TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE INTERVIEW SERIES 7: THE CONFORMATION creator Paul Solet

TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE INTERVIEW SERIES 7: THE CONFORMATION creator Paul Solet

"Grace" director Paul Solet discusses his chilling tale of plastic surgery gone awry, "The Conformation".

Vegas Outsider: How were you first approached to work on Tales From Beyond The Pale and what about this particular project influenced your decision to ultimately come on board?

Paul Solet: Glenn called me up and told me about the show, and I was in immediately. You meet a lot of other filmmakers out on the festival circuit, but Glenn is one of my favorite folks, and I've been an admirer of Larry's work for a long time, so the chance to finally get in the trenches with such good people, for such a good cause was a no brainer. This is the kind of project you make time for. No one makes money on this, it's strictly for the love of storytelling. This was a brilliant, brave venture; I was thrilled to get a chance to pitch in.

VO: For background, could you briefly summarize The Conformation’s plot and where the idea originated for you?

PS: It's a folie a deux in a pretty classic sense. It's about two people with sympathetic psychoses, one a plastic surgeon obsessed with creating the perfect form, the other, the patient obsessed with becoming it. I've always been fascinated with plastic surgery addiction, people turning themselves into monsters in their pursuit of beauty. They become these living art projects like flesh canvases. Not a whole lot on this earth that's much more disturbing than that.

VO: As I listened to the episode, I could not help but be reminded of David Cronenberg’s earlier work, i.e. Dead Ringers and other body horror films. What were your artistic influences when it came down to crafting the script and were there any particular ideas or themes that you wanted to communicate to the listener through the storytelling?

PS: I don't start out with a theme when I write, instead, the theme tends to rise from the work. I love the idea of two broken people somehow finding a way to complete each other, and destroying each other in the process. My favorite stories always have that ironic, dually charged quality to their resolutions. As for creative influences, Cronenberg has been a hero of mine since I was way too young to be watching Cronenberg films. I remember seeing VIDEODROME as a kid and just being completely astounded that someone had made this movie. I wanted more. Body horror has always spoken to me. There just aren't that many things that get under my skin anymore, but the stuff that literally originates under the skin remains a really potent psychological irritant.

VO: The sound effects in The Conformation are disturbing given the surgical context and do make one’s skin crawl, how did you and your editor Jake Hamilton approach the various sound recordings given their richness, if queasiness inspiring, detail?

PS: Jake Hamilton has been a partner of mine for a long time, now. Like composer, Austin Wintory, he is simply not wired for half measures. There's a great joy in working with people who have that obsession for perfection. The parallel to the material is pretty funny. I'm sure that's where it comes from. We just can't sleep at night unless we know something is as good as it can be. With THE CONFORMATION, Jake set out to record as many sounds as possible, himself, instead of relying on libraries of canned sound effects, and Austin crafted his score and ambient backgrounds with the same ear toward authenticity. We just wanted everything to be as effective as possible, so this meant Jake operating on dozens of pieces of fruit at any given time, or charging across his studio and diving into a bathtub full of ice and water, to get a sound just so.

VO: Overall, how would you characterize your experience in working within the series’ radio drama format in terms of creative enjoyment and development?

PS: I had a fucking blast with this. From writing in the old radio play script format, to recording the show in one session with such a fun group of actors, to late nights in the studio with Austin and Jake, working on Beyond the Pale has been a joy for all. There is nothing but creation, here, nothing but pure storytelling. Glass Eye, once again, demonstrates immense integrity putting this thing together. It's on us to spread the word and support ventures like this no matter what else is going on. It's death to get too busy for something like this.

To check out this episode, go to www.talesfrombeyondthepale.com