PopSyndicate.com

A great documentary about a twelve year old filmmaker.

Everyone has seen a zombie movie at some point.  Horror films are something that most indie-filmmakers, and studios, can get behind because they can be made on the cheap and usually pull in the cash.  When you are perusing the horror section at your local video store or Netflix you will notice more zombie flicks than you can shake a severed limb at.  A couple years ago in Austin, TX a young filmmaker decided her first feature should involve zombies.  The catch - she was twelve. 

Three documentarians, Justin Johnson, Aaron Marshall and Erik Mauck found out about the production and had to follow her around.  This turned into a new film making the festival rounds called Zombie Girl: The Movie.  Emily Hagins loves film and after seeing the Australian Sci-Fi/zombie flick Undead she fell in love with the genre.  She had some shorts under her belt and decided to write a feature.  Why not, right?  At the age of twelve she enters into production with a lot of help from her mother, Megan.  Emily had no real experience, no money and a very naive plan of how to shoot everything.  The documentary follows all of the trials and tribulations, including forgetting to press record on the camera or the boom mic attached to a paint roller.  You really feel for this girl on her first big venture and follow her through the ups and downs in a very entertaining documentary that any aspiring filmmaker, film lover or horror fan should definitely see.

Co-director Aaron Marshall took time to answer a few of our questions about his wonderful film.

Pop Syndicate: How did you find out about Emily and her film?

Aaron Marshall: We stumbled across a posting on the internet for Emily’s casting call for Pathogen (her zombie movie) that read, “Need 12-15 year-olds for a zombie movie directed by a 12-year-old girl.”  That was all it took to hook us.

PS: You show a lot of times where Emily is not quite sure what to do, especially on her first day of shooting.  Were there times when you wanted to interfere and give her pointers on filmmaking?

AM: Of course, there were many times where we wanted to step in and stop her from making a mistake, but we made an agreement amongst ourselves and with her from the beginning, that we were there to observe Emily’s process and interfere as little as possible.  Some of the best lessons we learned when making films as teenagers, we learned from the mistakes we made, and to prevent Emily from making her own mistakes would have robbed her of the valuable experience she was getting.

PS: I’m sure, as a documentarian, you have to stay objective during your filming.  Did Emily ever ask to use your better sound equipment, or for any other help?  If so, did you help out?

AM: There was one time when she was struggling to remove a piece of her tripod, which simply required pushing a button that she didn’t know was there.  After we shot about 15 minutes of footage showing her struggle with it, she finally turned to Erik, my co-director, and said, “If you have enough footage of me struggling, can you just show me how to fix this?”

In that instance, because she directly asked us, we—of course—helped her out.  But she knew that we wanted to be flies on the wall as much as possible, so she rarely asked us for help.

PS: Megan and Emily are very close, and work well together, Is it hard to watch the “tired frustration” between them when shooting would take too long?

AM: Those were obviously tense moments to shoot and edit.  We knew that Emily and her mom had unconditional love for each other and were a great team, but the frustrations of a film set can aggravate even the most seasoned crew members.  The trick was to assemble it in such a way that accurately portrayed those frustrating moments without manipulating them or giving the audience false impressions about Emily and Megan’s relationship.  We hope that we were able to pull that off.

PS: How often did you follow her around during Pathogen’s principle photography and in post?

AM: We followed her for about 2 years.  Sometimes it would be every day for weeks straight, and other times we would go a couple months without shooting.  We were tied to Emily’s schedule.  Whenever she worked on her movie, we shot.

PS: I know your purpose was to document her making this film and seeing it come to fruition.  Is this why you did not include any post-screening reaction to Pathogen?

AM: The process of her making the film and the familial relationships that allowed her to make her movie was what we considered to be the most important part.  We actually continued to shoot footage for months after the premiere, following her at other screenings and her eventually dvd release party.  But, when looking at the footage, it felt like the culmination to what was important about her accomplishment was the moment when she stands in front of a sold-out audience and introduces her film.  Everything else was just icing on the cake, so we didn’t see a need to take if further.

Plus, it leaves people wanting to see Pathogen.  And a simple trip to www.cheesynuggets.com can solve that problem.

PS: What are your thoughts of Pathogen?

AM: Pathogen is an extremely charming movie.  Yes, it includes many of the mistakes that Emily made during her 2 year learning experience, but it also includes all the moments when she “got it right.”  There are genuine scares and laughs throughout the film.  I strongly suggest that anyone who has seen Zombie Girl: The Movie check out Pathogen.

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