In the first of these interviews, IFTN speaks to Ciaran Foy who has won a number of awards for his work, which includes the short ‘The Faeries of Blackheath Woods’ and the feature film ‘Citadel’. He is currently working on the highly anticipated sequel to ‘Sinister’. Below, Ciaran tells us about studying at IADT and working in the horror genre:
What were some of the earliest influences on your work?
I grew up in the 80's, so Spielberg, Lucas, Zemeckis, Cameron and Verhovan were my earliest influences.
What was your experience of studying at IADT?
I have fond memories of IADT. It was four years of intensely reading about, watching and making movies 24/7. I met my wife there and made a lot of short films. Some of the connections I made there are people I still work with today.
How did your education at IADT develop your interest and skills in filmmaking?
I learned the most from doing. I think that's fair to say of any art form. We could rent out the equipment and make little films whenever we wanted to. Some students wanted their graduate short to be the be all and end all, but I just wanted to keep writing and making stuff of any kind. A 30 second short, a 2 minute short, whatever, learning from failures, experimenting, trying out new things etc.
Following the award-winning Citadel, your next project is Sinister 2. What has attracted you to working in the horror genre?
I'm a bit of a geek at heart and always have been. Horror and sci-fi are my favourite genres - when they are created with respect and intelligence I might add. I love when horror is really about something else. I love the psychological. I love escapism. Creating new worlds, new mysteries, a different way of looking at ourselves.
Are there distinctive qualities you need as a director to work in horror?
Horror is so broad a term I feel that there are different skill sets involved in each sub-genre of horror. Gore bores me, for instance. I could never make a torture porn/gore fest. In terms of psychological horror, I feel you need to have a tangible understanding of the underlining emotions. What is fear? How is it different to terror? How does it work? Atmosphere and performance are keys for me. They’re what make people invest in the reality of the scenario. I also have a theory that the more you yourself are afraid of something, the more the audience can feel that. That probably goes for most emotions. If something makes you feel a sense of awe, or makes you cry, or laugh - the more an audience can feel that. In some ways your soul comes out in your work. The best horror directors are very sensitive and emotional. You need to be in order to tap into those things and communicate them visually and sonically.
What can you tell us about ‘Sinister 2’?
Not much at the moment! I'm still editing. It stars Shannyn Sossamon and James Ransone and it's about a mother (Sossamon) who has taken refuge in a house with her twin boys. Then ghost kids start appearing and bad things happen! But I can promise you it's not what people are expecting. It's not just more of the same. It's a side of things we haven't seen before.
Finally, what advice would you give to students interested in entering the filmmaking industry?
Everyone's advice these days is to "just go make movies". You can shoot on your phone today and there is this package and that package free online so there's no excuse etc etc. While I feel that's true, you need more than that. You need to stand out. Be a black sheep amongst the flocks of white. You need to do something fresh. Look around, see what people are doing, and do the opposite. Or show it from the other angle. Too much stuff today looks the same and we tune out, bored that if offers nothing new. We need new powerful voices that are not just aping what came before. So my main advice would be to be yourself. It sounds cliché but it's true - don't imitate, innovate.
