Five Things About Skyline With Eric Balfour

I was lucky enough to talk to Eric Balfour about the upcoming alien invasion thriller, Skyline, of which he is one of the stars. It’s an independently produced film that promises to reverse the fortunes of directors Colin and Greg Strause after their studio picture, Aliens vs Predator Requiem. It will go on release across the US and UK on November 12th.

At the time Eric and I talked, the film was not yet complete, so he had only seen elements of it. That was a lot more than I had seen, however, so I found a number of his comments quite surprising. There’s more to this film than the trailers are giving away.

Here are Five Things that Eric and I talked about.

1. It’s An Indie

Eric clarified that this was an independently financed project, and what that meant:

There was no studio money. Everything was done on a budget. When we shot the movie, all of the interiors were done in one apartment complex. The Strause brothers were able to bring in their tools and experience with visual effects.

Of course, this can be limiting. But it can also be liberating:

I think that the major difference between this and a studio movie is that there was no compromise. Nothing was watered down. The saying’s not new, “Too many cooks”.

Don’t harbor images of the Brothers Strause in fingerless gloves, huddling together by a pile of burning sticks, however:

They own a couple of Ferraris, a couple of Rolls Royces. They’re not your average indie filmmakers.

2. What It’s All About, Eric?

Every film with aliens turning up seems to have some metaphorical content – especially if they get to knocking buildings over. Eric has his own ideas on what Skyline is “really” about:

This alien invasion is a metaphor for disaster, be that war or natural disaster. It’s about surviving, not necessarily doing battle. It’s about people trying to survive.

Sounds like a perfect metaphor for the spending cuts just inflicted upon Britain. How topical.

Despite this being an alien invasion film, a subgenre that seems to squarely target seekers of the epic and expansive, Eric’s suggesting that there’s something smaller and more delicate here:

For me the most interesting part of the story is that there’s an intimacy. People band together just to get through the day. They’re just trying to stay alive.

3. The Style And Tone Of The Film

Not having seen any of the film, I had to defer to Eric for some idea of how it would taste:

It blends District 9 and 28 Days Later, something that’s almost arthouse with the grand scope of big budget films from inside the studio system.

Well, that’s a better definition of Arthouse than the Guardian managed yesterday with their Greateast Films Of All Time pullout (The Godfather? Really?)

But this isn’t just some pansy-wansy piece. Eric also name dropped a couple of real crunchers:

If you want to compete with the Evil Dead and with Aliens, you have your work cut out for you, but they [Greg and Colin Strause] really stepped up to the plate.

4. Working With Second Time Directors Can Be A Pain In The Ass

I was wondering what it was like when the directors of the film had built up years of experience working with special effects but only a few weeks of working with actors:

I grew to like these guys a lot but they can be a pain in the ass. Lots of takes and really specific ideas. They’d be like “Eric, we need you to be angrier then that”, and then “Angrier than that” and then “Not that angry. Maybe more confused. Angry and confused” then, “Okay Eric, maybe not so much angry and confused but angry because you’re confused and confused because you are angry”.

But the directors did always have what was best for the film in mind. Whenever they had an idea for an improvement, they’d try to implement it:

Every step of the way they were in it. They’d say “I know we wrote it like this…” and then it would change.

5. In The End

Eric seemed to be dropping hints that the ending of the film was something special. So I asked him explicitly about it, and here’s what he told me:

It has elements of a classic Hollywood ending but it’s not Independence Day.

Okay, but what actually happens at the end? Well, I’d have been crazy to think he was ever going to tell me, but I did get Eric to tell me why the pay off is worth waiting for:

At the climax of the movie, we finally see the film’s full scope and scale. And we see these characters in their finest moments.

Their finest moments. Okay. Interesting. Now… roll on November 12th. I think we need to see for ourselves just what this thing actually is..