Hello everyone, a new home means bringing over some of the old content. Here we are with an interview that was published back on September 10, 2018. It was a fun chat with Vincente DiSanti of Womp Stomp Films.
Today, I had the pleasure of talking with the Writer/Director of Never Hike Alone, Vincente DiSanti.
Matthew: Hi Vincente, thank you for taking the time.
Vincente: Hello, thank you for reaching out.
Matthew: How did Womp Stomp Films begin?
Vincente: Womp Stomp Films began in 2016 as an avenue for me to create my own live-action productions under an official banner. Having an LLC is a great asset to have when tackling live-action productions, especially when dealing with items such as production invoicing and insurance.
Up until that time I had been using “Womp Stomp” as a personal name on social media accounts that were tied to my film projects. Creating a company based on that name seemed to be the next logical step.
The name actually derives from an old N64 Star Wars game password “wompastompa,” which allowed a player to take control and wreak havoc as one of the Wampa creatures on the Hoth level.
Matthew: What is the origin of Never Hike Alone?
Vincente: I have always been a big fan of Friday the 13th and growing up it was a dream of mine to one day work on a Friday the 13th film.
One day while location scouting in Big Bear California, I happened to stumble upon a set of cabins that gave me the initial idea of a person accidentally discovering the long-lost Crystal Lake and subsequently having to escape from Jason Voorhees.
That idea rattled around in my brain for a few years before I started pursuing it and it wasn’t until we discovered an actual abandoned camp that the project really took off.
Matthew: Did you have to worry about Never Hike Alone being shut down? Even after the campaign on indiegogo. Or was it completely embraced.
Vincente: So far we have been fortunate enough to avoid any issues with the rights holders. I believe that is the case because we have always been very transparent about our intentions, our disconnection to the actual franchise, and how the money was spent to create the project.
When it comes to fan films, especially ones that are crowdfunded, the number one rule in avoiding getting shut down is to run a non-profit production. That means producers cannot use the film to create any sort of revenue or even pay themselves for services rendered for the project. That said, not all properties are alike and other license holders for other films may not be so forgiving.
Even though we have not heard from the license holders, we have heard from several Friday the 13th alumni who have had nothing but kind words to say about the film.
Matthew: How did it feel to be able to bring a new piece of Friday the 13th to the fans when it was much needed?
Vincente: As a fan myself, I was certainly feeling the lack of Friday the 13th in my life.
After following the cancelation of several Friday projects over the years, I knew that Never Hike Alone could at least serve as a valiant effort by our team to somewhat alleviate that drought. The response to the film was a lot more impactful than we originally intended. And it certainly made my team and I proud to know that our efforts were so well received by the fans.
Matthew: Where did the design for Ghost Jason originate? Any inspiration for the physicality of Ghost Jason?
Vincente: We explored several options for this project, but ultimately came to the decision that it was time to try something new.
From a continuity standpoint, I wanted a Jason that felt like could exist in any timeline of Friday the 13th.
When designing a mask, I went with the theory that all of Jason’s previous masks were destroyed and that he would need to pick a new one from the leftover equipment at the camp. Being that most of the equipment left over would most likely be from the late 50’s / early 60’s.
We wanted a mask that reflected that era and style with the design we all know and love. The decision to lose the chevrons came during the paint process where we decided that a blank look would be the proper style for our film.
The rest of Jason was put together as a hybrid of old and new. Although I have never truly been a fan of any of the previous jacket style designs, I did think that the look could work if given a more simplified look on par with the simple sears work shirt and pants combo from the original films.
When it came to the face, VFX artist Kelsey Berk and I worked together for quite a few months designed a new undead look for Jason. There we wanted to present something in a similar style to part 6 where enough of the face is shown to give the audience an idea of what Jason looks like, while still leaving partial sections of the face draped in shadow to let them fill in the blanks on their own.
The performance of Jason also came out of a hybrid of old and new. To me, Jason is and always has been undead, just with varying levels of decomposition. As his body has taken damage and decomposed over time, it has taken a toll on his agility and speed but certainly not on his mindset. Even though Jason can no longer run, I wanted a bring across the idea of an undead Jason that could still move swiftly when he needed to.
During scenes with more isolated environments and fighting, we wanted to show that Jason still has a very human thought process when it comes to tracking down and attacking his victims.
Matthew: How was it getting to play Jason?
