Star/Producer Krsy Fox & Writer/Director Spider One talk to The Inside Reel about approach, claustrophobia, intent and tone in regards to their new horror film from RJLE: “Little Bites” premiering on Shudder.
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00:13Are you hungry?
00:18Here, see?
00:21You underestimate me.
00:25Mom!
00:26Mom!
00:29No need to be afraid.
00:34Atmosphere is such a key thing.
00:36Both in performance, but in style.
00:39And this film has both.
00:41But can you talk about the balance?
00:43Obviously, Spider with the balance of visual and performance.
00:48But then, you know, Chris.
00:50Is it Chris? Or is it...
00:52Chrissy.
00:53Chrissy.
00:54With that, you know, it's also taking into account
00:58what you both wanted to build
01:00and bringing that into the character.
01:02Sure.
01:03Yeah, you're right.
01:04I mean, for this movie in particular,
01:06it's atmosphere and tone.
01:08I mean, that was the intent from the outset.
01:11I mean, a lot of crazy things happened in this movie.
01:14But it really was about creating an atmosphere of dread.
01:22And, you know, sort of hopefully letting that sort of
01:25just sink into the audience member
01:28and really feel a sense of, like, anxiety
01:32to escape this situation.
01:35This poor woman is in Mindy.
01:37And, yeah, certainly that atmosphere
01:40translates to performance
01:41and the approach that we took with all the characters.
01:44There's a certain thoughtful pace to the dialogue.
01:50And, you know, we described it as, like,
01:52everyone's sort of thinking before they speak
01:56and not necessarily saying what they actually mean, right?
01:58Because everyone's trying to sort of get out of this scenario.
02:01Certainly Mindy is.
02:02So, yeah, I appreciate you noticing that.
02:05And I'll let Chrissy speak for the actual performance.
02:10Yeah, I think, you know, when it came to the atmosphere
02:13and just, like, I think the space did a lot
02:15because especially specifically my character,
02:18she constantly is very angry or afraid
02:22or heartbroken and sad,
02:24but she's always trying to hold it inside.
02:26And it was really fun as an actor
02:29because you get to really take your time.
02:31And before, like, you know,
02:32responding to the other, your scene partner,
02:34you get to, like, be thoughtful
02:36and you can let a lot of emotions and thoughts
02:38go through your head and hopefully comes off on screen.
02:41And it's almost like what she doesn't say
02:44means more than what she does say.
02:46And I think that that was really fun.
02:48Because, you know, a lot of times in horror movies,
02:50it's like people are screaming and crying
02:52and it's very surface.
02:53And I think, like, a lot of her emotion is still there,
02:56but it's being held back constantly
02:58like you would in real life
02:59if, you know, you're going through a struggle
03:01like she was going through.
03:03Do you believe in God?
03:05I think you must.
03:08Because you believe in me.
03:11I love you, baby.
03:12I love you too, Mom.
03:15What's that?
03:17Dinner bell.
03:21I bet you're a wonderful mother.
03:25Mom!
03:29Jesus, Mindy.
03:30Are you all right?
03:31You hear her too, right?
03:32It's not just me.
03:33Mom, what's wrong with you?
03:36It turns out monsters are real.
03:40And there's one downstairs.
03:43But also, the fact is,
03:44your scene partner, Aguilar,
03:47is a different thing
03:48because it's about the control versus chaos.
03:52Yes.
03:53But it's internal chaos.
03:54And you can see her going through it.
03:56Can you talk about finding that psychology
03:58of this person who wants to get away
04:00keeps getting pulled back.
04:02And of course, I won't get away at the end,
04:04but it sort of plays into her.
04:06Yeah, I mean,
04:07it was very, in a way,
04:09easy for me to relate to the character
04:11because I would do anything for my own daughter.
04:13And so, you know,
04:14if I was put in that situation,
04:16I probably would do the very same thing Mindy does.
04:19So, you know,
04:20there is a deep sadness
04:22that I had to get myself to.
04:24And I kind of stayed in it through the whole shoot
04:26because it wasn't like my character
04:28was having these light-hearted moments
04:30where she's like,
04:31I don't want to do this.
04:32I don't want to do this.
04:33I don't want to do this.
04:34My character was having these light-hearted moments.
04:36It happened very, very rarely in the film.
04:39So, yeah,
04:40it was just like kind of keeping myself
04:42in that head space.
04:43And it was interesting
04:44because I constantly had supporting characters
04:46coming in and having different interactions
04:49and having different people
04:50throwing different things at me
04:51that really like I allowed it
04:54to just be a very like honest response
04:56and an honest performance.
04:58And certainly with the monster,
05:00you know, it's scary.
05:01Being in a dark room
05:02and you basically feel like you're by yourself.
05:04I couldn't even see the camera most of the time.
05:06So it was very much like this one-on-one
05:09and I didn't want him to touch me.
05:11I didn't want him to put his teeth in me.
