Ayden Ross on the set of The Devil and Frog Mountain. (Image courtesy of Olivia Sorley.)
This past week I was lucky enough to take a break from finals and talk all things film with the amiable Ayden Ross; a third-year Film Production student featured in this year’s Persistence of Vision Film Festival. We discuss how she fell into the film world as a Prairie-teen, her experience working on set and what she hopes for the future of film. Ross joins the POV line-up for the first time to debut her film, The Devil and Frog Mountain.
Growing up in Edmonton, Ross became interested in film throughout her teen years. After high school, finding herself very “done” with Alberta, she embarked on a series of different film programs throughout the United States. Prior to settling in at UBC, Ross reminisces of the luck she was dealt just up the coast, in Seattle. “Out of the blue,” she found herself in a really good program and with a really important mentor to thank. Were it not for this teacher’s words of encouragement to pursue an actual degree in film production, she may not have found UBC and all the Vancouver film scene has to offer.
When asked to describe this film, Ross notes what she defines as “Prairie Gothic,” as both inspiration and a nod to her fellow prairie-born comrades.
She laughs, “there’s a lot of us in the film program and we kind of ended up bonding over how weird it is.” In a sense, this film is an extension of just that, a lot of “weird little things to look forward to.”
Ross tells me a story of growing up on her family farm just north of Edmonton. Her younger cousin would always share strange stories, including that which inspired Frog Mountain. One year, while visiting the farm, Ross recalls how all the kittens had died; she reassures me this is pretty common for a farm.
“I ended up having a conversation with my cousin who was a couple of years younger than me…She said ‘oh, well an angel fell out of the sky and ran into the barn and ate all of the kittens’,” Ross laughs. “She said a lot of weird things, but that one stuck with me especially, you know, especially striking.”
A few of years ago she decided to write a short story from this strange tale, but never sought publication. It was not until more recently, after considering the story’s enticing visual nature, being such a “weird image,” that Ross thought to translate the story into film.
In The Devil and Frog Mountain, Ross wanted to focus on narrative possibilities within the horror genre, citing the lack of encouragement for narrative innovation in the Western film industry today.
“Guillermo Del Toro I think is a great one for putting monsters and stuff in movies, but still having them be more about the people,” and Frog Mountain is no different. “I try to make it more about the characters and their experiences. What may or may not be threatening them.” She adds, “I feel there’s a lot of unplumbed depths in stuff outside of literary films. I think there are a lot of stylistic depths and narrative depths that often get overlooked.”
Ross argues for the human and nonhuman dialectic within the horror genre, being not only reflective, but a pivotal means to address greater social issues.
“I think just the idea of monsters or a central nonhuman threatening figure is a really interesting way to examine the troubling thoughts that we don’t want to place on a human. I think it gives you more objectivity to analyze what’s going on, and how it affects other people. But, I mean obviously you loose some complexity there too, [it’s a] double edged sword.”
Behind the Scenes still from the set of The Devil and Frog Mountain.
(Image Courtesy of Olivia Sorley.)
When it comes to social issues being represented in film, Ross does not shy away; especially in terms of mental health and the ways Film and TV have confronted these issues more recently.
“I feel it’s often treated as a demonizing thing, or like it’s even too simplistic to treat it as a character trait. Because it really is an over arching thing that effects what you do and what you are…So I feel its useful to have film as an empathy machine and pathway, between people who might not experience [mental illness] and people who do. I think it could be, can be, a pretty effective medium.”
In looking to the future of film, she hopes for nothing other than more opportunities for diversity.
“That’s really the first stepping stone to getting the types of representation I want. To put people with mental illness behind the camera, put people of colour behind the camera.” She continues, “We definitely have to bust into that Boys’ Club.”
Overall, Ross credits the success of the final product to the support, expertise and wit of her talented film crew. Producer Jake Pascoe, charming their way onto shooting locations not ordinarily accessible to student crews, not to mention the film’s visual intrigue and insane soundscape, as crafted by Shea Oracheski. The hardest part was not capturing ideal footage, but figuring out how to piece it all together in a way that reflected how well the story worked on paper. Ross admits to the intimidation that came with re-editing nearly 60% of the film, the biggest “oh no, what do we do” moment from the set. However, she cannot help gloating about how lucky she is to have the team she does, all cheesiness aside.
“Teamwork in film is vital. Which is kind of a tripe message, but it’s totally true.” Alluding to her work prior, “most of its just me running around with a camera, and friends acting or no one acting…it’s really great to have other peoples’ visions working on a project. I think it brings a depth to it.”
As for Ross’ next film, she is much more interested in shorter, “punchier” pieces. She is drawn to what is happening on the fringes of the film world rather than chasing down her next feature film. At least until next year, she hopes to re-visit her solo work, utilizing the raw, documentary footage that comes with the handheld camera. Ross is eager to indulge in the world of visual arts, learning more about sculpture and weaving practices, as well as continuing to play with experimental film.
This summer you can find Ross at the Indie Filmmakers Lab, a program hosted by Cinematheque and Simon Fraser University. This time around, she will be the one to teach and mentor youth filmmakers.
“The reason I was really excited about [this program], is it kind of cycles back to that first question where I had that one teacher who was really instrumental in getting me into film. I figured it would be cool to be able to be that kind of person for someone [else].”
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