Wednesday, May 1, 1996
Fleming attempts to portray witchcraft realistically in film By
Emily Forster
Daily Bruin Contributor
When moviegoers accept or reject a film, it’s usually the
success or failure of the director.
Especially when dealing with films about magic and mysticism,
Andrew Fleming, director of "Threesome" and the upcoming "The
Craft," feels that capable directors can make or break the movie’s
believability.
But Fleming, who took film classes at UCLA during his senior
year in high school, was eager to tackle the task. He did not just
sit back and let a special effects team make his latest creation,
"The Craft," come to life. Instead Fleming made sure to take part
in many aspects of "The Craft" by carefully choosing the script
alterations, scenery, music, and casting in his film about four
teenage witches who use supernatural powers to get back at their
enemies. Starring Fairuza Balk from "Things to do in Denver When
You’re Dead" and Neve Campbell from television’s "Party of Five,"
the film takes a look at not just the stresses of high school, but
also the basics of Wicca, the religion of witchcraft.
"The challenge of a movie like ‘The Craft’ is that it has to be
emotionally believable," says Fleming. "Most horror films feel like
comic strips from the beginning. There’s a lot that you have to do
to avoid that."
For starters, the film has to have a realistic script. Fleming
liked the original script’s overall feeling, but he wanted more
information about witchcraft. Fleming found his facts from Pat
Devin, an Elder and Co-National Public Information Officer in
Covenant of the Goddess, an international Wiccan congregation.
"I read a lot about witchcraft, but the real help came from Pat
Devin," admits Fleming. "She wrote all the chants and spells in the
film, so if they weren’t real ones, they were at least
realistic."
Fleming even went so far as to leave Devin on set during the
filming of all ceremonies to ensure that everything was true to
Wiccan tradition. He wanted to make a movie about true witches, not
hyped-up mythical ones.
"There have been so many cliché films about witchcraft,"
says Fleming. "But it’s not like they’re vampires. We were focusing
on a real religion and I wanted to portray it that way."
In order to avoid making "The Craft" a cliché, Fleming also
wanted to stay away from the gothic style buildings usually seen in
films concerning the supernatural.
"We decided on the lost, decaying, Mediterranean-style part of
Los Angeles that you usually don’t see in movies," says Fleming.
"That stuff was built during the ’20s and it’s unique to the
area."
To add to the atmosphere, Fleming wanted the film’s music to be
as different and dark as the scenery.
"It was important for the film’s musical language to have just
the right feel to it," says Fleming. "We picked a bunch of songs
with a kind of trippy, spacey, dark mood to it."
The soundtrack, which features mostly alternative groups
including Elastica, Sponge, and Tripping Daisy, is not all that
Fleming was picky about. He had even more specific criteria for the
film’s casting.
"It was a matter of finding young girls with just the right
qualities," says Fleming. "We wanted actresses that could go to
emotional depths."
Finding the right women to fit this mold was difficult but the
outcome was a cast with acting abilities and an interest in
witchcraft. Actress Rachel True already had a keen interest in
Wicca and Balk actually had a witchcraft shop in Hollywood called
Panpipes. The respect that the actresses had for the Wiccan
religion aided both the cast and crew in taking witches and
witchcraft seriously.
And it was this attitude that allowed Fleming to draw an
emotional reality out of an impossible story.
"We never felt like we were doing something campy," says
Fleming. "We always felt like we were dealing with something very
real and very powerful."
FILM: "The Craft" opens this Friday.
Andrew Fleming, director of "The Craft" found making the film
believable a challenge. He attributes the film’s credibility to the
guidance of Wiccan elder, Pat Devin and the respect the cast has
for witchcraft.
(Fleming) wanted to make a movie about true witches, not
hyped-up mythical ones.