Hayden Blades Interview

Hayden's love affair with the arts spawned when he was a mere tadpole, drawing and painting for as long as he can remember. He picked up his first video camera in grade school. Haphazard skits with his friends, in the basement of his Kentucky home, soon turned into full-fledged productions. In high school, Hayden's infatuation only grew as he worked and studied as a theater techie, building sets, staging lights and tailoring costumes behind the scenes of several large-scale theater productions at the Youth Performing Arts School.

In 2000, Hayden moved to phoenix Arizona to develop his design and animation abilities in college, and met David Matteson. Hayden and David instantly hit it off, and began working on many projects together. Hayden received his bachelors degree in multimedia art in 2003, and worked with Casey Moore to help finalize his documentary feature, Finding the Future. After writing, directing and shooting The Heaviness of Here with David, and winning the Best Cinematography award at the 2006 Phoenix Film Festival's "Dead of Winter" competition, they caught the eye of Stephen Krystek, and Synthetic Human began.

Hayden has used his eye for detail and composition as gaffer, lighting the scenes, and assisting in the direction of photography for all Synthetic Human films, though his talents refuse to end in the visual arts. Hayden is a competent music composer, scoring many scenes from Synthetic Human's arsenal of short films, and producing experimental albums with Jarod Anderson. His attention to dramatic visual pacing, and his ear for sound design, netted him awards for Best Editing and Best Sound Design at the 2009 Project Twenty1 Film Festival in Philadelphia for the film Pattern: Response.

http://synthetichuman.com/about/

What is the current project you are working on?

Synthetic Human Pictures is producing a short film I wrote a few years ago called A Stray. We've been in pre-production since April, mostly working on the screenplay - we have many talented artists in SHP and I got a lot of help from Charlie Steak, who is a fine writer and has a strong background in theater, as well as a little help from everyone in our tight knit, little family. Lately, we've been scouting locations and really adapting a sort of marketing campaign to help slingshot us into production.

Did you always want to be a filmmaker?

I wouldn't say I always wanted to be one, but from an early age I've been really invested in the arts. I was drawing and painting since I can remember and have always loved music. I couldn't have been much older than 5 or 6 when I would sit up and watch Amadeus on repeat for 6 hours. I think the music entranced me as much as the visuals. Anything with a strong musical identity to accompany the visuals would always sear into my memory, things like Grease, Thriller, and even Flash Dance - but I think there was something else to that one, that kept me coming back as a kid... the art direction. Yes, that's it.

What inspired you to become filmmaker?

It is difficult to pinpoint that bit of time when one's mind clings to the idea that there is something actually bigger going on behind what is seen on screen. I think I attribute the visual style of films like The Fly, Predator or Batman, these exciting, highly stylized films, as something that really made me think about actual production, as a youngster. Films like Bertolucci's Last Emperor or even some of Scorsese’s work, had a realism to it that would kind of blur that line to me, as if it were a documentary, or something I suspected could have actually been happening. I think this is a testament to those directors abilities in a lot of ways though.

I think films like Kubrick's The Shining, Lynch's Blue Velvet, or Lyne's Jacob's Ladder, the films that kind of bridged that gap in this way that heavily uses the language of film, and abstract concepts that sort of speak to the narrative - these are the ones that really shook me. Of course back then I didn't really understand it very well, but it was always so fascinating. I kind of enjoyed that space where I couldn't completely wrap my head around these ideas, but it was so apparent that there was something more going on, something to chew on. It impressed me because I would take these ideas home with me, and think about them long after watching the film. Luckily I had parents that were also artists and into film and never really censored the films I would watch.

What is the best thing about being one?

I suppose there are two things.