05:13Like, you know what I mean?
05:14Even as a human,
05:16I just, all I wanted to do,
05:17my body is telling me to get out of there
05:19and to leave and I couldn't.
05:20So even as an actor,
05:22I kind of, my head space
05:23was the same as my character's
05:25where I was just like,
05:26he was saying awful things to me
05:27and hurting my feelings
05:29and touching me at the same time.
05:31And there's nothing worse than that.
05:33You know, when you're upset,
05:34you're like, just don't touch me.
05:35Just leave me.
05:36You know what I mean?
05:37You know how when you were little
05:40and I'd tell you monsters aren't real.
05:44Like if you had a bad dream
05:46or if you got scared at night
05:49or you heard a noise in your room
05:53and I'd tell you everything's fine
05:56and it's okay, right?
05:58Yeah.
06:01I didn't lie to you.
06:03I'd never lie to you.
06:06It just turns out
06:10there's some things even I didn't know.
06:13Like what?
06:15Now, Spider, can you,
06:16going from that,
06:17what Chrissy was saying,
06:18can you talk about
06:19finding that claustrophobia in the frame
06:22but then sort of making sure
06:24that the pace sort of reflects that
06:26because the concept is a very specific one
06:29because it keys to that claustrophobia
06:31and that isolation
06:32but also to a sense of what freedom means.
06:35Yeah.
06:36I mean, it was very much a part
06:37of how we shot this,
06:38how we paced this,
06:39how we framed things.
06:42Intentionally, you know,
06:44certainly at the beginning of the film,
06:48just trying to represent her
06:50sort of isolation or loneliness
06:52by, you know,
06:54it's one thing in a movie
06:55to show someone taking a bite of food,
06:57but it was very important to show
06:59what it feels like to be alone,
07:01you know,
07:02to heat up the noodles,
07:03wait for the microwave to beep,
07:06stand there,
07:07and, you know,
07:08and so this sort of idea
07:09of this sort of like,
07:11you know,
07:12just pulling this tension
07:13to as far as we can
07:15before something breaks that tension
07:17was really important
07:18and that was evident
07:20in the pacing of the dialogue
07:21and, I mean,
07:23it was all very intentional
07:26to hopefully create this feeling of dread
07:30and like you said,
07:31claustrophobic,
07:33you know,
07:34she had mentioned not even being able
07:35to see the camera.
07:36I mean, I think that is like
07:37where the performance
07:38has really begun to ring true.
07:40A lot of times actors
07:41will tell you about a scene,
07:42well, it's acting, you know,
07:44you're surrounded by a million people
07:46and it never quite feels real,
07:48but in this instance,
07:49it really was just the two of them
07:51in this dark room
07:52and yes, there was a camera there,
07:53but they're in darkness.
07:55So I think it really allowed
07:57Chrissy and John
07:58to have these really unique,
08:01honest moments
08:03in their performances.
08:09This is going to sound crazy,
08:13but it turns out
08:15monsters are real.
08:19Mom.
08:21And there's one downstairs.
08:25Was there a certain methodology
08:27that you wanted,
08:28that you took in terms of like
08:30either letting them perform
08:32in the frame
08:34or pulling back
08:35because that sort of,
08:36yeah, that setting
08:37as Chrissy was saying,
08:38allowed her to really sort of feel
08:40that sort of emptiness,
08:42you know,
08:43in certain ways I would think.
08:44I mean, on a technical level,
08:46it was very specific
08:47with how we lit the monster,
08:49you know,
08:50it was very much inspired by
08:52Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now,
08:54you know,
08:55where it was very mysterious.
08:58You'd get a glimpse
08:59of the top of his head
09:00or the side of his face.
09:01And so we took this approach
09:03with the monster
09:04to sort of slowly reveal more
09:06until finally at the end of the movie,
09:08you see full body,
09:09there he is,
09:10that's what he looks like.
09:11And, you know,
09:12I wanted it to,
09:13you know,
09:14I mean,
09:15I think there's,
09:16you know,
09:17there's always a balance
09:18when you're doing prosthetics
09:19and a monster
09:20to not give away too much
09:23or not,
09:24but also be confident
09:25in your creation
09:26that you are showing it.
09:28So, yeah,
09:29we really took a,
09:30it was,
09:31you know,
09:32it was,
09:33it seems quite simple,
09:34you know,
09:35but it was kind of a challenge
09:36to,
09:37cause one inch this way
09:38ruins the shot,
09:39one inch that way,
09:40it's gone,
09:41you know,
09:42so,
09:43yeah,
09:44that was a big part
09:45of the look
09:46of the whole thing.
09:47Yeah.
09:52My meal.
09:57I don't eat the dead.
10:02He's not dead.
10:05Yeah.
10:06At least,
10:07I don't,
10:08I don't think he's dead.
10:12You haven't thought this through.
10:17No.
10:21No.
