Nerdist Presents The Hive, the latest film from director David Yarovesky, features an intriguing mystery, palpable practical effects, and spreading infection that turns its summer camp hosts sinister. With The Hive now available on digital platforms, we recently caught up with Yarovesky to discuss the visual influence of the Evil Dead remake, shooting at the same location from Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and more.
David Yarovesky on his approach to filming The Hive:
David Yarovesky: I’ve developed my own techniques for shooting my films. I never went to film school—I got in the trenches and just started making stuff from a very early age. I worked with the director of photography and the production designer, wardrobe—there are certain key departments that I take with me on every project. And we really have developed our own process. It’s a tough process because we will literally light a scene, run a rehearsal, and then I’ll run upstairs and I’ll pre-color the scenes, come back in, do light adjustments and then shoot it. I like my images so intense and crunchy that I try to push it as far as I possibly can, and the way to do that is to be previewing that look in real time. We worked painstakingly hard. I have a high expectation of myself, I’m ambitious, and I wanted to make a really visual experience, and I think we did.
On the visual influence of the Evil Dead remake:
David Yarovesky: The Evil Dead remake—I saw that and absolutely loved it. There are so many movies right now that are kind of okay with being visually neutral and set in a very normal, uncinematic environment. I didn’t want to do that. I really wanted to make something that popped. So I looked at Evil Dead and I looked at Enter the Void—a bunch of images [from those films], I would look at and think about when making [The Hive].
On The Hive's shooting schedule:
David Yarovesky: We went 18 days. We shot something like 50 set-ups a day, two cameras, and there was at least one stunt and big makeup effect/gag per day. So were going. When I say this is an indie and small-budget film, I mean this is an indie, small-budget film. The interesting thing about shooting something that’s visual—when people see it, it kind of bumps itself out of being an indie-looking movie because it doesn’t look indie. But [The Hive] was pretty small.
On working with the actors to bring out the story and provide a s strong chemistry:
David Yarovesky: If you were on set on any of the days, my mantra you would have heard me repeating again and again was, “I don’t want to fall into that trap that music video directors fall into—we’re not working with the actors and we’re not telling the story, we’re just making visuals.” So I was working with those actors and really trying to make it about their performances and really giving them opportunities to be real and make connections. And I think it comes through, I really do. You see chemistry between them [the lead actors] early on and it works in a really crazy way.
On having filmed at the same exterior location Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp was shot at:
David Yarovesky: What’s funny is that I just saw Wet Hot American Summer [First Day of Camp], and I love it, but I instantly recognized that they are using the same place that we were using to make our summer camp—and it’s totally not a summer camp, it’s like a park in Malibu. But I was really excited, I was like, “Oh my god, that’s our cabin, that’s our infirmary!” I recognized all of the locations because I’m a big Wet Hot American Summer fan.
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Yesterday, Nerdist Presents The Hive was released on digital platforms, and it will make its VOD debut on October 12th. To learn more, visit:
Trailer via Fandango:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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