The intangible idea of exploring something that I don't wholly understand myself, I think is a really satisfying thing. There is all this easily accessible information out there, more so now than ever, that builds this sort of facade of intellect. You can jump on the internet and geek out on wikipedia or reddit for hours, and absorb all these interesting bits of information, but whether it is genuinely valuable is often questionable. I believe you can achieve something genuine in exploration, not just about the world around you, but about yourself. To me, a treacherous hike into a canyon, discovering your limits, venturing out into unknown places alone, all these things kind of remind me of making a film. It is tough work that comes with a lot of pitfalls, but when you have completed something, when you get back to the top of the canyon alive, there is a sense of personal accomplishment instilled in you that you can't shake. It is at one point humbling, but also empowering.

Then there is also the tangible: families that you build when you work together on a single goal, relationships that never would have happened otherwise. You really build strong bonds when you are closed in with twenty other people on a set for days at a time.

What is the worst thing about being one?

Stress.

What is the estimated number of projects you have worked on?

I have worked on about 12 or 13 shorts and one feature.

Who is is your favorite filmmaker?

It is difficult to pin down a single director, but Stanley Kubrick is usually my goto with this question.

How has your life changed since you became a filmmaker?

Unfortunately I don't make films professionally, so I have a lot less money.

What is one piece of advice you can give to someone who also wants to make it in the movie business?

This is definitely not something I feel adequate giving advice about.

What do you like to do besides filmmaking?

I watch a ridiculous amount of films. I make music. I listen to a lot of music. I make art. I look at a lot of art.

I also play a mean game of scrabble.

Have you had any other jobs before you decided to become a filmmaker?

I am a graphic designer, I do freelance and I also work for an internet marketing company.

What are some of your favorite American films? Foreign films? Television shows?

American:

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (does it count if it was shot in England?)

The Cohen brother's Barton Fink

David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet

Anything by Terrance Malick, his films get progressively better!

Roman Polanski's Chinatown

Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now

Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver

Foreign:

Andrey Tarkovskiy's Stalker

Michael Haneke's Cache

Lars Von Trier's Epidemic

Roman Polanski's Repulsion

Chan Wook Park's Oldboy and Thirst (Bakjwi)

Fritz Lang's M

Andrea Arnold's Red Road

Television:

Breaking Bad

Curb your Enthusiasm

How would you describe your film education?

I've learned a lot more from making and watching than I have in a film history class.

How would you describe the film "scene" where you live?

Things are pretty alive in Phoenix right now, it seems like the city is really trying to build on their outlet and venues for the arts, and a lot of business from our California neighbors has been spilling over into Arizona the past several years, in big part due to our plethora of versatile locations. The one feature I was a part of in Phoenix, Jolene, the majority of the crew came from California and we probably shot in and around the city to play as nearly a dozen different cities. In contrast it also seems like anyone in Phoenix who wants to take film seriously moves to California anyway, so theres sort of this constant flux that never stabilizes to secure Phoenix as any kind of recognizable film hub.

How has social media changed the independent film industry?

I think Social Media is greatly effecting the world of marketing more than it is anything else. I know you say "Film Industry" here so marketing is included, but I think there is a huge difference between the art of making film and the art of marketing a film. Luckily SHP consists of other designers, Stephen Krystek and David Matteson who are designing and marketing geniuses, so I think this helps us greatly in that department. Still, it is an amazing resource and a good, worldwide venue to get the word out, but it is also something that has to be used with care, and not just thrown around. Users, and potential investors and people like this are much smarter now, I think the sense they get of whether your heart is into something and you're not using this potential connection as means to merely a financial end, is much more fine tuned than it was even a year or two ago. You need to engage, to be clever and passionate, to give gifts and not be in it for reciprocity.

What's your opinion on crowdfunding?

I think it takes a lot more work, skill, passion and effort to go about funding this way, and to be successful at it, but if these are things you possess, it is the way to go. Where studios and big financiers (these traditional ways of funding films), are a lot more difficult to come by, and it more relies on your abilities to network, the luck to know the right people and be in the right place at the right time and all of these things. Then again, if you have the talent, and the craft to focus your talents, the opportunities I think will eventually rear themselves.

