Simon Doutreleau

Alter Films

OUT IN THE WOODS

Q & A

Name a Horror character you relate to on a spiritual/personal level?

I’d say Dracula, I like that way to look for love through time and madness no matter what. A charismatic villain full of quality but yet a misunderstood and bloody monster.

You’ve gotta go through some bad ideas to get to the good ones. Tell us one of your bad ideas. How do you get past the bad ones to find your spark?

I was into Horror / Thriller kind of genre since the very beginning and I was really eager to shoot something. As I was in first grade, I wrote a medium length film about a man locked in an asylum. We went pretty far in prep before realizing it was a way too ambitious project for beginners like us.

Do you consider yourself part of a horror community?

We have now our own production company called LADBY PRODUCTION, we’re specialized into fantastic and horror films... And now we’re part of ALTER of course.

When you’re building the world of your film, where do you look for inspiration?

As most writers, I look for inspiration from events and stories in my personal past and experiences but I also have disturbed nights : I’m a sleep walker. I’d say my dreams truly helps me out to write screenplays.

What would you do if you woke up inside of your film?

If it was my film, I’d have all the keys to make it out alive... Well I suppose not, most of my films don’t have happy endings whatever happens. My protagonists are trapped in schemes too big for them. Even if they evolve all along the story, they are meant to endure the story.

Who would be on your ultimate horror villain squad?

Pennywise from IT in alliance with Cenobites from HELLRAISER. Tortured both mentally and physically, I’d rather not cross their pass at the same time.

Lightning round: Freddy or Jason? Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft? Practical or CGI? Post Apocalypse or Pre Apocalypse?

Freddy for sure. I’m a nightmare guy, remember ? I’ve read most of Stephen’s Books but even King himself got his inspiration from Lovecraft so I’d say Lovecraft (even if it’s kinda hard to read it for a French guy). Definitely Practical. CGI is a beautiful way to create but lately most of big productions over use it and forget how magical can the cinema be with beautiful practical effects on set. Big up to Guillermo Del Toro. Post-Apocalypse ! Nowadays absolutely everything can happen in a close futur. I think it’s a never- ending fantasy to try to picture it through films, books and tv shows.

How do you go about creating the props and sets for your film? How do you create objects that are relatable but unfamiliar?

Horror hits you when you are confronted to a situation you can’t understand. For OUT IN THE WOODS and the DREAM EATER we created a lot of props and objects to give life to our sets. An old book about a Monster that devours nightmares. A dark room in a man’s mind, where he is trapped inside from a scary monster trying to get in. Mushrooms growing on people’s heads and spreading everywhere on the beds and fourniture while they’re peacefully sleeping... We tried thought our shorts films to develop more and more of those situations so the audience could dive in my univers and experience something different.

What scares you, and does it inspire your storytelling?

I’m claustrophobic in many ways. The most disturbing one is that immensity also gets me uncomfortable. It definitely inspires me.

And finally, Ghostface would like to know ‘What’s your favourite scary movie?

Tough question, the horror movie I could watch over and over could be THE BABADOOK.