“…It was tricky to find a way to not curse in the flick, but the device I use makes sense based on the main character,” Smith said. “And then suddenly if there was cursing it would seem weird. I know when I tell people there’s no cursing, it’s PG-13, they say why bother. I think it’s going to pan out.”

His confidence comes from the passion he feels for “Hit Somebody.” That passion is obvious as he talks more and more about the movie, and as he gets deeper into the script.

It’s a pure passion flick,” Smith said. “That’s what’s beautiful about it. It’s a pretty powerful document in as much as I can hand it to people and make them cry. Ö If you’re one of those people that can get emotional about something you’ve read or something you’ve seen, there are moments in the movie that will grab your heart and wring it. That’s because it is written on pure emotion.”

The entire article is a can’t-miss, so don’t miss clicking over.

In other news, Kevin reveals a big international “Evening With” in Syndey for early August, and more on SModcast and the castle, which may soon be the ONLY place on the planet to catch live SModcast. Read on:

Prisoners of AUSTRALIA! I am coming to set you free! Meet me at the SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE on 8/8! http://tinyurl.com/KevComesToTheLandDownUnder

Via @1973z “any chance of a visit to Perth?” Sydney only this time around. The OPERA HOUSE! When I get home, we start shooting RED STATE.

Via @Accidental_Rob “Any big plans for your 40th b’day?” It involves a stage. And some cameras. http://tinyurl.com/ItWas40YearsAgoToday

Via @BazTinkOTheRink “Mosier working on Red State or is he doing his own thing” His own thing, sir. Which includes SModcast, naturally.

Via @LynchAtLarge “any chance of a cameo by @JimNorton in Red State” No, but I want him to play a Glenn Hall-like goalie in HIT SOMEBODY.

@RetroDLC “Have you ever thought about using digital cameras (EG: Red) exclusively?” @ThatDavidKlein & I visited the Red Studio & our eyes & boners popped at the portability & better-than-film look. That camera is fucking magic. AND poetic: Red Cameras for #RedState.

@evilneuro ” yet your candy ass is on the front cover: http://www.amazon.com/Cop-Rock-Your-Glock-Blu-ray/dp/B002ZG970G ” When you see the BluRay, you’ll know why: I’m literally the third lead in the BluRay version of #CopOut . It’s like the flick was blended with Q&A.

Last night at the Improv, #LIVEnudeSMOD crushed it! Mostly because I sat on it, but still. Come & see for yourself: http://livenudesmod.com

This Saturday night in PROVINCETOWN, I’m getting feted. Or fisted. Can’t remember which. But when in Rome, I say… http://shar.es/mk8qf



Inch by inch, a Twitter-fueled stoner whimsy is made flesh! Behold! http://tinyurl.com/ScaleSModcastleWalls YOU! Follow @SModcastle

Thanks to the live Kevin Smith Twitter feed for these…Hit it up for a lot more.

“Preacher was never “set up” at View Askew with a $25mil budget. http://t.co/CY2WSx5 At one point, Garth & Steve grabbed a beer & burger with me & @SMosier at the Tribeca Grill, where we said “Use our names for whatever our names are worth.” Our names were worth bupkis. @SMosier & I pitched it to BobWeinstein, who said “I don’t get it. This is a comic book? The Crow I get. This? No.” And that was the extent of our involvement with Preacher: a beer & burger & a no from Bob. It was Rachel Talalay’s flick; me & just fans of the book & the creative team of Garth & Steve. James Marsden was never involved during this period (which wasn’t even a period, so much as a three day stretch). So strange to watch a fiction become fact. Happy to have Twitter as a means to correct misinformation.”

Coach said “Buddy, remember your role: the fast guys get paid, they shoot & they score. Protect them, Buddy, that’s what you’re here for.” With all due respect to RedState, Hit Somebody is all I can think about lately. Top shelf, glove-side in 2012.

The goal is for a Toronto Film Festival preem of this one in the Fall of 2012 — We’d sure love to be there as Kevin’s last ever debuts to the world, much like we were lucky enough to be for “Dogma” back in ’99.

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.

Part 1 of 5 – “Red State” Roadshow Tour & Sales

Are you planning to make any changes to the film after the tour is finished?

I went to Sundance and watched it; that was the first time I got to see it with a real audience, and it was 97 minutes [long] at Sundance. And when I sat in the back, I sat down to watch it as a director at work, seeing it onscreen for the first time all of a sudden, I put my editing cap back on, and I [said], ‘Why did I keep that? Ooh, I could lose that. Ooh, I should tighten this. I’m not doing anybody any good service by leaving this long.’ So suddenly, by the end of the movie I found a bunch of time that I was like, ‘Ahh, I guess I can pull more time out of it.’ But I came home, and now the cut’s, from end to end, it was 97 and now it’s 88, so I guess I pulled out about nine minutes. And it runs so damn fast right now. I mean, from picture to picture you’re talking about 81, 82 minutes, and then you’ve got about six, seven minutes of credits in the back end. So it’s a lean, mean fighting machine, to borrow from John Candy back in Stripes.

