W.D. Hogan who brought us the fun scifi films, Behemoth, Earth’s Final Hours, and Independence Daysater has his newest masterpiece Zodiac airing on SYFY August 16th, 2014.
Researchers in Peru discover an ancient Zodiac that foretells the coming of Nibiru, a mythical planet believed to bring cataclysmic disasters. When the mysterious planet crosses the sun, global catastrophes are unleashed. A rogue scientist is the key to deciphering the symbols and humanity’s only chance at survival.
http://www.syfy.com/movies/zodiac_signs_of_the_apocalypse
W.D. was extremely kind to share information about Zodiac and himself with B Movie Nation.
Five Quick Questions with W.D. Hogan
Zodiac is a SYFY original is airing August 16th. Can you tell us about Zodiac and what fans can expect?
W.D.: ZODIAC is a SyFy Movie, this time exploring the idea that when Planet X, the mythical planet Nibiru, appears in our solar system from a 2000 year orbit, chaos and destruction is unleashed. Ancient civilizations have recorded past events in cave paintings and carvings in the form of a Zodiac. But instead of determining your temperament or destiny, they’ve actually been records of coming doom! 🙂
When a retired archaeologist breaks this code, he scrambles to get people to listen to his theory, stating that the Zodiac did more than predict the disasters, they laid out a way to stop them. And to stop them and protect Earth from Nibiru’s wrath requires a powerful stone (fragments of Nibiru that have fallen to Earth) and a Machine that would take billions to construct. Well, guess who’s built one…
I think fans can expect a lot of exposition and running away from evil government agents! But hopefully they’ll have fun with the story and the characters played by Joel Gretsch, Aaron Douglas and Christopher Lloyd. Aaron Douglas gave us a “Frakkin!” and Lloyd gave us a doozy!
Regarding Visual Effects, you’ve created a monster, alien attacks, and natural disasters in your past Sci-Fi films. ZODIAC will consist of global catastrophes which sounds exciting and elaborate. Can you tell us about and challenges of Zodiac’s special effects?
W.D.: This was by far the most difficult in terms of VFX. Two killers on a picture with VFX are R&D and render time. Research & Development takes a lot of time and resources building the alien ships, designing the monster, etc. If we’d had one supercell storm on ZODIAC we could’ve managed, but we had about six disasters (meteors, tidal waves, supercell storms, twisters, lava plumes and colossal fireballs!) and planets to R&D. It killed us. One thing that gave us a fighting chance was the pre-viz and storyboards we did that at least allowed us to lock in what we needed. This saved us in render times. If not for that, we’d have never even finished the movie.
The challenge is the time and money, as always. In film, they say: Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick Two. I’m not joking when I say the VFX shot count was higher than Jurassic Park but with 1/200th the budget. Exile VFX, our VFX guys, did amazing work with what they were given.
Has there been any talks about another Sci-Fi film you may be directing?
W.D.: I’m developing an action film in the vein of Snatch and have spent most of the year adapting an illustrated novel by Jim Starlin into a TV series. Both projects are the biggest things I’ve been a part of and I’m very excited.
You started in the industry as a storyboard artist for the directing greats Sydney Pollack, Cameron Crowe and Jaume Collet-Serra. Did you know you wanted to direct, or did they influence you?
W.D.: I’ve been making movies since I was ten and always wanted to do it. But making it in LA means struggling! So to pay the bills I needed a side gig. A producer friend saw some storyboards I drew for a music video I was shooting and asked if I would draw her American Express commercial. I did and never looked back. I got a break with the first Mortal Kombat and from there illustrated a slew of features.
I can’t think of a better way to get into the mind of a working director than storyboarding. Now having directed professionally, you see it’s a constant struggle filled with a ton of compromises. But when you sit with a storyboard artist you get to unload the vision of the movie that’s in your head and brainstorm with another creative mind. Directors love this part of their job. So I got to collaborate with some of the best.
I would bust my ass to draw the best boards I could to earn enough trust to ask them directing questions that never appear in books. Like, “What do you do when an actor throws a fit?” (a: let them, promise to fire someone and get them back on set) “How do you film an aging star?” (a: any scene they’re in, don’t shoot close-ups of anyone, especially them). And the biggest for me was “How do you rehearse?” (a: many discussions, discover the character together, etc.).
I was in awe of Sydney Pollack. He was thrown suggestions by everyone and they were usually bad, in the sense that they had little to do with what the project was really about. But he just knew how to cut through it all and stay focused. A complete and total pro.
Storyboarding is a lot of fun because ultimately there’s not a lot of responsibility. With directing, everything’s your responsibility. I think directors can be temperamental because the value of the movie is always on them. I didn’t write ZODIAC, didn’t fund it, didn’t shoot it, etc., but it is on me to make entertaining, even though a great deal is out of my hands. But like my performing arts teacher Harold Wilson used to say: It may not be your fault, but it’s your problem.
You’re also a writer, however the films you have directed in the last several years have been written by other screenwriters. Any chance we’ll see a film written and directed by you in the near future?
W.D.: Going forward I want to try and direct only what I write. It becomes a much more personal experience at that point. I just finished a horror script in the vein of The Shining. Psychological, dark, playing around with time and structure. Very weird and unusual and I’ve never read or seen anything like it. So, of course, I have to make it. Because if you’re gonna go down in flames, go down in flames by doing your own thing.
Many thanks W.D.! Be sure to tune in or set your DVR for Zodiac, airing on SYFY August 16th. For more information about W.D., including photos, videos, links to all his social sites, and to keep updated with his projects, check out his website. http://www.wdhogan.com/
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