What is the casting process like?

We are actually trying a few different routes for this production. Usually we put together some well thought out character descriptions and post everywhere online that may get to actors in the area. We have auditioned 40-50 people for the same role before, from aspiring actors to professionals who have been in the business for years. It is always a pretty draining experience, because I respect anyone who has the guts to stand up in front a several strangers with a camera and put themselves out there, and it is inevitable you are going to have to say "no" to most of them. What I have found is that if you actually call back the ones you believe have something great to offer and tell them personally they didn't fit the role, but you love what they brought to the table, they respect you a lot more for it.

As far as the process it self, Synthetic Human Pictures is a group who all have aspirations for directing and writing and doing anything creative, so it really comes down to the director of the film. Sometimes it may be a very group oriented thing and we try to make everyone as comfortable as possible, and sometimes it may simply be a one-on-one with someone the director thinks may be a good fit for the role.

How does independent film differ from the mainstream?

I have only worked on independent film, but I can imagine that on one end of it, there is sort of this freedom in independent film that isn't allowed when you are utilizing big money, because you will have producers, eyes in the sky that will prohibit things that can potentially increase the budget. That freedom is also eaten up by lack of money in the independent world, though, so it inevitably creates constraints - all this means is that you have to be clever, find a workaround. In either case you are essentially a slave to the money.

You could go back in time and see any classic film being made. Which film would it be and why?

I think for the time, 2001: A Space Odyssey was like nothing that had ever been made. Techniques were used that were so unique and forward thinking. The film was shot two years before we even landed on the moon for christ sake! And to see how Kubrick works would have been like nothing else. I got to see Kier Dullea and Gary Lockwood talk about their experience on the set, at last year's Comic Con, that was a rather thrilling experience.

What's your favorite movie quote and why?

I believe visuals speak stronger than words. Maybe someone actually said this in a movie once, but I'm just saying that now.

You could have any super power. What would it be?

Invisibility.

I have always had this strange fascination with voyeurism, not in the sense of it being something strictly sexual, but in the idea of watching someone in their pure form. I think when you introduce an outside person to someone in a room, there is this instant social veneer that appears in both people, and everything they do and say are dictated by this. I think some of the best actors are able to shed this, and that's what makes them so intriguing to watch. I've always had this interest in that, and maybe that is where some of my interest in cinema comes from, as well. The concept always seems to show itself in my work, in any case.

Are you a fan of theatrical knife throwing?

Not particularly. It is difficult for me to see why someone would want to subject themselves to one of those spinning wheels, sspread eagle, while another throws knifes at them. I'd like to meet that character and find that out though.

What is your opinion on movie remakes?

I think it is valid, and I think Lars Von Trier's Five Obstructions can explain much more eloquently than I can why that is. I think a lot of people are jaded by the concept of remakes because there are so many bad ones out there that are designed to bring old or foreign films to a new demographic that doesn't like black and white, and/or subtitles. It is that fundamental intention, which is ultimately projected in the film. It is either a true artistic endeavor, or simply a means to produce money. A good audience can sort of innately sense this, I think. So many things are remakes in this post modern environment, every story has been told, but if an artist sees a film he wants to remake because he sees a unique perspective, and there are ways to show something that lives inside of that artist through that particular starting point, who is anyone to say that is wrong?

What is your opinion on book to movie adaptions?

Completely valid. One thing filmmaking offers is its robustness as an art form, you can take from all aspects of life and incorporate it into film, the end result is always the film itself, and that is art. I find that I often get into the argument of whether the book was better than the movie. Some people say the book is always better, and of course it is always subjective, but I think what it comes down to is that they are incomparable. They are two completely different forms of art. It's like saying "that dance is much better than that architecture."

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would just like to thank the Synthetic Human Pictures crew for being so supportive and being there as a family. I feel very fortunate to know these guys!

 

 

 

Thanks for doing the interview. We'll have to play an online game of Scrabble
sometime.