2019-01-01_SciFiNow

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one Cut of the Dead

the

mistakes on

screen were

a mix of

fabricated

and real

ones

shinichiro ueda

w w w.sci fi n ow.co.u k

cameraman fell over was
inspired by the actor playing
the cameraman falling over
during rehearsal. At one point
[in the ‘one cut’ sequence] we
had to apply zombie makeup
in one minute, but we couldn’t
finish in time, so until the zombie
appeared the actors ad-libbed.
so the mistakes (on screen) were
a mix of ‘fabricated on purpose’
and real ones.”
The ‘one cut’ sequence was
rehearsed in the room where
we’re sitting. ueda thinks there
were about eight rehearsals for
the ‘one cut’ scene. “i used this
room like an abandoned house
and we used the desk and so on
for the furniture. sometimes we
could not use this place, so we
used a park for rehearsing.”
As for the actual ‘one cut’
shoot, there were six different
takes. “we made it to the end
on four takes,” ueda says. one

failed because the zombie

make-up couldn’t be applied

in time. “Another time, as the

cameraman fell down, he

pressed the record button

accidently and stopped filming.”

Post-production cG was kept

to a minimum, used only to add

“spew” to a vomit scene, and to

fix a moment where a character

peels off her skin. “Everything

else was done practically on set,”

says ueda. “i prefer to show the

really man-made practical effects

rather than cG.”

ueda’s favourite horror film

is night of The Living Dead,

while his pantheon also includes

Evil Dead and Texas chain saw

Massacre. Beyond horror, he’s

partial to other films about film-

makers, such as Bowfinger and

france’s Day for night.

one cut itself is far more about

the film-makers than the zombies.

“The story is about getting over a

difficult time in life and grouping

together to overcome those

difficulties,” says ueda. “i tried

to bring out each of the actors’

strengths from the rehearsals and

by drinking together. i wrote the

characters to reflect the actors.”

ueda admits that some of

the characters – such as a

condescending producer and

a self-important thesp – are

based on people he’s met in the

film industry. However, they’re not

exactly drawn from real life.

“if i had to work with people

like that in reality, i expect it

would be really annoying!” ueda

says. “i made them parodies,

exaggerating their quirks, so

they would endear themselves

to the audience.”

one cut’s official budget is a

miniscule $27,000. so how was

ueda able to make the money go

so far? “from the very beginning

this film was created in a

workshop environment,” he says.

“The cast were not paid for either

the rehearsal or actual filming.

so, compared to a commercial

film, my film it is quite different

budget-wise.

“we used my house for

some scenes... My own baby

appeared in the film. i made the

blood-soaked T-shirts. Plus, i did

not need to pay for using the

abandoned building. i managed

to reduce the budget in lots of

ways. But i believe the low-budget

hand-crafted approach added to

the charm of the film and enabled

me to have total control.”

The gambles certainly paid

off. now, see it before someone

spoils it for you.

one cut of The Dead is

released in cinemas on 4

January and on Blu-ray/DVD/

VoD on 28 January.

Zombie attack?

Keep filming!

Don’t ruin the

surprise...

It’s a future cult

classic for sure.