Q&A With Filmmaker, Marcus Koch

Welcome to the DOJO!

Hey, all!  Time again for another Q&A with an indie and guerrilla filmmaking guru.  This time, horror FX genius, Marcus Koch, takes some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for you, my loyal Film Sensei readers.  Take it away, Marcus!

Name: Marcus Koch

Year/Age Started as a Filmmaker:
I’d honestly have to say i got the itch, for making movies around age 7, my Parents had a video camera, and it was all down hill from there once i got my hands on it.

Credits:
ROT
100 Tears
Fell
and special effects for :
Walking Distance
Sweatshop
Imago
Closet Space
Sinners and Saints

Website: www.oddtopsyfx.com

Give the Filmsensei.com readers a bit of information on yourself and your experience as a filmmaker.

I’m a horror guy, I grew up in the 80′s so that’s probably my biggest influence was those glorious formative years, I love any and all horror movies, no matter how bad or low budget…and growing up in an era of Drive-ins and VHS tapes, I had seen some of the best horror films and Video Nasties my local mom and pop had to offer.  So it seemed obvious when I was six or seven, that was what I was going to do with my life, and so it began. I knew I had a knack for artistic ability , but it was somewhat skewed due to the movies I watched, so special effects was the route I took, making fake heads out of Styrofoam wig stands etc.

And when my Dad brought home a video camera, I would sneak it out while my parents were at work and make tiny short films around my newest special effect creations, ultimately leading to each effect becoming more grand, and needing to write plot lines around my FX gags.

All of this really laid the foundation for where I wanted to be.  Friends and family became my guinea pigs and victims, and dealing with “actors” became one of my first real looks into filmmaking and how Hollywood magic isn’t so magical when you have to deal with someone, saying they won’t do that, or not showing up.  LOL – Then came scheduling conflicts and pretty much just about anything that could go wrong usually will.

Its like filmschool.  Actually maybe even more so, I could read an instruction manual, so I could learn to use the camera, but that wasn’t going to teach me how to deal with everything else that goes wrong. I don’t think they teach that at film school.

With each project getting a little bigger and taking on new challenges, I had written , directed, shot and edited 3 Feature films before I was 16.  Granted I never show those to anyone, because they are absolutely awful, but it set me up for taking the next step, making a movie, and getting it seen.

At the age of 18 i shot ROT, punks puke and necrophilia, good friends who took me seriously and let me put them in wild situations.  It turned out good, at least good enough to garner national distribution ( i think it can still be found on amazon.com).  Its not a great movie, it’s actually pretty damn bad, but it got released, and 13 years later people still give me copies to sign at conventions. weird.

Since then I’ve pretty much just stuck to working on FX for other films, lots of films that sadly never got finished, or never found distribution.

I still have the itch to direct, so when the opportunity arose , I made 100 tears, my killer clown opus.  LOL – I have an odd obsession with clowns, and what better way to do a gore film, then to throw in a clown ? good times.

As a run-and-gun digital filmmaker, can you give our readers an idea of the problems that you’ve run in to on some of your past productions — or even problems they can expect on theirs?

Problems are due to Murphy’s law, which are always in effect, anything bad that can happen usually does.  I’ve been in run in’s with cops, run ins with crazy religious people, run ins with in inhabitants of a halfway house ( note to self, do not shoot a film at a functioning halfway house for crack heads and hobos ).  Some actors can be diva’s usually the wet behind the ears are the biggest pains in the ass, the coolest people are usually seasoned pro’s – they are laid back and know what to expect.

On a film set, the main motto everyone knows to live by is ” hurry up and wait” and it rings true in every sense of the phrase.  The days are long and usually seem like you are there not accomplishing anything but holding down a cooler with your ass, (or a chair if your lucky).

Expect the unexpected ! use your foresight, and instincts, if you have a gut feeling go with it, if you feel an actor or crew member may cause problems or have an attitude , eliminate it before half the film is in the can.. if you have a bad feeling about a location, you might be onto something, if something looks dangerous it probably is. if you think someone may call the cops, you better have a good story, or at least a decent white lie. and the more you do the more you will get to do.

What is the worst thing that’s ever happened on one of your indie film shoots?

So many to choose from. I’d say the scariest thing was during pre-production for 100 TEARS we started shooting Jan 12th and the owners of the warehouse we were using to build our sets held a huge party.  The owners of the warehouse were also artists and held art shows and raves, but they had this homeless guy living there, so we paid his rent and gave him a job helping us build the sets (he was also an amazing portrait artist).

So on their new years bash, he was drinking way more than a crazy person who isn’t on their Meds should have been drinking, and built himself a little hide-out room, among our maze of rooms used for 100 TEARS, around 6 am, he hid in a dark corner and waited for any female to pass by.  He had made a homemade garrote (or noose) with wire from some theatrical lighting safety cable, and jumped out at some party going teen, and wrapped it around her neck and started choking her, and dragged her back into his little hiding spot, complete with a dirty mattress.  Thankfully someone wasn’t too far away (our sets were on the first floor and the party was on the second floor) and rushed to her rescue, getting her free, the cops were called, and he was screaming “I was going to kill her and F*** her!” (yes in that order)  She was bruised and banged up pretty bad, but ultimately alive.  Needless to say, he was carted off to the pokey, but it was always a worry on set, if he would be let out of jail and return to the property.  Oddly enough when we saw his Mugshot on the interwebs, (god i love this modern day and age) we couldn’t’ help but ask ourselves…why didn’t we see this coming?  He looked like Charles Manson.

As someone who wears multiple hats on your films – writing, directing, producing, editing, running a camera — what is your favorite part of indie filmmaking and why?

All of it is pretty exhausting and time consuming, and stressing, doing more than 1 job on a single film just consumes your soul.  The whole process is going to be hell, be it a low budget or a big budget, the problems will always be the same.  However, the feeling of having a finished film, that everyone’s hard work was not in vein, is the best feeling, and nothing can top it.  Hell or high water, for better or worse, if its finished, and people can see it, its’ then that you realize, that’s why all the sleepless nights were had, what all the sitting around was for.  All the chaos had happened.

It’s truly the most frustrating business to be in, but when its done, all of the bad times are forgotten, and all you see if what you’ve accomplished.

Finally, can you give beginning indie and guerrilla filmmakers any advice on setting up their first films? In other words, what advice or tips do you wish you had been told before you put together your first film?

I’ve never been rich enough to afford film school, I hear it’s jump started many great careers. Honestly, I”d have to say, if you do have the money to go to film school, then you have the money for your first feature.  Sure, things will go wrong, expect that.  People will quit, tempers will flair, friendships will be broken.

You’ll learn as real life unfolding before your eyes.

Want to learn how to load and operate a 16mm or 35mm camera.. read a book, the technical know how can be found anywhere, dealing with real life problems is something you can’t learn in school.

Anything else you want to throw out to our indie film readers?

Rule # 1 that must be adhered to, no matter how small your budget is, FEED YOUR CAST & CREW. Even if you cannot pay anyone, FEED them.  FOOD is worth more on a long, exhausting day then anything you can imagine…

Marcus Koch, 2010

Thanks for the great answers, Marcus!  I also wanted to say that 100 TEARS was a fantastic film!  Anything with killer clowns is all right in my book.

-Mat Nastos, the Film Sensei

http://www.filmsensei.com

Related posts:

1. Q&A with Filmmaker, Abel Berry
2. Q&A with Filmmaker, Jacob Strunk

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