Steve Kostanski always loved the magic that film offered at an early age, and when he was creating stop motion films in the garage, little would he know it would lead to a career in the special effects industry. While some people think of him as part of the Astron-6 collective, where they create 80s-centric, no-budget, mixed-genre movies, they have done independent works too, like this filmmaker has with Freddie Freako, to realise they’re a tight group says it all. His name is also there in The Void and Manborg, where he has co-director credit.
His efforts are to be commended since he loves the medium; he watched shows like Mega Movie Magic (1997-2004) on Discovery Channel to learn how film effects were created back then. And on that fateful day where he and his buddies saw Army of Darkness, he knew what he would do for the rest of his life!
“That was when it really clicked,” said Kostanski, as I interviewed him via Zoom. “For me, it seemed like they were normal guys having fun goofing around; except somehow it became accessible. What they made stopped being this nebulous idea from Hollywood and that led to me to seriously want to make it in the film industry.
“I enjoy working with prosthetics; it’s become my job, and I basically make movies as a side occupation. I never really intended to become a full-time director, but it’s just part of what I do now. You’ll find me creating a lot of creature effects for film and television, and also directing.”
How would you compare yourself to other names that’ve been at it just as long as you have, or perhaps longer? (i.e. who are your influences)
Steve Wang (interview can be read here) is definitely one of my big inspirations. When I saw Guyver at a very young impressionable age, it was just mind blowing, a gateway to R rated genre films (the stuff I make now). He’s a talent beyond anything I could even begin to comprehend, and he deserves more recognition in what he does. I also love H.R. Geiger, and David W. Allen, one of the lesser known stop-motion artists. Allen is a big deal to me because of all the work he did for Full Moon Pictures; one of my favourite movies is Robot Joxs because he used a ton of techniques to bring that film to life. When considering the limited budget he has to work with, that’s just amazing.
And as for Ray Harryhausen, that skeleton fight in Jason the Argonauts and Medusa sequence in Clash of the Titans is one of the best stop motion sequences! I get very excited because to time these things out, especially In a pre digital age, is hard to map out—like the smoke trail and a spark on top!
How did you learn your craft?
Aside from what I learned from the Dick Smith course [on Special FX Makeup -Ed], a good chunk of my knowledge came from on-set experience, either working as a prosthetics artist for low-budget productions in Winnipeg or by making my own films with my fellow Astron-6 members. In the early 2000s, there weren’t a lot of easily accessible resources for learning filmmaking and monster fx, especially while living here. So in most situations, I just had to dive in head-first and make it up as I went.
What makes the era of 80s creature features more enduring than others?
I think it was a time of discovery, in a lot of respects, on how to make those special effects work. And filmmaking as well. It was all about art. People didn’t seem as scared as they are now. When you look at John Carpenter‘s filmography, they are all kind of weird, interesting, offbeat movies. He isn’t repeating himself.
And whether or not they were successful, he just kept doing it. That’s part of why we have this nostalgia and this reverence for that era; it was like a real cornucopia of creativity. That decade was limitless in terms of what people could do and what their imaginations wanted to do. And still being in the practical effects sphere–a time where puppets and miniatures and prosthetic effects and stop motion were used–and compositing and motion control cameras, that’s the heyday of the ILM era of filmmaking. So yeah, I think that’s why we hold it in such high esteem.
I have to ask, if you were born earlier, would you have sought out a chance to mentor under Jim Henson?
Definitely! On Frankie, we made it up as we went along; it was a very trial by fire scenario! Although this movie probably could have worked with some proper training (learning how to manipulate the puppets right) to avoid some hiccups that we had, it still looked good as far as I’m concerned.
Even Mike Hamilton, who was my physical effects guy, became the lead puppet master. I just threw him into it. It had that muppet show type feel when the characters were running around and I thought it worked. As much as I wanted to have way more elaborate stuff, puppet wise, the bottom line is it needed to be janky for this movie to work, and it’s janky in a very charming way,
I want to tell stories that grown-ups are going to enjoy. All that adult content, sexuality, swearing, violence, and Saturday morning cartoon feel had to be juvenile in a way that wasn’t obnoxious.
