David Bourke’s Last Exit takes viewers on a tour of Copenhagen – a nice, dark tour that includes drugs, sex and murder. Yeah, this isn’t a tour for everyone, only for those with a penchant for the dark side of life.
We spoke with David about his “Last Exit.”
What inspired you to make “Last Exit”? You haven’t had any experiences like the ones found in your film, have you?
Having written several feature scripts over the last few years and having almost sold my soul attempting to get them produced, I decided it was about time to become my own producer and make my first film. I had the general theme of a story in the back of my head for a while, that of a troubled guy running away from his home country to live, in what turns out to be a very unforgiving city. I thought it could be intriguing to chronicle this guy’s downfall, if I could make it blackly humorous and quirky enough.
The idea of the Jimmy character as a guardian angel in disguise who delivers his philosophical monologues to Nigel was based on a dear old friend who could warble on forever on many a heavy topic – he actually is the only character in the film that is based on some one from my real life.
As regards having similar experiences, don’t think so, I wouldn’t be alive today if I did!
What do you compare “Last Exit” to?
I’m not too sure what it compares to, but you could liken it to taking a surreal psychologically trip through wounded souls into the darkness of a city – you’ll get snippets of information from a lot of seedy characters, some more important than others, not everything is spelled out, and at the end of the whole experience you can make up your mind about what you’ve just witnessed.
How did you get the ball rolling on production?
Well, I had completed the script which was written specifically so it could be shot for low budget taking the immortal advice from Robert Rodriguez, that is, use what you have! Andre Moulin was a Cinematographer that I knew well for many years and he photographed many short films, so he was eager to photograph his first feature. So, it was a matter sniffing around film schools and doing some advertising to get the rest of the crew on board. We shot mostly digitally, so we needed only a tiny crew. After a few meetings, we were all well on our way to starting the casting sessions.
How did you assemble your cast?
I got a lot of friendly help from casting agencies , but also advertised in papers, theatre groups and basically plastered audition notices everywhere I could!
The response was fantastic. Most actors/actresses were very excited, a lot would say, “At last someone is making a film -guerilla style- here in Copenhagen!” Of course some were turned off when they realized it wasn’t exactly “Titanic”.
Did anyone on your production team, cast or crew, have a problem with the dark subject matter?
As far as the cast went, most of them were quite cool with the material. Of course much explanation was sometimes needed! I informed straight up that it would be shot artistically and in good taste and in most of the “strong” scenes everything is left up the viewers imagination anyway.
The crew were generally ok too. Actually our composer wasn’t over the moon when he saw the final cut as he didn’t really get the film at all. But he came around eventually and trusted it was a well made film even though he didn’t fully understand it!
How long was the actual shoot?
The shoot took 18 long days, that included weekends. And around 2 weeks rehearsal before that. It was a very fast shoot, we shot around 3 takes of each scene before moving to the next setup, it was all very hectic.
What were some of the biggest challenges in getting this film made?
The biggest challenges I think were mostly technical during the shoot and time or lack of time was constantly a concern. For a low budget shoot, simple things like dressing the set, the lighting, sound, etc. were very stressful to get right on the day and with practical issues like meeting all the cast at a certain location at a certain time turned out bit of a nightmare…arranging transport was a big issue, a lot of the cast and crew didn’t own a car.
Editing on computer was also a big challenge, I had to keep buying external hard drives as my computer memory got used up quickly, I had so much footage, over 30 hours worth…. On top of that regular computer crashes, losing files, lost scenes, etc. you are always battling!
Did you learn anything about yourself while making “Last Exit”?
I have learned that it’s very important as a director to communicate your vision about the story, characters and mood clearly and concisely to your actors. I found it was imperative to be a good listener to everyone on the set, and that most times you need to take the role of a diplomat when any disagreements occur. I can always improve and be a better person on these issues, and I also need to remember it’s all about having a lot of fun and getting wise from all your experiences.
Where can people see “Last Exit”?
We are happy to announce that the film will be officially released via Scanbox Entertainment on DVD/VHS shortly in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Internationally, we are in negotiations with a couple of international Distributors who expressed interest.
Any upcoming projects?
A short film called “The Woods” is in post production at the moment and should be premiered by the end of the year. We have two feature films that are currently in development. One of them will go into production early next year with the help of some co-producers on board, we aim to make it bigger and better than our previous films, so obviously we can’t wait to get started!