Vincente: Playing Jason was both a dream come true and a major challenge. For most of my life, I have always wanted to put together a serious Jason Voorhees cosplay that felt like it could be out of the films.
However, what I learned from tackling the roll in the film is that the character of Jason is much more than a hockey mask and some tattered clothes. Any time someone takes on the task of performing as a character on screen, even silent ones, a lot of thought has to go into how that character is portrayed.
As a fan of Friday, I have always had my theories on the character of Jason and much of that went into the portrayal I tried to bring to the screen. With that came a lot of time getting into a mental state of the character, understanding his physical strengths and limitations, and then putting all of that into action through a lot of practice and repetition.
Once I felt I had a firm grasp of the character, putting on the costume and getting into character became a transformative experience.
Matthew: How long was production? What was the best day of filming? The worst?
Vincente: Starting with pre-production, Never Hike Alone took about almost 18 months to produce. We started with simple trailers in the spring of 2016 and then moved into production of the film in the fall after we spent the summer set designing our abandoned camp.
After taking a pause for the 2016/2017, we resumed production in April of 2017 and completed principle photography in July 2017.
The worst night on set was in early May of 2017 when temperatures dropped to 27 degrees during the filming of the final confrontation of Kyle and Jason on the front porch of the main cabin. Everyone was freezing cold and we were all pushed to our limits that evening.
The best day of filming was a few weeks later filming the head crush scene in Flagstaff, Arizona. We had a crew of about 8 that drove out to Arizona in a passenger van and we simply had a blast creating that scene. It was one of the few days where everything seemed to work out for us and we were very happy with the final results.
Matthew: How did Thom Mathews become involved?
Vincente: Thom Mathews became involved after he was introduced to our Executive Producer Barry Jay by a mutual friend of theirs. Barry showed Thom our first trailer and asked if he would be interested in a cameo appearance. Thom said yes and met with me a few weeks later to discuss the details.
After pitching the entire film and showing him some new footage, Thom agreed to jump on board and we worked together on how best to bring Tommy Jarvis back into the world of Friday the 13th.
Matthew: How has it been seeing all the positive response to the film? Especially considering some fans have adapted Never Hike Alone into the Friday canon.
Vincente: When approaching the making of a fan film, it’s sort of the default expectation that your project will not be taken very seriously. So, it’s pretty wild and humbling to see some of the responses from fans, especially when the subject of canon comes up. We definitely went into making Never Hike Alone with a tremendous amount of respect for the franchise, the alumni, and its fans. I believe it was that approach that inspired us to exceed the expectations of what a fan film could be.
The most rewarding part of all of this is hearing from fans old and new about how excited they are about the franchise again.
If anything, we hope this shows the studios that Friday the 13th and Jason Voorhees are still very viable in today’s horror market as long as the characters and lore are treated with the proper amount of attention to detail and respect for the fanbase.
Matthew: What was your response to Ghost Jason being in the Killer Puzzle Game?
Vincente: It is very surreal to see Ghost Jason and Kyle McLeod in an officially licensed game. As of today they are still using Ghost Jason as their default avatar for game walk throughs and advertising and it still amazes me every time I see it.
To me, Never Hike Alone was just supposed to be my personal letter to the franchise and the fans and I was just happy to get a chance to make it. It is easy to see that the team over Blue Wizard are huge fans themselves and they did such a great job securing the rights to make a truly wonderful game.
For them to turn around and find a way to include us in something that took them great effort to develop means a lot to me and the entire team. We couldn’t be more proud and humbled.
Matthew: Do you think you’ll return to Crystal Lake with another film?
Vincente: That’s a no brainer. We’re surely going to need Crystal Lake if we’re going to make Never Hike Alone 2.
Matthew: What comes next?
Vincente: There is a lot to look forward too from Womp Stop Films. This coming October 1st we will be releasing a Halloween inspired fan film directed by Rene Rivas titled “The Spirit of Haddonfield” in which I had the honor of playing Michael Myers. We have also been working on several original project that we are hoping to announce very soon.
As far as Never Hike Alone 2 goes, what I can say is that Thom, Andrew, and myself are all on board to continue the story. There are a lot of big obstacles in the way, but we are quietly working behind the scene to chip away things that need to be done in order to make the film a reality.
Check out Never Hike Alone on YouTube! And stay tuned for another chat with Vincente about Never Hike In The Snow and The Ghost Cut!
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