By jon Bosworth
Cullen Hoback is the director of Monster Camp, probably one of the funniest films of this year's festival. It is the story of the Seattle chapter of NERO, a live-action role playing organization that gets together four times a year to dress up like dwarves and sea elves and hit each other with "boffers," which are padded sticks that serve as swords. EU sent a few questions to Cullen and these were his responses.
EU: What inspired you to make Monster Camp?
CH: My inner nerd. Or maybe my outer nerd. We all have obsessions, some "healthier" than others. I wanted to make something seemingly strange more relatable. I was on the tail end of making a narrative film called "Freedom State" about adults who are social outcasts; people unwilling to bend to the pressures of normalcy. When I learned of this Larping (live-action role-playing) chapter in the Northwest, where people were living out their Dungeons and Dragons fantasies, it seemed like a natural next step.
EU: Are you a gamer?
CH: So... there was a time when I beat Super Metroid in under 2 hours. I heard if you beat the game at that pace, Samus would get naked at the end. She only strips down to a bikini. WTF.
But no. My favorite games were those that made it feel like you were interacting and impacting an epic movie; the plot and character driven ones like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. But, being a gamer takes a lot of time and dedication. I only own Zelda for the Wii now.
EU: How many NERO chapters are there in the US?
CH: Over 50. Though there was a split that occurred in 1998. I don't touch on this in the movie, but there's a big lawsuit between the two NERO versions. Alliance wants International shut down. And the guy who owns Alliance is a lawyer. I know that some of the players double-dip, though I'm not sure they get to keep their hard earned statistics. I believe the two versions use different databases. So while your Sarr (Cat-like creature) in NERO Alliance might have 40 Hit Points, if you took that character to an International Chapter, you may only have 30 Hit Points; depending on how much you've played there.
EU: I recently read an interview with John Waters (who happens to be the guest of honor at this year's film festival) where he said: "Well, good bad taste, you look up to the subject matter and you never condescend. You never laugh at the subject matter. [With] bad bad taste, you feel better than it. You're making fun of it and you feel you're superior to it." In Monster Camp you did a remarkable job of not condescending to your subject matter. Did you feel that there was a cautious line that you had to be aware of in order to keep the film honest? How hard was it to stay in good bad taste?
CH: Ethics of documentary filmmaking has seemed to be a hot topic on the festival circuit this year. You gain the trust of your subject, and you don't want to abuse it. At the same time, using your own subjective perspective, you want to reveal something for what it seems to be. I think much of what's funny to most audience members is also funny to those in the film. They have a sense of humor about what they're doing. That bad bad taste thing Mr. Waters is referring to, I think you see that a lot in "reality" television.
EU: I've known people like Fern and JP and they are similar both in character traits, gestures, demeanor, and even as gamers. While doing this documentary, could you identify that unifying factor? Is there something universal among LARPers that makes them more adaptable to fantasy than regular social interactions?
CH: The more intelligent imaginative players are typically more successful. I suppose that fantasy gives some of the participants a place where they can feel superior, or in control. Maybe I could draw links between Fern and JP, who are both functioning well in the world; but it's hard to find a universal unifying factor when you compare them to... say Brandon and Carter. That's why in the film I was aiming to show a spectrum. And it's interesting to see who opts to play monsters, players, and who chooses to write plot. Admittedly, you don't find a lot of pleaser personality types; everyone is quite opinionated.
EU: What does JP do for a living?
CH: JP does something involving tech. His girlfriend Holly, who plays Slice is on the track to becoming a doctor.
EU: The brilliance of this film is in how serious the documentary approaches the subject, even though these characters make me laugh out loud. How difficult is it to keep a straight face when interviewing these people, or do you even find it as funny as I do?
CH: There was a time the foreignness of the activity used to make me laugh out loud. But most of what I tried to find humor in was character based, not LARP based. I had a bad apple on my crew who took to mocking the players. At one point Paul has to mop up a tonic (represented by orange soda) and my crew member asked him if it was a "magic mop". But once you've spent enough time with the players; someone saying they just returned form the "plane of pain" and now need to save their vampire daughter by sticking her with a knife dipped in the tears of a unicorn becomes quite plain Jane.
EU: When I watched this film, I couldn't help but feel a little like John Travolta in Carrie, like I was mocking these people but they really thought I was interested in taking them to the prom, although I'm sure that isn't your perspective, did you have to win over their confidence before they would talk to your cameras, or are they so dramatic that they turn on when the camera is on?
CH: Yeah, I never felt like I was tricking them John Travolta style. I approached the subject like I would approach a film about architects trying to make a building. Get to know technical details, learn the hows and whys, then let the process naturally unfold. This just happens to be about the people who do Larping.
We love to be voyeurs and look into worlds and lives different than our own, so whether you're watching this film to mock, to relate, or to understand it should hopefully work on some level for you. I think the foreignness makes you laugh for the first half of them film, but as you get to know the activity and characters you start to understand their plight.
When Shane (the owner of the chapter) watched the film, someone in the audience asked him if he felt I represented him fairly. His response was "I'm way bitchier when the camera isn't on me." I think everyone became more comfortable as time went on.
EU: What was the average age of a player at NERO?
CH: College level. Though ages ranged from 13 to 60.
EU: Was Fern's Mom sitting Indian-style on a table when you interviewed her?
CH: Yes, and she was floating.
EU: Have you gotten any reactions from the subjects in the film? How does the Seattle NERO chapter feel about Monster Camp?
CH: So far, everyone who has watched the film and is in the film has liked it. Paul felt it was an accurate representation. Shane came both nights it played in Boston, and brought more friends the second night.
EU: What was your favorite part of making this film?
CH: Putting the final cut to tape, that is always a fulfilling moment. And the peanut butter sandwich Fern's Mom made for me.
EU: What does this movie have to teach us?
CH: Matt puts it best: "Remember the useful attacks, not the things like 30 assassinate. Because there's no way you're going to be able to attack from behind when they know you're coming."
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
