Madness goes live stream! Director and writer Marc Martínez Jordán uses the internet to describe what could happen when the wrong people catch viral fever in his horror film Framed.
See the NYC Premiere of ‘Framed’ on February 26, 2018 @7:45pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of “Bloody Monday” at New York City’s 7th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival.
In a society obsessed with the internet, film director and writer Marc Martínez Jordán sets out to make a movie to see just how far people will go to gain incredulous infamy and notariety. Using a livestreaming app, people can film and watch whatever is posted, breeding potential human-made catastrophes worldwide. Thus, the plot: Alex meets his friends on his farewell night party before leaving for Berlin, Germany. But the group of partygoers encounter a faction of terror mongers hell-bent on causing pain and torment, all while livestreaming the brutal mayhem.
Winter Film Awards’ Jerry Del Priore spoke with Marc about the film.
Jerry Del Priore: How many other projects have you written and directed?
Marc Martínez Jordán: For now, two short films (Timothy and Horseface). Framed is my first feature.
Jerry: Where did you attend school?
Marc: I attend in ESCAC; it’s a school of cinema located in Terrassa (Spain). Nice place if you like cinema and you want to learn all the complexity of filming a short.
Jerry: Where were you born, and where do you live now?
Marc: I was born in Calella, a town “near” Barcelona (Spain). Calella, it’s a small coast city, perfect place if you and old person and have interest in retiring and dying in a peaceful place. Nowadays, I still living there. I prefer the calm of this place than the continuous noise of a big city.
Jerry: How old are you?
Marc: Haha. 28 years old but I look like I am 40.
Jerry: Where did you come up with the idea for the movie Framed?
Marc: In 2015 approximately. I was interested in writing a story about new technologies and how nowadays it’s changing human behavior. I thought that if I apply that idea in a genre film (in this case, a slasher) it would help me to take the concept of wrong use of new technologies into a new level where I will have the freedom to add all kinds of crazy and creepy ideas in the story plot.
Jerry: Your special effects were very professionally done and realistic. How were you able to accomplish that on an independent budget?
Marc: For the special effects, we had in our crew David Chapanoff and Laura Lorenzo. David was more focused in making all the prosthesis stuff, like the chopped arm or the neck bite. Laura used her talents to recreate the blood splashing in the best realistic way. All of us did a great job during the shooting!
I believe that in a low budget film, it’s super important to know what FX you’re able to show and what is the most efficient way to do it. It’s not the same to make a radial saw chopping an arm than hearing the sound of a radial saw, and then see in the shoot an arm chopped and falling to the ground. I know it’s kind of basic stuff, but all these details are important because, if FX feels fake at any point of the movie, the audience will notice that, and it will take them out of the story. To accomplish good FX, it’s necessary to work the storyboard of bloody scenes together with the FX department, deciding what can be done, how much and we “show” etc…
Jerry: Was the reaction to the killers in the movie by the public a commentary on the state of the internet and today’s society?
Marc: Probably. Framed is not the best movie to extract a serious vision of internet’s society nowadays. However, I’m convinced modern society is actually on a stage of evolution where virality is making deep changes in what we understand about our own ethics and morality as human beings. Framed is just a crazy and not serious representation of the death of human morals. Raising as a worldwide hero, a psycho-killer obsessed with internet and the virality? Maybe doesn’t happened yet, but it will.
Jerry: Several parts of the film are gory and depraved (Great job!). Have you been called any creative names for the way the gory scenes came out?
Marc: Yeah, of course. My two references in the design of gory scenes in Framed are the Evil Dead movies (the remake directed by Fede Alvarez) and the Purge (directed by James DeMonaco). Fede is an incredibly talented director, with the great capacity of finding the best shot possible. James has the ability of showing violence without showing it in the shot.
Jerry: How did you go about casting the movie? The acting was very good.
Marc: Alex Maruny (one of the lead actors in the movie) and I worked together in the configuration of the casting. Alex knows a lot of talented actors who maybe haven’t had the chance yet to play an important role in a feature. So, we decided to give a chance to them. I’m so happy with the casting and how professional all the actors were during the shooting.
Jerry: Do you think this is your best work to date?
Marc: Every work I’ve done is important because it brings me the experience and knowledge to work in my next project. My two short films are important in the way it made me feel and encouraged to debut a long feature film. I believe more in doing my best work in every shoot than comparing my filmography to decide what is best. However, I’m sure Framed is going to be my most acknowledged work, without a doubt (I hope).
Jerry Del Priore
Jerry Del Priore is an accomplished writer, author, blogger and reporter. He has written on topics such as sports, health and fitness, NYC lifestyle and food, as well as movies and music. Del Priore runs his own weblog called www.BrooklynSportsWorld.com.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 7th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 22-March 3 2018. Check out our jam-packed lineup of 93 fantastic films in all genres from 31 countries, including Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
