone tunnels and the sets were very realistic and there would be no space while carrying a ten pound camera on your head, I had to wear a neck brace, and shin and knee pads, while crawling around in very weird spaces generally, covered in mud or blood. All of the above.

Watching the film I realised I wouldn’t do any of the things your character does. Do you consider yourself an adventurous person?

I am, to a degree. I love exploring and things like that, but I have to say going deep underground, even though I’m not claustrophobic, it’s just not something I would do. It’s kind of fun to play somebody who is so gung-ho and so brave and has nothing to lose. She’s not a million miles away, Scarlett’s just an incredibly ballsy version of me.

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW is released on 29th August. Read our review here.

Luke likes many things, films and penguins being among them. He's loved films since the age of 9, when STARGATE and BATMAN FOREVER changed the landscape of modern cinema as we know it. His love of film extends to all aspects of his life, with trips abroad being planned around film locations and only buying products featured in Will Smith movies. His favourite films include SEVEN SAMURAI, PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, IN BRUGES, LONE STAR, GODZILLA, and a thousand others.

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