Chris and Dave chatted about RED STATE, his probable involvement with HIT SOMEBODY, that still untitled father/son sci-fi space comedy, and CLERKS 3.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID KLEIN

BY CHRIS GRAVES

CHRIS GRAVES: For those who do not know, what is your background and how were you introduced to the world of View Askew and Kevin Smith?

DAVID KLEIN: Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier and I all met at the Vancouver Film School. Kevin dropped out to save the rest of his tuition to make Clerks, while Mosier and I finished the program. Shortly after that program ended, I was in Seattle working as a camera assistant and Kevin sent me the script for Clerks. Nobody else was going to let a 20 year old, inexperienced punk like me shoot a movie, so I took the last 500 bucks I had in the bank and bought a ticket to New Jersey.

CG: What inspired you to become a director of photography?

DK: When I first started studying film, I thought I wanted to be a director. But shortly after getting to film school and learning what it was that different types of filmmakers did, I understood that I was always thinking in terms of what a cinematographer does, not a director. I was thinking in terms of camera movement, lighting and composition to tell the story, not authoring performances. I had also had a small amount of experience shooting 35mm still photography and 16mm motion picture films, which naturally let me in that direction also.

CG: You’ve acted in a lot of Kevin’s movies as well. Did you have a favorite appearance? And would you act again if asked?

DK: No and no. That ship has sailed.

CG: Can you describe your working relationship with Kevin? Is there a certain process that the two of you go through on every project?

DK: We have a true, unspoken language when we’re on a set together. Adam Siegel, one of the producers on Cop Out, noticed after seeing Kevin and I work together for a few days that “Klein cares about everything Smith doesn’t” which is somewhat true, but that simplification doesn’t give Kevin enough credit. He has really cared about what his films look like for quite a few years now.

We basically start every film by sitting together and going through the entire script in order to put a shot list together. Some scenes that we’re really familiar and comfortable with, we skip. Some we get very specific with. Because of our approach to Red State, although we had a shot list for the entire movie, we rarely referenced it. But we always attack the scene with the same intent even if we’re not actually following our predesigned shot list. He is one director that leaves me completely alone when it comes to lighting. Which, again, is not to say that he isn’t interested in the way his films look, he is. But in terms of how I’m using the lighting to help tell the story, he leaves that all up to me.

CG: Where did you come across the term “dutch rudder” which was refered to in ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO?

DK: In college, baby.

CG: Will the public ever get to see the often mentioned WILLAM BLACK short film that you shot with Scott Mosier back in film school? If not can you shed any light on what that short was about and why it hasn’t been released to this point?

DK: I doubt it will ever come out. It’s a short film owned by the film school, so there might be a lot of nonsense in getting it put out somewhere. I selfishly hope it doesn’t get out because it was one of the first things I ever shot, and it looks like it. But I was quite proud of a dolly we created for a scene where the camera and the actor were on the same platform that could spin around 360 degrees for 4 or 5 rotations. i had recently been influenced by Talk Radio and was stealing a shot from that movie.

CG: What format do you prefer, digital or film? And do you think there will come a day when film is completely phased out in favor of digital or something else entirely?

DK: I still prefer film. The latitude, resolution and grain are what I love about film. There’s also a way that these things work together that makes film the format I always want to use. But, digital is getting much better and I’m a huge fan of the Red One MX sensor. I think it’s definitely one of the best digital cameras out there and in a Lustre DI suite, it pushes around and color grades more like film than any other digital camera I’ve had my hands on. The day where film is phased out is coming, but it won’t be phased out by something better, it’ll be phased out by something cheaper. And that’s kind of heartbreaking.

CG: Do you have any desire to write and/or direct your own feature someday?

DK: No. I don’t have anything to say as a director right now.

CG: What was your experience like on the movie VULGAR? How does Bryan Johnson’s style of directing compare to Mr. Smith’s?

DK: That was a long time ago. All I can say about Vulgar is that I was a cinematographer who didn’t know what I was doing, but thought I did. Which is a very dangerous place for an artist to be, because you make arrogant decisions. I think a lot of that movie looks good, especially considering the budget – but a lot of the look of that movie comes from a place that was self serving and not necessarily best for the film. Arrogance sometimes comes along with youth and inexperience – but I’ve learned a lot since then.

