Writer/Director Francis Galluppi talks to Fest Track about visual approach, music integration and reflection in regards to his new thriller noir: "The Last Stop In Yuma County", playing as an official selection at the 2023 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 [music]
00:26 Hi, this is Tim Wasburg from FesTrack. I'm at the Alamo Draft House in Austin, Texas for Fantastic Fes.
00:32 There's an interesting thing about making a small space feel immense on screen and for the characters.
00:38 Yeah, you know, I knew there was a version of this movie that would feel like, that would start to feel like a stage play.
00:46 So like I would just watch like Rope and The Silence of the Mirror and like Dialing for Murder and these single location films that like,
00:53 what is it about them that didn't feel like a stage play and what's it about them that did feel like a stage play?
00:58 And like, I think it was really like, we shot the f*ck out of that diner. Like, I mean, we put the camera in every goddamn corner.
01:05 Like, and I remember like the one, because we did so much prep, I think the only place I never thought about was
01:12 putting the camera behind the order window, like, which we get that shot a couple times.
01:16 And when I went in there, I was like, "If we didn't think about that spot, I could put the camera behind there!" You know what I mean?
01:21 [Music]
01:50 Yeah, I mean, like my background is music. I went to college for music. I've been playing in bands my whole life.
01:55 So like music has always been a huge part of my life and honestly like a huge part of the writing process.
02:01 And like, most of the soundtrack is songs that I grew up listening to with my dad.
02:05 And like, so I think they've always like, images have always kind of been burned in my head with the soundtrack, you know.
02:10 I've like, I've always wanted to put crying in a movie, you know.
02:14 And I'll be honest, like nobody really, on the page, the Orbison sequence, like nobody, everyone was like, "This is stupid.
02:22 You're putting a music video in the middle of your fucking movie."
02:24 Like, I had to sell that shit so hard. I mean, even my DP was like, "What are you doing?"
02:29 Because on the page, it felt really jarring. It's just like, "Begin slow motion."
02:33 And it's like, "Erlene, knitting." You know, it's not very interesting.
02:37 - How did people react to the screening?
02:39 - I mean, everybody that said that to me before we shot, they were like, "I was wrong."
02:46 And I was like, "Oh, thank God. Thank God it worked." Yeah.
02:49 I knew, like, I was really excited about shooting that sequence.
02:54 It was tough, man. Like, that Vertigo shot took like 20-something takes.
02:58 - The one you have?
02:59 - Yeah, the one that were, you know, with Jocelyn in front. Like, yeah, that was tough.
03:02 My parents actually came to set that day.
03:05 And they were like, "Okay, again, again."
03:09 My parents were like, "What the fuck are you doing?"
03:12 And so Jim had to pull my parents aside and explain to them how a Vertigo shot works
03:19 and what it's doing. Yeah, it was really funny.
03:22 But at first, they were just like, "Why are you doing 26 takes of this one simple shot?"
03:27 I'm like, "It's not a simple shot. It's really tough."
03:30 You know, we didn't have--like, we were doing it all on a whip.
03:33 So it was really challenging to get that shot. Yeah.
03:36 - Normally, I just slit your throat and steal your car.
03:39 But fortunately for you, I figured that fruity little number outside doesn't have any gas, correct?
03:44 - No. I mean, yeah.
03:48 - Where's your car?
03:50 - My husband dropped me off.
03:52 - The fat man at the gas station, does he have a car?
03:56 - He lives here.
03:57 - He lives here?
03:59 - He runs the motel next door, and he stays in one of the rooms.
04:03 - We used Shot Designer for everything, and then we actually photo-bordered a lot of it.
04:08 So we actually--because we had the space, we would go there and then--
04:12 - What was that space? Was it just all of it?
04:14 - Yeah, it's in Lancaster, California. It's called Four Aces.
04:17 Now that you've seen the movie, you'll probably recognize it in so many places.
04:21 Like, it's in commercials and TV shows.
04:23 But we had it for a couple weeks in prep, and we did some scenic work
04:27 and kind of made it our own.
04:30 But, yeah, we even rented the camera for a few days, a couple weeks leading up to the shoot,
04:35 and did test shots, and then went back and colored it.
04:39 So we actually plugged in a LUT for one of the monitors
04:42 where we could see sort of what the final color was going to look like.
04:46 Yeah, I'm just lucky to have a DP that's wanting to put just as much effort into it as me.
04:55 - And they'll cook?
04:58 - Not today.
05:00 - Shit.
05:05 I guess we're stuck here until that truck arrives.
05:11 Which means you two better pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you.
05:17 If you try anything stupid, I'll shoot you in the face.
05:20 Understood?
05:24 Good.
05:26 So here's what we're going to do.
05:28 - The one thing that really you were talking about a little before with Logan is the humor.
05:32 The thing is, the only way this works is no matter what decision Jim's character is making,
05:37 no matter what Rich is doing as Bo, there has to be that release valve.
05:42 - Always.
