Adelaide Clemens talks about the scares on and off and on-screen on the set of the new Silent Hill. Differences between storyline within the game versus the movie and how 3D adds to this horror film.
Adelaide Clemens talks about the scares on and off and on-screen on the set of the new Silent Hill. Differences between storyline within the game versus the movie and how 3D adds to this horror film.
So let’s start by talking a little bit about going into the days. You probably have some type of videogames memories from growing up?
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I mean to be honest I – well, to give you an idea, when I first played Silent Hill, it took me 30 minutes to just set up my character. Literally. I’m still – I was just sitting there going hum. Felix is my brother. Tell me which button do I press. So that gives you an idea of my gaming skills especially with advanced technology nowadays, but I did – I loved Super Mario Kart. I know. I’m a girl. But I really – I loved it so much and I actually had flying dreams where I jumped three times and I’d do a summersault in the air and then I’d fly and then I’d watch – play Super Mario and I was like oh, It’s not my imagination. I just, you know, ripped it from a game, but yeah, no, and then James Bond. We were always playing, 007. Yeah. Those are the two standouts for me.
Those are the old Nintendo days. So did you play with your brother and stuff?
Nintendo 64. We still have it. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve got two younger brothers, so yeah.
So you probably played a little bit more than like a lot of girls in the sense that you always had the gamings around?
I was like a rough and tumble girl and yeah, and playing videogames and doing sports, yeah.
What are your thoughts—
All frocked up and I’m like oh what do I do.
What are your thoughts about videogames as inspiration for big screen movies these days?
I think it’s really interesting. I think especially with 3D it makes – I think it’s starting to make the most sense than it ever has for me because I think 3D is the perfect marriage between those two elements, the film and the videogame and immersing yourself in a world, you know, and having those choices and kind of having a world unfold as you make your way through it. Yeah and obviously they’re
really successful. There’s a huge audience there so it’s kind of – it’s nice to know who you’re making a film for and I think they have some of the best monsters and kind of ghouls and demons and all sorts of frightening wonderful things. So, you know, why not play with it.
Especially Silent Hill because it is one of the most kind of demented scary games out there when you compare it even to others like Resident Evil.
Oh, yeah, it is. It’s petrifying. I played again recently and it had all the voices and when you’re in the room and like telling you these awful things. I felt sick. Like I felt really – so I think Silent Hill is a really, really frightening game to play and on a really psychological level. Yeah. It’s the perfect platform for a scary film.
And what was it like being on set with all that scary stuff going on?
It was – yeah, being on set was interesting. It was very scary at first and then you’d have days where it was just the normal walking past Red Pyramid who’s ten foot tall and wielding his great big axe and then I’d like say action and I’ve got to fight it and fight that man in his suit and his axe and he’s a stunt man and I’m not and I’d get really scared. Yeah, we had some incredible days. Actually I was just talking to Michael about it and we had this final scene and it was towards the end of the shoot and I was getting quite sick and for some reason I decided not to wear my contacts and I’m blind as a bat and we had this huge stage that we wetting down with water because it had to be wet and then we had like fire rings around the outside, then we had two big stunt men in their crazy suits and Red Pyramid was one of them. I won’t tell you the other, and I had to run across and do this fight sequence and I was blind and it was wet and there was fire. I was just like I want to go home. Please be an end, but yeah.
It also must be interesting during lunch breaks when you’re onset with all those nurses and everything, right?
Yeah. It’s a trip. It’s so funny.
Yeah. Do you have – you just mentioned the blind memory but is there a particular memory that stands out from you from filming this?
Oh, there are so many. Another memory was in particular – I mean working with all the actors was so incredible but the monsters were really just blew your mind. Like there’s one in particular. It’s a lobotomy monster and this really kind of slinky, scary and he kind of was the epitome of the Silent Hill monster for me and it was just this faceless revolting thing and I really had to recover from that. I did the scene and I was genuinely really frightened so it was interesting that yeah I suddenly crossed that line of like reality, fantasy, fantasy, reality like. I’m like get your head screwed on straight.
And I heard there’s not a whole lot of CG so a lot of this stuff was just you were dealing with this.
Yeah. No. It was in real life and so these monsters have personalities and they perform. So I think it’s very different to CGI kind of made monster that doesn’t have that life inside of it. So I think it does something very different to the outcome.
What do you think that gamers will like that come in and watch this new movie?
I think gamers will love it. I think you’ll be surprised. Everybody asks me do you follow the plot-line of the third game and you know are all these characters in it and I said, yeah, definitely. We have Red Pyramid. We have the missionary. We have the nurses. We have these incredible monsters. We have the aesthetic of Silent Hill. We have the characters, but if you knew what the plot-line was then why would we be making this film. We wouldn’t want – it’s a funny thing the genre. You want to satisfy but you also want to push people and challenge people and inspire the audience. So I think this is going to accomplish all things hopefully.
Are you guys also setting this u for people that didn’t see the first movie that they kind of get up to speed?
Oh, yeah. I mean I was not – I didn’t know every character in the Silent Hill game when I read this script and I’m an actor. I’m not a gamer and I’m not a videogame you know actor. I don’t know. Clearly I am. That’s a redundant statement. No, but I – yeah, I read this script without knowing much about these characters and it really stood on its own and Michael did a really incredible job of creating a plotline that has a real emotional pull on you and, yeah. I’m playing a girl who’s finding her dad and that’s something I really related to, so yeah.
Now, I know you saw the movie in 3D. What do you feel that 3D adds to these?
I think it makes absolute sense, you know. As I said it’s a perfect marriage between videogame and film and you’re immersed in the world. You have ash falling around you. You have the monsters right up in your face and, yeah, it’s just – good luck is all I can say.
What’s it like for you to see yourself in 3D?
Weird. It’s weird. Yeah.
You know they’re –
--do it a couple of more times.
You know they’re doing 3D videogames now too?
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Oh, that’s cool.
Yeah.
Oh, that’s like double whammy man. That’s crazy. Cool. Great.
Cool. Thank you very much. It’s nice to meet you again.
