Director Christian Sparkes & Actors Clayne Crawford and Alix West Lefler talk to Fest Track about thematics, movement, family and intent in regards to their film: "The King Tide" playing the Platform section at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario [Canada].
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Short filmTranscript
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00:03 But it's also-- I mean, Chris, you
00:28 were talking about Paradise Lost.
00:29 But that aspect of the primal is so important.
00:34 I mean, a fallen angel, the aspect of what the garden
00:37 means, all these kinds of things are important.
00:40 But it's also important in the reactions
00:42 of the people in the scene.
00:44 And we see that as the film goes on.
00:47 Because you sort of talk about, obviously,
00:49 using the environment, but the environment as a hostility,
00:54 but also certain things like that.
00:56 Because, I mean, it informs you.
00:57 I mean, Clayne could probably talk to this, too.
00:59 But the aspect of not as many words are needed,
01:02 just a look says so much in these instances.
01:07 Well, I think Christian and I, that was the one thing.
01:10 When you tell a story like this, which in some ways
01:12 could almost be perceived like as an origin story
01:15 with the superpower, right?
01:17 And Christian and I were very active
01:22 in trying to make sure that we created those moments.
01:25 Because for me as an actor, we're
01:27 dealing with a visual medium.
01:28 So yes, obviously, dialogue is important.
01:30 But how you're moving and how you're expressing yourself
01:33 and what you're feeling in those moments.
01:34 And for us, it was really trying to find those moments of when
01:39 I just put my hand on Isla's shoulder
01:43 and when I'm holding her in the water
01:45 and what I'm feeling in those moments.
01:47 So yes, it was definitely--
01:50 for me, whenever I play a role, it's
01:53 more about what I'm feeling and doing
01:55 as opposed to what I'm saying.
01:57 And Christian was extremely supportive
01:58 throughout that process of making sure
02:00 that we found all those moments to try to connect the dots
02:04 throughout the piece.
02:05 Yeah, I think in the edit too, it's often--
02:08 more often than not a process of stripping away.
02:10 It's like the opening after the baby is lost.
02:13 And you're sitting out on the porch.
02:15 And Bo and Junior come up.
02:17 There's little to no dialogue there.
02:18 More was scripted, more was shot.
02:20 But as often in the case, you realize that just less is more.
02:24 The performances are strong.
02:25 And this film too, it's not like it's--
02:28 it's fairly archetypical, I would say, in its structure.
02:31 I think a lot of times, we didn't need to say a lot.
02:34 It's a story that's been told.
02:35 It's the specificity of the world and Isla's powers
02:39 in particular that make it unique.
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03:36 But it's also-- and I'll ask Alex this with Isla--
03:39 is the-- because it's about family.
03:41 It's about these people that she's surrounded with
03:43 and how she feels towards them.
03:46 Could you talk about the importance
03:47 of looking at it as family, as Clayne, as her father,
03:52 as the other people that she's there to protect?
03:55 Could you talk about that idea of family
03:58 and how important that is to your character?
04:01 Yeah, I think relationship really mattered in this film.
04:06 I think it really brought another level to the film.
04:10 I think it really made us--
04:15 it helped me perform our different relationships
04:18 in the movie.
04:19 And a great byproduct of shooting,
04:21 a great blessing of shooting in a remote location
04:24 is we're all stuck together.
04:27 We're all on the boat together.
04:29 So even when we're not shooting, we're in close proximity.
04:31 So a family vibe definitely develops,
04:33 and I think informed the characters
04:35 and the relationships.
04:36 I think any time there's a lack of distractions,
04:40 and when you're in a town of 2,000 people,
04:43 and then you're shooting in a town of 20--
04:46 Quite different.
04:47 No cell phone service.
04:48 Yeah, no cell phones, which--
04:49 It's a huge thing.
04:50 I have to say that that's something I completely
04:53 had not thought about.
04:54 We were on set.
04:55 No one could use their phones.
04:56 So it was the first time in 10, 15 years
05:00 that I've been on a set where everyone was just hanging out
05:02 and talking.
05:03 90% of the time when you're on set now,
05:05 everyone's like this.
05:06 And I mean, that's across the board.
05:08 And this was so wonderful because, as Christian had said
05:12 before, yes, when we're away from set,
05:15 we're eating together.
05:16 We're sitting around bonfires together.
05:17 We're going on hikes and seeing all the sights,
05:19 the beautiful nature that Newfoundland provides.
05:23 But also when you get to work, we're
05:25 sitting in our little warming cabin.
05:28 We're all waiting to try to keep warm
05:30 before we go out and shoot our scene.
05:31 And you can't help but talk about what you're shooting.
05:34 You can't help but talk about the characters
05:36 that you're all playing and how they're fitting
05:38 into this moment and then thinking
05:39 about what we've already shot.
05:41 And is it going to work with what we have coming up next?
05:43 And just making sure that you're kind of--
05:45 and that, to me, is what I live for.
05:47 I just love the creation and making sure
05:50 that the baby itself stays intact, the story.
05:53 And that was never lost on us.
05:55 There was never anyone going out and somebody overdrank
05:58 or at the club or any of that kind of thing.
06:00 It was just dinners at Miss Frances's house and all
06:03 of us getting together and eating our weight and seafood
06:06 and talking about the movie.
06:08 Yeah, yeah.
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