CG: What can we expect from RED STATE, Kevin’s upcoming political horror film, in terms of the look and mood? Old school 70’s grain or crystal clear modern day cinematography or somewhere in between?

DK: I think it’s somewhere in between. We shot the entire film handheld, and I gave the lighting a singular voice that, I hope, matches a handheld camera. The lighting isn’t as refined as some of the work we did on Zack and Miri or Cop Out – it’s a bit more simple than that. But I think there’s a elegance to simplicity sometimes, just like there’s an elegance to a well operated handheld shot – which I hope we have a lot of. The look of the movie was facilitated by a number of factors, two of which were budget and time. When you don’t have the budget to take the time to light a film the way you see it in your head, you have to come up with something else. So the look of Red State comes from a creative place, but there were other factors that pushed it further in the direction it ended up going. I’m very proud of the work and happy with the way it turned out. I’d say it’s got some grit to it but there’s nothing in it that feels forced to me.

CG: Will you be involved with HIT SOMEBODY and Kevin’s untitled sci-fi father/son space comedy?

DK: Absolutely. Where Kev goes, I go.

CG: Do you have any new projects coming up besides RED STATE?

DK: I’m currently prepping season 4 of True Blood. I’m an alternating cinematographer on the show this season, so I’ll be shooting 6 of the 12 episodes.

CG: And finally, can we expect to see you behind the camera for CLERKS 3 somewhere down the line?

DK: Where Kev goes, I go.

Much thanks to Dave and Chris for the interview — It’s been fantastic seeing Dave’s work progress over the years, and a testament of loyalty on both he and Kevin’s part that the two continue to work together today.

Chris has done some fantastic work for us over the years, and tells us that he’s lined up a few more great exclusives that we’ll be sharing in the coming weeks. Thanks to Chris for his continued contributions — Be sure to check out the full series of interviews if you’re new and missed any from the past.

I’ve always said I’d leave room for a possible CLERKS III, but w/o Jay or Bob, focusing on Dante & Randal, if I felt like telling a story about how I felt to be in my 40’s (as CLERKS was me in my 20’s & CLERKS II was me in my 30’s). But rather than manufacture a CLERKS III, I decided to live a real life CLERKS II. My favorite moment in that flick will always be Randal finally revealing his dopey secret heart & yelling “I’D BUY THE QUICK STOP & RE-OPEN IT MYSELF!” I wrote that line for a deeper reason that I thought I had, in retrospect. From day four of the RedState shoot, all I could hear was Randal in my head, insisting “THAT’S what I’d do. That’s what WE should do.” A long time ago, Randal gave me my entire career; nearly 20 years later, he did it again.

But that all being said? Right now, I honestly have NO story to tell with Dante & Randal. I was always really happy with where we left them.

So while I’ll always allow for the possibility of a CLERKS III, it’s not likely. HIT SOMEBODY is the film the end on. Then? MORE PODCASTS!!!

“Red State is done. Next step is the hockey movie, Hit Somebody. Then I’m done. There’s possibly a Clerks 3. If I have something to say in my late 40s about being in my late 40s, I’ll think of [Clerks’] Dante and Randal. Shy of that, I don’t have any more movies I want to make.”

Did we take this as a unofficial announcement of retirement from filmmaking? Not at all, really. Kevin has always said he wanted to get 10 films out there (he’s been saying this for a LONG time, dating all the way back to Dogma around 1999). So, to our loyal readers, this may not have seemed major news, though it seems some outlets picked this up as some sort of bombshell without even checking with the source. /Film, however, decided to contact Kevin directly about the quote, and he Kevin took the time to script a thoughtful, detailed response which we’ll share a few excerpts from here:

… But THIS “retirement” crap? Not news so much as another sad example of how fucking lazy movie press has become: they cannibalize stories by other writers just to have something to post on their own blogs. Yours was the only website that bothered to go DIRECTLY to the source, Peter – other cats ran articles without even tossing a Tweet my way to check veracity. And I answer Tweets like I answer the dinner bell: often & much. While sweating. And already eating something else.

