Speaker A
What do you think? I think we're dead meat. Real dead meat. You're dead meat.
Interview with BACKROOMS cast and director on adapting YouTube creepypasta to A24 film, exploring character psychology and internet influences.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
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Key Takeaways
- The film maintains the eerie atmosphere of the original creepypasta while expanding character depth.
- Kane's internet background influenced a fresh, detailed approach to filmmaking.
- Actors helped evolve their characters through collaborative discussions rather than strict script adherence.
- The movie is designed to be accessible to new viewers while rewarding fans with subtle references.
- Easter eggs are thoughtfully integrated to enhance the story rather than distract from it.
What the video covers
- Discussion on the transition from internet-based content to a feature film by A24.
- Insights into director Kane's background and approach, emphasizing character psychology.
- Cast members share their experiences working with a director outside the traditional studio system.
- The collaborative nature of filmmaking and how actors contributed beyond the script.
- Exploration of character development, especially the relationship and psychology of Mary and Clark.
- The film balances accessibility for newcomers with subtle Easter eggs for fans of the original backrooms lore.
- References to internet culture and subtle nods like Flea Market Montgomery's commercial.
- Director's preference for Easter eggs that serve the narrative and contribute to future plot points.
- Discussion on the film's atmosphere, including sound design and visual elements inspired by liminal spaces.
- Cast training and preparation for physically demanding scenes, highlighting the film's immersive approach.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Initial Impressions
- 00:50Meeting Director Kane and Early Conversations
- 01:54Director's Focus on Character Psychology
- 03:03Collaborative Process and Actor Contributions
- 03:59Character Development and Script Evolution
- 04:56Themes and Cultural Context
- 05:53Easter Eggs and Internet References
- 06:52Sound Design and Narrative Easter Eggs
- 07:39Audience Reception and Visual Style
- 08:42Film Techniques and Actor Preparation
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Go ahead and laugh, you guys. Find the final little glasses of this dead meat.
Speaker A
Hey Kane, Ranana, so nice to meet you. We saw the movie yesterday. Loved it.
Speaker A
Is it a million? Yeah. Kane, your career up to this point's been primarily on the internet. What were your expectations before you met him? And was there anything different about working with a director who didn't come up through the
Speaker A
studio system? I remember because I had seen these videos of Limital Spaces and also seen some of Kane's short films, but I didn't know him or I was just intrigued by how big he was online.
Speaker A
And then six months later we had a conversation because I was offered to do this and that conversation was so great. I understood how smart he is, how detailed he is in his work,
Speaker A
and the respect he had for the process of making this into a movie or making sure that atmosphere and that environment was kept in, also adding these characters. The characters were so, it's kind of like they
Speaker A
are mirroring each other, the characters and their surroundings. So yeah, just the way he talked about it, I knew that we would be taken care of. I think we had that first conversation.
Speaker A
I don't know what my expectations were actually, but I didn't have any. I don't know, you just never know. I mean, I was, I watched the shorts and obviously I went down that particular rabbit hole.
Speaker A
It's very exciting. It's terrifying. It's all of the things. And then I could have been meeting anybody, you know what I mean? I didn't know who the character at the other end of the Zoom would be. I think in much the same way,
Speaker A
I was really taken with the conversation that we had. And I think one of the things that Kane really emphasized was this desire to really sit in the psychology of these characters and to understand and let that kind of
Speaker A
play out and experiment really with finding how these characters sit within the back rooms and how the environment and the psychology work together. So in that sense, it wasn't necessarily, I'd have to say, necessarily different to the kind of conversation
Speaker A
you might have with any director, but it was marked by, I guess, this prior knowledge that Kane was a little younger than other directors that I had worked with. I think it was basically the last
Speaker A
time I thought about that, you know, more or less, yeah, vanished very fast. Yeah, you forget pretty quickly. Totally his background and his relative lack of experience when it comes to at least making films. And I find it so
Speaker A
interesting that you start by making these videos by yourself on Blender. You even said during the pandemic tail end, "I learned Blendering." Yeah, and so you're doing that all by yourself, you know, and filmmaking is
Speaker A
such a collaborative process. Everyone brings something to the table, whether it's crew, cast, everyone. So I'm curious, what did they bring that wasn't on the script necessarily to their character? And was it anything so exciting that it kind of changed
Speaker A
how you thought of the characters or how you filmed? I think inherently so many things evolved with the script as we went and just simply from us talking about it. Like I didn't go into this thinking,
Speaker A
okay, we got the script and now we abide by this like a bible. It was sort of, here's where we are now. Let's talk about it. What conversations are we going to have that come out of, you know, the discourse of this proposed arc, I suppose, for these characters? And I think we ended up finding,
Speaker A
with Mary, a lot of elements regarding the ways in which she relies on these systems that she maybe preaches but doesn't practice, and the methods she's used to sort of get by over the years.
