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\u201cIt’s not all glitz and glamour\u2014the process can take an emotional, mental, and physical toll on you.\u201d Writer\/producer Allison Hogue talks frankly about the process of making Dead Winter<\/em>. \u201cMaking a film is hard work, especially when you\u2019re doing it for very little money.\u201d<\/p>\nDead Winter is a post-apocalyptic story about a young Hispanic woman named Audrey (Yessenia Hernandez), who lives with her grandmother Sophia (Laine Smith) on an isolated mountain farm. Reminiscent of the same world in this year\u2019s blockbuster A Quiet Place<\/em>, Audrey and Sophia live a solitary existence just barely getting by, but reinventing life without many modern conveniences we take for granted. The third member of their family is going through a gruesome change, something akin to what we saw in Trey Edward Shults’ It Comes at Night<\/em>.<\/p>\n Hogue, who has directed short films in the past, was determined to produce Dead Winter<\/em>, leaving the directing duties to another. As an assistant professor of film and digital media at the University of North Georgia, Hogue turned to one of her fellow professors, Jason Winn, whose filmography in short and feature filmmaking is deep. Winn recently completed another horror film, the political slasher Rave Party Massacre<\/em>.<\/p>\n “After Jason read the script and we talked, I knew we were both on the same page creatively, and the project took off from there.\u201d<\/p>\n Preserving subtext was very important to Winn when he shepherded Rave Party Massacre<\/em>. This helped make him perfect for Hogue\u2019s introspective short film.<\/p>\n \u201cHe brought that script to life better than I or anyone else could have, and we had a great working relationship\u2014truly collaborative and trusting.\u201d<\/p>\n Hogue, who teaches post-production and has great experience with color grading, had to rely on her training and education when crafting the look of the film.<\/p>\n “The entire week leading up to production in February, the weather was perfect. Chilly, dreary, lots of fog. The first day of production? Sunshine and 80 degrees, and it was as if the grass and trees had started to bloom overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n Therefore, while shooting, Hogue knew that she\u2019d have to work extra hard in post-production.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we did a great job with the color grading and some visual effects, hopefully audiences will never know.”<\/p>\n Hogue gets the wintry look of the film, which is marked by soft shades of blue, exactly right. It makes the viewer feel like the world is now in perpetual overcast, reinforcing the dark, depressing thematic elements of the narrative. The script was a long time in development by Hogue.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a basic premise for this kind of story in my head for many years: generations of women try to survive after an apocalypse.\u201d Hogue explains. \u201cAfter my divorce, though, the story developed a heart, and I finally wrote it down.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a monster in the film, to be sure. But while there\u2019s definitely a zombie flavor to it, Hogue and Winn insisted on referring to the creature as anything but a part of Night of the Living Dead<\/em> director George A. Romero\u2019s genre of horror. And, to be accurate, when Winn and I spent time with Romero at Sundance one year, he explained that \u201czombie\u201d wasn\u2019t a term he used originally either.<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially, the monster represents a difficult decision\u2014whether it’s a looming divorce, dealing with toxic relationships, struggling with addiction, etc.\u201d Says Hogue.<\/p>\n Dead Winter<\/em> is a meditative film, setting it apart from the bombastic action, horror, bloodbaths that week-in-and-week-out inhabit the small screen. Hogue\u2019s personal connection to the material is metaphorical. Her approach, followed by Winn, is subtle giving the audience a chance to unravel the meaning for themselves. Romero would certainly admire the intellectual use of his ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cAudrey and Sophia represent the torturous inner battle you go through when faced with something like that.\u201d Hogue continued. \u201cDo you keep trying? Do you leave? What happens if you leave? What happens if you stay? Unfortunately, difficult decisions always come to a head, and you have to commit one way or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information about Dead Winter visit the film\u2019s website: https:\/\/deadwinterfilm.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n Hogue is currently running a crowd-funding campaign in order to pay for the film\u2019s festival run. Contributions can be made at https:\/\/www.seedandspark.com\/fund\/dead-winter#story<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/deadwinter2-1024x695.jpg\")
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