I’ve always said (since CLERKS, even) that I’ve got about ten films in me (that info might even be on my Wikipedia page). And COP OUT notwithstanding (solely because I didn’t write it), HIT SOMEBODY is the 10th film I’ve got in me. At this moment in time, I’ve got no other flicks I wanna make. The musing about a possible return visit to the View Askewniverse with a third CLERKS is something I’ve been doing since CLERKS II, but I’ve always opened said musings with the disclaimer “If I ever wanna make a flick about being in my 40’s, I’ll think of Dante & Randal first.” There are no concrete plans for a CLERKS III.

…

…If you’ve GOTTA have some Kevin Smith news to hold you over? Here’s something that’s not so much news as my stated intentions for RED STATE: if it gets into Sundance, my plan is to pick the RED STATE distributor right there – IN THE ROOM – auction style. Might even bring up a professional auctioneer to make it fun and unintelligible. And if you’re a multi-millionaire who can’t make it to the first screening of RED STATE, fear not: maybe we’ll set up an eBay page for the post-screening bid-calling as well.

Congrats to /Film for doing the diligence to check with Kevin, and for getting the facts straight. More news later, as we’ll be watching for the “Hit” news and anything else that drops, as well as catching up on some leftover holiday tidbits from the break. Stay tuned.

An evening with Kevin Smith was everything one could expect. Kevin started the night off by completely breaking the ice, by telling the audience about Bears and cubs and how cute they sound.

So last night Kevin talked about almost everything from bears and cubs, to sucking his own dick, to autographing a dude’s ass (who was there with the tattoo of kev’s signature), to working with Bruce Willis.

Hit somebody: “Will be after Red State, we will be hiring/using local Detroit talent for on and off camera use”.

Red State: “Will start production soon”.

Clerks 3: “It’s a possibility. I did Clerks about my mid 20’s, Clerks 2 about my mid 30’s, so Clerks 3 would be about my mid 40’s”.

Clerks comic book: “I think I have a few more stories I could tell there”

On the resurrection of the Clerks cartoon: “I would love to bring back the Clerks cartoon (via adult swim) but when Disney & Miramax separated, the Weinsteins didn’t take the rights for the cartoon. And have stated “We will never work with them again. So I think it’s a dead issue, but id love to do it.”

Batman & Wonder Woman: Kevin said he is working on another Batman comic, & did get asked to do a Wonder Woman story, but he has to find a story that “works for me”.

Also there was a “strict” no photo/video policy, they were taking the cameras from people taking photos, but if anyone got up and asked Kevin for a photo, he gladly obliged and no one seemed to take their cameras. These are a few things that stuck out in our minds if we remember anything else we will be sure to send it. As for us me (Movie Miguel) being from Cleveland & Heidi being from Columbus (my gf) we are planning on attending Kevin’s SModcast @ Peabodys on april 27th. We both really enjoyed the show, and had a great time.

There ya go, folks — That’s the way to write up a review and take good notes! Thanks to our scoopers for the enlightening info from this recent Q&A. Wanna see Kev live? He’s coming to a town near you. Don’t miss the chance.

“done with view askew?!”

I’m 39; my view is no longer all that askew.

Alright, let’s be honest: it still is. But the name always felt too impressed with itself, y’know? If one’s view is truly askew, does one really have to proclaim it? The work should speak for itself; and if nothing else, my work certainly does that.

Think of it like this: my pet peeve is when people refer to themselves as crazy or unusual in some way.

“Look out for me, ’cause I’m a total lunatic!”
“When we go out, we’re just crazy!”
“I mean, that’s just us, right? We’ll do anything for a laugh!”
“People are always like ‘Look out for THIS guy’…”

I’m certainly not profiling, but women seem to be the worse offenders of this harmless-yet-irritating expression of self esteem. But when guys do it, it’s REALLY tough to watch; you can’t simply smile through it, thinking “If I keep agreeing with her, she might touch my dick.”

So if I feel that way about people who boast, shouldn’t I loathe my own production company name?

Might be nice to box “View Askew Productions” ’til the eventual look back in on Dante and Randal with CLERKS III.

The idea of continuing the story of Dante and Randal every 10 years is quite interesting, especially considering Kevin could potentially continue to do this through his career. While they may not necessarily be actual “Clerks” any longer as they continue on, to visit these guys once a decade to see where their lives have taken them could prove to be a fascinating and original exercise in cinema. Sign us up. Kevin predicts circa 2016.