10:25But it's also,
10:26you know,
10:27it's interesting,
10:28you see,
10:29Chrissy,
10:30with your character,
10:31you see her
10:32in moments of joy
10:33and moments of sadness,
10:34and then it's interesting,
10:35especially in the scenes
10:37like with Chaz,
10:38I mean,
10:39it's where,
10:40whether she's sort of believing
10:42what she's doing
10:43or not believing,
10:44could you talk about
10:45that sort of
10:46irony,
10:47that dichotomy
10:48of the character
10:49where she's in between
10:50at the same time?
10:51Yeah,
10:52I mean,
10:53I think those scenes,
10:54in particular,
10:55the ones with Chaz,
10:56like,
10:57you know,
10:58she feels like,
10:59oh,
11:00you know,
11:01I need to put makeup on
11:02and seduce somebody,
11:03but she has no idea
11:04how to do that anymore,
11:05you know what I mean?
11:06She's been living
11:07in this disgusting
11:08environment alone,
11:09and her husband is,
11:10you know,
11:11dead,
11:12and it's been very,
11:13you know,
11:14challenging for her,
11:15but what she's saying
11:16to Chaz's character,
11:17she's actually talking
11:18about herself,
11:19even though it totally
11:20related to him
11:21and it seemed as though,
11:22you know,
11:23she's trying to connect
11:24with him,
11:25which she was,
11:26but it's almost like
11:27everything that came out
11:28of her mouth was true.
11:29It was just,
11:30and so,
11:31like,
11:32you know,
11:33when you think about
11:34just the conversation
11:35of,
11:36you know,
11:37how many people
11:38you walk past every day
11:39that you don't notice,
11:40you don't pay attention to,
11:41it sort of was her
11:42and how people didn't,
11:43people just passed judgment
11:44and maybe she needed help,
11:45and,
11:46you know,
11:47and then when she,
11:48he comes back home with her
11:49and,
11:50you know,
11:51she's talking about
11:52how she doesn't really
11:53have any friends
11:54and,
11:55you know,
11:56maybe he could be her friend.
11:57I think,
11:58honestly,
11:59just that company
12:00she had with him
12:01for those few minutes
12:02was important to her.
12:03She hasn't had that,
12:04you know,
12:05her daughter's been gone
12:06and so I think that
12:07that was sort of
12:08really fun
12:09and also Chaz and I
12:10are such close friends.
12:11Getting to make him
12:12that incredibly uncomfortable
12:13and it was,
12:14it was so much fun.
12:15He was so good.
12:16He could not have been
12:17better cast in that role.
12:44Well,
12:45even in the darkest elements,
12:46you have to find humor.
12:47You have to find that humanity,
12:48even when the humanity is leaving.
12:49Exactly.
12:50Could you talk about that?
12:51Could you talk about that balance?
12:52You know,
12:53Spider,
12:54you,
12:55you too.
12:56I mean,
12:57because the,
12:58the aspect is that
12:59there is that aspect
13:00of awkwardness
13:01that really sort of adds to it.
13:02Yeah,
13:03I mean,
13:04I think that scene in particular
13:05was a,
13:06is a well needed,
13:07I mean,
13:08I,
13:09I wouldn't go as far as saying
13:10it's a comedic moment,
13:11but it certainly,
13:12no,
13:13no,
13:14in,
13:15in tone where you,
13:16you know,
13:17we realized recently
13:18revisiting this movie,
13:19how heavy it is
13:20and how dark it gets.
13:21And I think that moment
13:22in particular is,
13:23even though the,
13:24the,
13:25I won't get into it.
13:26It's a pressure,
13:27it's a pressure valve.
13:28You got to let out the air
13:29just a little bit.
13:30Yeah.
13:31So that is,
13:32that was a,
13:33like really central,
13:34important,
13:35as was the,
13:36a following scene
13:37a little bit later in the movie
13:38with Heather Langenkamp,
13:40which is a sense of hope
13:42and light that,
13:44you know,
13:45I think that as dark
13:46as this movie is
13:47and as dreadful
13:48as the scenario,
13:50anyone who sees the movie
13:51is certainly,
13:52hopefully if they're paying attention
13:53going to,
13:54to realize that there is
13:57a hope and survival
13:59in the dire circumstances.
14:01And myself,
14:02I'm,
14:03I tend to always,
14:04I'm never,
14:05I tend not to be
14:06an everyone dies kind of guy.
14:07I always liked the sense of
14:08that somebody can win.
14:09Somebody can win.
14:10Somebody can triumph.
14:11I'm the opposite.
14:12So,
14:14kill them all.
14:16Well,
14:17cause that,
14:18I mean,
14:19horror films have to have
14:20something for everybody
14:21and that's what this does.
14:23You wouldn't believe
14:24some of the things
14:25that we see.
14:26What's that?
14:28Just give me the girl.
14:30You won't have Alice.
14:32But if I find you
14:33something else to eat.
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