Zombie Girl: The Movie: The Interview Part II

Posted by Adam Sweeney (adam@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 31, 2008

After speaking with Aaron Marshall and Justin Johnson, two of the directors of Zombie Girl: The Movie, before the screening, I caught up with them after seeing the film and loving it. Luckily, Eric Mauck, the third director of the film, had the time to talk to me for part deux.

You can check out the first part of the interview here.

What was your expectations coming into the festival and how did it end up working out?

Aaron Marshall: We were excited coming into the festival because we always wanted to have the world premiere be in Austin. It’s where we shot the film and especially being at the Alamo Drafthouse, it’s kind of iconic. So we were excited, we were a little nervous because we were hoping to fill the theater, which we managed to do. People seemed to be pretty happy with what they’re seeing in the film so it’s pretty cool.

Eric Mauck: I didn’t have too many expectations. One very important lesson I have learned throughout the last three or four years is that it never ends up being here what it might be here (points to his head) beforehand. So, because it’s been such a long process to finish, I just wanted to focus on seeing it and know what they felt about it. That was the most exciting thing for me, knowing what everybody thought about it.

Justin Johnson: I was just hoping we could fill the theater on the first screening and have people enjoy the movie. More importantly, having an Austin premiere made sense, because there are just so many people along the way that came and helped us out along the way. So it was great to get to watch it with them. This is really the first time I have been on this side of the festival circuit so I was excited to experience it in a general sort of way. You know, just walking around, talking to people about what they think about the movie.

Were there any influences that you took in approaching the film?

AM: I guess so. In particular, as I cut the film I watched a whole lot of documentaries to see what I liked or didn’t like, you know, whether it be American Movie. It’s about someone else making a movie or a classic fly on the wall documentary like Salesman, and ours is sort of maybe a mix of the two. We do interviews where we do interact with everyone in the movie so I watched stuff like that for influence, and then we created something unique based on what the three of us like to do. It’s a big melting pot.

EM: As far as shooting goes this is our first feature-length documentary. Really, I’ve only been shooting documentaries for a couple of years. So, the last thing I was thinking about as I shot was what filmmakers I like. It was like make sure I get as many shots as I can and make sure I get as much coverage as possible. Everything went so fast so I only focused on getting the shots I could.

That makes sense. You don’t really have time to pay homage to anyone else with shots.

EM: Yeah. And when we started I wasn’t into documentaries as much as I am now. It wasn’t like, “Let’s shoot this in the style of whatever,” it was like “Let’s go out. Can you get Thursday? Okay, I’ll do Friday.” (Laughs)

JJ: I guess the one influence I recognize is Hoop Dreams. It’s one of my favorite documentaries and also Stevie by Steve James. The only thing I was thinking about before we started was the idea that throughout the process we wanted to do interviews, little five minute ones throughout the way. They did that in Hoop Dreams, and I think it makes the movie more interesting, whereas, like, I can tell some documentaries just got two interviews. You can tell they just keep going back to those same interviews. We made sure, even if it was like three minutes, even when Emily lost some of her footage. I was like, “I know this sucks but can I ask you just three questions?” We told her we’d do little wrap-ups and say, “How did you feel about today,” and then let her go off and say whatever.

AM: We said very early on that we wouldn’t use a voice-over because that becomes our voice telling the story. We never wanted that. We wanted it to be the voices of the people in the story, so there is no voice-over in our film. We let what they’re doing tell the action.

Right. That shows. I mean you shot over 146 hours of footage. Using the fly on the wall technique makes it become a very personal story between Emily, her cast, and a touching bond between her and her mother. It was a great approach. One last question, what would you like people to take from Zombie Girl?

AM: I think it’s an inspirational message. No matter how old you are or whatever you’re working on, it doesn’t matter. The key is being persistent and sticking with it if it’s what you want to do. Emily did it with her film, we did it with our film. It took us three and a half years to make this documentary and it took over two years for Emily to make hers. If there is a message aside from humanity it’s persistence and dedication.

EM: Yeah, I’m not too good at these big questions. (Laughs) But yeah, for kids who don’t know already, it’d be cool if they say, “Oh, Imovie? What’s that?” And if the technology is there for her to do it then they can do it. If it can inspire them that would be awesome.

JJ: I don’t think I had any preconceived ideas of what I wanted people to take from the movie, but if it can spark discussion then that would be amazing.

I definitely think it’s an inspirational film. Not just for aspiring filmmakers but people in general. So I think you did a great job. Thanks again for letting us take the time to do an interview. We’ll definitely follow the progress of Zombie Girl and we look forward to seeing what comes next from all of you. Thanks a lot.

AM: Thank you.

EM: Thanks.

JJ: Yeah, thanks.

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