Speaker A
Like even the book and stuff kind of arose later on, and a lot of those elements definitely weren't in the original piece and sort of came through just our discussion of how we wanted to portray
Speaker A
this relationship with Mary's character and when she does engage with the back rooms and what is she really getting at there within herself. Like you guys did make my job very easy, I would say, in the regard
Speaker A
of just a pretty strong intuitive understanding of where things were trending. And even though the specifics changed a little bit here and there, I think the overall north star of it was pretty
Speaker A
much the same. I think Clark certainly became more, I think the sympathetic aspects of him became a lot more realized just when we were there on the day and just witnessing it in person. I think you can find a
Speaker A
sympathetic avenue in Clark and you really can understand where he's at psychologically from most points in the film. And I think there's a sort of neutrality to both of the characters' experiences where, you know, it's also
Speaker A
kind of representative of, I think, a wide breadth of life experience within what culturally we're looking at right now with many different technological surges happening in the past few decades that
Speaker A
are causing some things to boil over. And I think it's all kind of a conversation around that. I'd say that was not the exact answer to the question you asked but
Speaker A
no, it makes sense because there's a tragic element to both characters that I feel is universal and that everyone can relate to, just like, I don't know, the sadness of what they're going through and you understand
Speaker A
why they're making the decisions that they're making even if you wouldn't agree or necessarily make the same ones.
Speaker A
Yeah. I mean, yeah, that's inherent, I'd say. Mhm. I think what I really liked about this movie is it's not necessarily an Easter egg hunt if you're familiar with the back rooms. Like we're big fans of the web series. They're
Speaker A
there if you look for them. But you don't need to know anything about it before you go in. But there's also references to other just general internet stuff.
Speaker A
Yeah, there's some stuff. Am I imagining things or is there a reference to Flea Market Montgomery in his commercial? I noticed he's pitching living rooms, dinettes, bedrooms.
Speaker A
Yeah. I mean, I don't know if you—it's in there. It's in there. We reviewed a lot of things and I think it ended up in there. Whether or not it was a conscious choice, it has been consumed behind the scenes on this project. Are there any other, not even necessarily back rooms Easter eggs, but general internet kind of either references or things that influenced the atmosphere or things to maybe look out for?
Speaker A
Yeah, I mean, there's stuff that I don't think is horribly shoehorned in there. I think the most egregious thing is there's a track that plays diegetically in the background faintly for a few moments in the early portion of the film, and people who look for that will know what it is pretty much immediately. Even that's, like, within a stretch of the imagination, period accurate. And so it's, I don't know, I'm not big on Easter eggs that don't serve the narrative in some way because I feel like for me the Easter eggs that are most valuable are just symptoms of plot points that have yet to be fully realized later down the road and things that you can come back to. It's more of a series, I guess, like mentality, but like, you know, you have something far in the end that adds a lot of additional context to stuff that was sort of thought out earlier on. So, I think it's things like that, things you can deriv
Speaker A
has been consumed behind the scenes on this project. Are there any other not even necessarily uh like back rooms Easter eggs, but general internet kind of either references or things that kind of influenced the atmosphere or things to maybe look out for?
Speaker A
Yeah, I mean there's stuff that I don't think is like horribly shoehorned in there. I think the most egregious thing is there's a track that plays in diagetically uh in the background faintly for for a few moments uh in like
Speaker A
the you know the early portion of the film and and people who who look for that will know what it is pretty much immediately. even that's like, you know, within a stretch of the imagination, period accurate. And and so it's I don't
Speaker A
know. I'm not big on Easter eggs that that don't serve the narrative in some way cuz I feel like for me the Easter eggs that are most valuable are just, you know, symptoms of plot points that have yet to be fully realized later down
Speaker A
the road and then and things that you can come back to. It's more of a series, I guess, like mentality, but like, you know, you have something far in the end that that, you know, adds a lot of
Speaker A
additional context to stuff that that was sort of thought out earlier on. So, I think it's things like things like that, things you can derive little context clues from.
Speaker A
We got to talk about the back rooms themselves because it's such striking imagery. We've had, you know, we live in the horror world. Uh, so we've known about this for a long time, but as soon as the trailers started playing, we've
Speaker A
had so many nonh horror people ask us about this movie. Like the the interest is so high. I think part of it is like the striking imagery. And you both said you were familiar with the liinal spaces coming across your timelines even before
Speaker A
this project. So, it's just something that I feel uh once someone sees it, they can relate to it and like it it just I don't know, it taps into something almost primal. So, I know that 30,000 ft of the sets were built. I'm so
Speaker A
curious about what went into it. Did you have any hard and fast rules that dictated the construction of these rooms or the things that go in them? Was there anything that you said it can't be like this ever because that would throw off
Speaker A
the vibe of what we're going for? Yeah, I mean there's there's undoubtedly a specific set of design principles that I use in the YouTube series and here it's I mean same when I talk about it it's all the same continuity. Um but when
Speaker A
building these spaces I think the same principles applied which are are usually I guess like a distinction just might be worth making like two are that I feel often because the backgrounds is obviously a uh you know a pretty public
Speaker A
concept and there's a lot of different interpretations. There's two things that I don't always personally think are the most effective. one which is the inclusion or over reliance on like non- uklitian geometry and whatnot and and and and that's a preference that's
Speaker A
definitely a preference you can pull it off and it can be great but I I feel as though um you know there's something I like quite strongly about the back rooms feeling like a building built by people and then it's just the you know certain
Speaker A
construction choices that don't make a lot of sense and you know a hallway that's slightly too narrow or you know like a crevice that you can even fit a desk in so why is it there in the first
Speaker A
place stuff like that lots of it sort of like gets absurd and impossible through uh your continued you know exploration and probing of it rather than an immediate like I walk this way and then I walk back and shit wait this is a
Speaker A
different room. Um, I think I think that I think it's scarier to me thinking that you end up getting lost in there wandering for a while knowing that you can backtrack and be in like a you know it works for your brain. Your your
Speaker A
primate brain is able to kind of understand. But I feel like if you just like immediately if the environment is changing all around you, you you lose the game too quickly. There's not like a you could it could go on for longer
Speaker A
before you have to give up at a certain point, I think. So, um, I think it's that and then it's just sort of avoiding stuff that's too expected. like it's not humanentric.