05:43 - And you're able to do it, I mean, even with the sheriff,
05:46 and the assistant in the office, I mean, it feels, it has a very Peakes feel.
05:50 - Oh, totally. And I f***ing love Twin Peaks.
05:53 - A little bit of Fargo, a little school farting.
05:55 - Yeah, yeah, exactly.
05:57 - Can you talk about finding sort of that humor?
06:01 I mean, it was in the script that you have to play it.
06:03 - You totally have to play it, yeah.
06:05 I mean, luckily, I wrote a lot of these characters with these actors in mind.
06:10 So already them coming, I was like, I know they can really f***ing go for it.
06:14 - So you wrote for pretty much everyone?
06:16 - Pretty much, yeah.
06:18 You know, well, I would say like half of them, where I was like,
06:22 it needs to be Jim, it needs to be Rich, it needs to be Nick,
06:25 it needs to be Jocelyn, like I was very specific about that.
06:28 But then like once we were halfway through, I just kept pushing our luck,
06:32 and I was like, what about Barbara Grantham?
06:34 Like, you think she would do it for a day?
06:36 And we just kept continuing to get lucky with like Alex and Sam,
06:39 and I just kept going out to people that I'm a huge fan of.
06:42 - You're going to go about your day just like any other day.
06:45 You're going to keep our coffee mugs full and when we're ready to eat,
06:48 you're going to take our order with a big fat f***ing smile on your face.
06:53 If anybody comes in here, find out if they got gas, got it?
06:59 Got it!
07:04 Good.
07:06 - But yeah, committing to that humor, you know,
07:10 it was really just like trusting the actors,
07:13 and the actors trusting me that they could go for it, you know?
07:16 And then, you know, having to pull back sometimes,
07:18 but like it was very clear when we were shooting,
07:22 like when we could play it up and when we had to f***ing bring it back down
07:27 and be like, no, this is a serious moment, you know?
07:29 And like, I mean, the scene with Michael Abbott Jr. and Jocelyn,
07:35 like that was like, everybody felt it in the room, you know?
07:38 And like, and it was like, and then we would finish that
07:41 and then go right into a f***ing comedic moment, you know?
07:44 - That's what you do. - Yeah, exactly.
07:46 Yeah, and that's when like, you know, that's when the shocks really work on screen, you know?
07:52 For me, at least, and I felt it in the screen on the premiere.
07:55 It's like when the gun clicks with Jim, you know, like everyone's like laughing
08:01 and then right after that, a really f***ing moment happens.
08:03 So having that juxtaposition constantly, you know, balancing humor and, you know, like suspense.
08:09 I love that s***.
08:11 And you're just going to sit here in silence and play with that little puzzle.
08:18 As soon as that truck gets here, we'll be on our way.
08:28 Now I suggest you pull yourself together and get back behind that counter.
08:36 I mean, the biggest hurdle for it, aside from the creative stuff, was getting the financing.
08:41 - Oh, wow. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:42 I mean, my friend ended up selling his house to finance it, which is crazy.
08:46 - But he chose the worst belief. - Yeah.
08:49 I mean, really, this entire movie was a huge passion project.
08:52 I mean, just look at the cast.
08:53 The fact that they trusted me, it still blows my mind, you know?
08:57 - But it feels dreamlike. - Yeah.
09:02 - You know that? - Yeah, the movie does?
09:04 Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was a f***.
09:06 I mean, yeah, I had to pinch myself on set. I'm like, "This is crazy."
09:09 But yeah, I mean, in terms of the biggest hurdle, like, you know, like I said,
09:16 we prepped so much that I never showed up on set and was panicking.
09:21 Like, "What are we doing today?"
09:22 It was like we had a very, very f***ing thought-out plan.
09:26 - And we had to. - There was no second guessing?
09:28 There was no second guessing. Like, zero.
09:30 And like, I usually, like, I would be, you know, I never felt nervous because I was like,
09:34 "F***, we prepped so much. Like, I'm not second guessing. I'm not going back on anything."
09:38 Not a f***ing word.
09:50 Good boy.
09:55 And of course, there was like things out of, completely out of our control, like weather.
10:00 You know, there would be like, we're in the desert, so it would just start pouring rain.
10:03 And like, I mean, there's a few shots in the movie where it is f***ing pouring rain outside the window,
10:08 - and you can't tell. - Really?
10:09 Yeah, yeah. So like, every day it was like, "Okay, well, we got to make up that shot tomorrow."
10:13 So we were like stacking on shot, and then it just kept piling on.
10:16 And, you know, we never actually got to it.
10:18 But, you know, like, and also I was really committed to shooting everything with practical effects.
10:24 Like, that was like one hill that I was going to f***ing die on.
10:28 You know, I was like, absolutely everything, squibs, blanks, everything.
10:31 And that was tough to pull that off with like the budget that we were on.
10:35 But, you know, it was just like compromising in that capacity.
10:40 Like a lot of compromising on like, "Okay, I won't blow out a window, but I'm going to make a coffee pot explode."
10:47 [Music]