Part 2 of 5 – International Distribution, Indie Film

Is there a similar plan for international distribution for Red State, or will that depend on how this tour does?

What a good question. No. It was never a factor for us. Our logic, and when I say ‘us,’ I mean me and Jon Gordon, my producer on the movie and my partner, and The Harvey Boys, which is the company we made the movie with. We always felt like if we do this we don’t even know how to release a movie in the United States, let alone elsewhere, you know what I’m saying? Let alone outside the country. So we trained under the Weinsteins, you know, he (Gordon) worked on Harvey [Weinstein]’s desk for years before he became a creative exec and whatnot. We were like, letís just do what Bob [Weinstein] and Harvey always did. Basically, keep the movie domestically, and just sell it off internationally.

Part 3 of 5 – Looking Back, Haters, Tweeting

How many tweets would you say you post each day?

I don’t know; it ranges, man. It kind of depends. Learning Twitter is a personal experience for everybody, but I had to learn how to do it without overwhelming people, and some people are like, ‘Are you kidding me? You write too many tweets now,’ but it used to be way worse. And I figured out how to do it in ways, and it also depends what you’re tweeting. Like, at the end of the day, they will forgive you 100 tweets in a row if the content is real. Somebody asked me a question where I’ll do these things called SMonologue, where I answer back, and it should be a blog, but Iím doing it there in Twitter, in real time and some people like reading it that way; it’s just fun for me to do it that way; something of a challenge, figuring out how to express yourself 140 characters at a time.

Parts 4 and 5 are coming later this week. Stay tuned! One of the best Q&As we’ve read in a long time, so be sure to click over.

Via @phanpso “whats the deal w/ the NHL & Hit Somebody” Set in a fictional, WHA-like league, the @NHL’s only dreamed about in our flick.

/Film does a fantastic wrap-up of the “Hit Somebody” stuff where they’ve digged out the juicy bits from the MTV piece and summarize nicely, including the reveal that he’d love to see Damon and Affleck show up on a rival team from Boston for the flick:

With Smith talking about the film, we’re getting a lot more info. He calls it a valentine or love letter to Canada and to hockey, and reiterates that it is based on a song written by Mitch Albom and performed by Warren Zevon. It is not R-rated, spans the í50s to the í80s, and is set in a league of his own devising, so don’t expect NHL licensing. (No budget for that in an indie, anyway.) Smith says the script is at 110 pages now and is only half done. (He calls it ‘chunky.’) Because it spans so much time, and will feature a number of hockey teams, he’s got room to bring back just about everyone he’s ever cast.

KS: “They’re all coming back. It’s like The Muppet Movie. you’ve got your core cast, and then a zillion cameos. It’s going to sum everything up. We’ll have a team in Boston, and who do you think I’m going to call? Both of those dudes.”

Much more interesting, however, is the idea that Hit Somebody will ‘sum everything up.’ He explicitly calls it ‘an analogous tale to my time in film,’ and is about a guy ‘who loves hockey with all his heart, but is no damn good at it. Then he gets his shot.’ That’s a pretty big deal – an explicitly reflexive narrative that will be his last as a director. He says it will be a meditation of what happens when your dreams come true. Sounds like a much more striking way to cap off a directorial career than Clerks 3 would be.

Once again, highly recommended you play back every clip of the MTV interview, our recommended must watch of the day.

Via @bknaust “what about 1 more trip down the Askewniverse for the fans?” Wouldn’t that be better served in a cable show? Ongoing w/cussing.

Nothing more than that for now, but the first we’ve heard a hint of the Askewniverse on cable. We’re fascinated. Stay tuned.

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!!!

@JayBear_Mix100 “I think you should make a film that introduces Canada to Americans” That’s up next. We’re thinking summer start, so @ThatDavidKlein can shoot his 1st season on TRUE BLOOD. But let’s try to Sundance w/RED STATE before we start planning HIT SOMEBODY.

Via @TVIsMyConstant “Why’d you cancel the Vegas shows?” Sorry – something had to give, schedule-wise. Doing Vegas in the spring now instead.

Via @RitaAmber “is there going to be another run of the etnies shoes?” Indeed – slightly altered. Then, next year, get ready for SMeakers…

Via @strwbrrylaundry “what time does GET OLD drop today” Sorry: it’s a GET OLD skip week. But NEXT week? First non-audience ep of the show.

Via @FrowShaw “When is the next GET OLD being posted?” Hopefully Thursday. Mewes is shooting a flick out of town, so patience please…

Laugh yer ass silly with HOLLYWOOD BABBLE-ON: http://www.smodcast.com/babbleon. Then, puck off with PUCK NUTS: http://smodcast.com/pucknuts