Speaker A
It's not picking these icons that it it it knows are important to the human race and it's not reading people's minds and deciding uh this is the most you know uh you know special little little spot from your own life to look at. It's it's more
Speaker A
like people are projecting their own importance onto what kind of feel like uh almost randomly selected elements from outside. And there's obviously a logic to it but and it's populated with so much weird stuff. I'm curious where things were
Speaker A
sourced from and did anyone take anything home? There's certain movies where I feel like it must be so tempting to bring stuff home to something.
Speaker A
Yeah, I took one of the chimes, the wind chimes and at the time we did like this, you know, big kind of violent scene with those uh over and over and over with that sound. But I I really like I find comfort in it
Speaker A
now. It's like, uh, yeah, it's it's raining all the time in the wind in Norway.
Speaker A
You only told me that a moment ago. That's I love that. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good practical one. It'd be tempting to take something really huge and then regret it.
Speaker A
I have the sun paintings in my apartment. So, that's all the art I have there where there's like a bunch of them.
Speaker A
Okay. Yeah. Oh, cool. Yeah. and and playing in that environment must have been so refreshing as an actor just having these weird things to play off of and and run through. It's so physical these roles.
Speaker A
Uh was there any training that you had to do for that? Like especially Rena, I feel like, you know, not to get too spoilery, but late in the film, you're you're running around. It's in the trailer. You're like squeezing through.
Speaker A
Yeah, I love the like physical acting and I I even though I do a lot of like indie movies, I do some very small stunts that you can't even see cuz they're so, you know, emotional. But um no, I I when I first watched this like
Speaker A
the liinal spaces videos, I was I was so struck by how lonely I felt because of how many people that had seen it and I was not sure what they saw, if they saw the same as me and I couldn't articulate
Speaker A
what it was or understand exactly what it was that I felt. It just felt very uneasy. It kind of hit me in so many different levels watching it. And then coming into those, it was the same. I was I I didn't like being in the Well, I
Speaker A
loved that that it was built and the just whole construction and it was so impressive, but it was I was never alone. I always asked someone to follow me through. People would get lost and stuff in the 30,000 square ft of set.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. And and was all that used, do you think? Uh or was Yeah, it was all cuz the thought of like building part of it and then you never get around to shooting it, like that freaks me out. like the
Speaker A
idea that there's like No, that's true. No, sorry. There's definitely areas in the sets that are not used. Uh, all the technically each set is at least somewhat shot, but but yeah, there's hallways and stuff.
Speaker A
You see, you see them in the background. You see I think you can appreciate that they exist and there's doors that lead to areas we don't quite see.
Speaker A
I'm sure it affects the performers as well. You know, even if the camera doesn't see it and the audience doesn't see it, you're seeing it.
Speaker A
Yeah. Yeah. You've got your own back rooms on the set area outside the kitchen and everything like Gary's going back there and whatnot. So, I love the theming too of the the store.
Speaker A
Uh oh. Yeah. Should we Yeah, unless it's real fast. No, no, no. I just wanted to know, was he always a pirate? Were there options?
Speaker A
Uh, yeah. No, it was a pirate from the beginning. Great. Just need There's a lot of Yeah. Yeah. And I won't say more, but but I think people will dig into it and look at some of the I
Speaker A
think symbolism can be a crutch a lot of the time, and I wouldn't ever lead with it, but but crutch in this case.
Speaker A
Yeah. See, that's what I mean. It's like you you get to feel smart for having things layered, but but but uh no, there's some specific reasoning behind like the, you know, pirate steering wheel, parrot ocean, all that.
Speaker A
All right. Well, thank you so much. We could talk for so long, but uh you've got other interviews to do, so thank you.
Speaker A
Thank you so much. Can't wait to see you again.
Topics:BACKROOMSA24creepypastainternet horrorliminal spacescharacter psychologyfilm adaptationdirector interviewcollaborative filmmakingEaster eggs