Some antics you threw into the film reminded me of the old Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Is that a correct assessment?
I love those ‘toons where the bloodshed has no consequence. In Frankie, the puppets were doing their thing but in reality, people were getting hurt: you’ll feel it. And Connor, the hero in this piece, got injured a lot!
How much of the movie was actually scripted compared to improvised?
A lot of it was written, and Conor Sweeney, our lead actor, put in the polish. On set, he came up with a bunch of more absurd jokes, where Dan Aykroyd and Gary Busey’s names are used. Like my other movies, the script is a blueprint, but once we’re there, I love messing around and tweaking things to see how far we can push it.
Even with the stuff that’s in the final edit, like him falling down the stairs, we made up–I didn’t realise we were gonna have a second story at the house we used and I thought it would be a waste not to take advantage of this staircase. So we had a stunt guy throw himself down to make a Home Alone moment out of it. But ultimately, I really like to play around in the sandbox once we’re lit. Every part of my brain turns on and that’s when the goofier ideas come out.
Is being a director a challenge?
I love doing it when I have a good team and I run a pretty light set. I want everyone to be collaborative. But it can be very stressful and sometimes, I’ll need a month to recover. Each day, you’re physically and mentally expending all your energy (12 hours) running around solving problems. It’s just a game of putting out fires and dodging wrenches.
How many days did it take to shoot Frankie Freako?
It was about twenty. Fifteen were with the cast–Connor, Khristy and Adam; and all the puppet stuff that was off screen or over the shoulder shots, in five. We had a double for those bits. I probably could have used another five days, but that’s pretty normal for every movie I make. The crunch forces you to be creative and a lot of times good ideas comes out of it.
So what would you say is your most favourite moment during filming?
Anytime Adam and Connor were interacting, they would come up with such stupid stuff when in the same room together. I don’t really have a specific instance because there’s so many fun moments during the shoot.
As for producing some new material for the home video release, which people can now get, what’s your favourite bit there?
I felt obligated to deliver some special features because Shout! Studios/Raven are well known for having it. Me, Connor and Pierce Derks, the director of photography, cut together a behind-the-scenes track. And there’s a montage of us on set; there’s also the full Frankie Freako commercial and the antiques connoisseur’s piece.
We even have a really fun interview where I’m the puppeteer for Frankie, and Connor was interviewing him. We had Matt (the voice of Frankie) on Zoom while we were doing it, and he said some very wild stuff–you’ll find out that he’s a hardcore republican.
Out of all the bonus features, that’s the one I’m the most satisfied with.
How long did it take to figure out Frankie’s personality? Did you know what you wanted prior to shooting?
In my head, he was a wacky party dude, but I didn’t have any specifics figured out. It was more up to Matt while we were developing the concept in the shop. Connor kept on saying he should look like Andrew Dice Clay, and I tried to give him some facial hair like John Travolta from the movie Swordfish.
Matt’s voice was meant to be temp. Although we tried a few versions, including sounding like a Brit; but no. It didn’t work. And in classic Steve Kostansky movie fashion, we didn’t come up with something better. The first time’s the charm, I guess.
Will there be any more Frankie Freako movies?
My idea with this movie was that I could keep using them for projects; I would love to make another, but I’m not sure. I want to explore other stuff. But if somebody came to me and gave me 20 million, no problem! But in the indie film world that I’m in, you gotta beg, borrow or steal money to get them made. I’m way more passionate about developing new ideas than I am about just revisiting stuff I’ve already done.
To do another movie is, and knowing where it should go … you’re kind of setting yourself up for failure, jumping into a sequel, no matter what. Not everybody can succeed like with Empire Strikes Back. I would rather leave people wanting more than disappointing them.
Would you be willing to licence this IP out for other creators to add to it?
I have no problem going all John Carpenter with my properties. To sell it and get a paycheck every time they make a movie. I gotta turn this stuff into passive income because making indie movies doesn’t really pay the bills, as much as it should.
For Samples of Steve Kostanski’s past works, please visit his YouTube Channel.
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