Ruined By Desires Of Control And Security: Jordan Anstatt On His Short "Max Is Bleeding"
Director/Editor/Producer Jordan Anstatt wrote and directed a short film called Somna which received an Award for Best Local Drama Short at Atlanta ShortsFest. In recent years, Jordan’s work has been featured in publications worldwide including No Film School for his work on “Essential Tips for Creating an Indie Music Video" with Social Distancing,” which is about his recent music video for Tucker Winstanley’s 2021 single “Midding.” Jordan’s latest project is the live-action short film Max Is Bleeding, which shares the story of a woman desperately trying to escape her abusive partner.
Courtney and her boyfriend bring their dog, Max, to the vet to treat a strange wound. Courtney passes off a note to the receptionist claiming her boyfriend is holding her prisoner. Her own ability to survive will tell the true story.
This topical film recently screened at the Palm Springs International ShortFest. We had the pleasure of chatting with Jordan about the film, its origins, men’s want to possess, the struggles of abuse victims, and much much more!
How did you get connected with writer Louis Lagayette, and what was it like reading his script for the first time?
Louis is my classmate at Columbia where I'm completing my MFA in Film—we hit it off quickly, Louis is a passionate and talented filmmaker. When we had to make our first-year film, I was looking to experiment with directing someone else's script, which I casually mentioned to him outside of class. I checked it out and realized on page two that this was a story inspired by a crazy video I'd seen online. I was hooked and couldn't stop reading. I found myself with a strong, clear vision for it from the beginning, so I tried not to look back and just go for it. I'm so thankful that Louis was willing to trust me with it!
It’s extremely interesting how there’s layers to the film’s theme of “possession;” Sam is treating Courtney like she’s a possession, but a dog is also something people “possess,” but the difference between the two are vast. Why do you think men tend to feel the urge to dominate and possess things? Is there anything you learned through research that surprised you about this toxic male psychology?
Possession is a huge part of the story because it's centered on this incredibly complex relationship, and I tried to focus on that aspect of the story. There's love in there somewhere between Courtney and Sam, but their love has been ruined by desires for control and security. When the film begins, we're already at a crossroads— how far will each of them go to get what they want? The research I did was haunting. I read that time and time again an abuser's desire for control — love turning into possession and dehumanization — is the common thread. Unfortunately, men perpetrate these patterns not only by exploiting their partner, but also exploit society's unwillingness to discuss this issue, which is why it's so important to examine it onscreen. Most people don't experience something this intense in a romantic relationship, but we all know how hard it is to tear ourselves away from people we love but can't be with anymore. My hope is that people will relate to Courtney in a way that illuminates how human this issue is and how it could happen to any of us.
This is a film where the things that are not said are just as important, if not more so than the things that are. This puts a lot of weight on the actors, who all do a fantastic job. Can you talk a bit about your process of working with them to create and refine their performances?
Chloe Sirene and Matias Bonino did such an incredible job of committing to these heavy roles with total honesty and openness. They also had such chemistry from the beginning. I did a lot of research and tried to create a realistic world and relationship for them, but they took it to another level and owned it. We rehearsed scenes and did improv to see what was between the lines. During filming, I was often just trying to slow things down, make sure the actors had space to really embody every moment in each scene. When schedules are behind and days are long, that's a hard thing to do, but too important to miss.
The lighting in the film is terrific; it’s very natural looking, but there’s also a subtle emphasis on light and darkness that felt very intentional and added to the power dynamic within the narrative. Tell us a bit about how you and your cinematographer Niko Feldman nailed down the film’s aesthetics.
Niko did a knockout job taking natural lighting and supplementing it with whatever gear we could fit on set. We looked at a lot of night street photography before shooting — empty spaces, abandoned cars, sodium vapor streetlights, that kind of thing. The story has a paranoid noir tone to it, so we wanted to create a sense of darkness and hiddenness in the frame. Again, Niko and his team nailed it with both artistry and industry.
The film’s real-life footage of a similar event is extremely chilling. What did it feel like to watch that for the first time?
I saw the viral video going around in 2018 posted on news sites and "inspiration" pages. The "inspirational" videos were posed as a nice little hero story, but something felt off — it made it seem as if this one instance had just solved all of the woman's problems and that she would be great from then on. The reports on the incident, which the town's local police department posted online, reveal that the ending was far from neat and tidy. That's exactly why I wanted to tell this story in a film — to show the moment-by-moment struggle of this kind of situation, right up until the very end, and that even though she wins, there's still a lot ahead. That's true of all victims of abuse, and that's why it's an important story to tell.
What drew you to the visual arts? How did you get into directing?
I've always been obsessed with visual arts. I drew all the time to start — illustrations, comic strips, designs, whatever. I painted, took videos and photographs, staged performances and made little movies with my sister, and made skate videos. I mimicked all the visual art I loved. Since I also loved acting and felt drawn to drama, I tried directing movies and realized that it was an incredibly satisfying challenge. It seemed to be the one thing I had the patience to pursue — it kind of subdued my interest and made me want to learn how to do it well. I've been working on it ever since.
What films or filmmakers have inspired you, your style, or your approach to telling a story?
Sometimes, when I go back to Jerry Lewis movies, I'm shocked at how much his films influenced me. Simple storytelling that gets out of the way and follows the humor. I also got introduced to Scorsese at a young enough age to have him influence me a lot — I love his fast-talker way of telling stories. My family mostly liked comedies and thrillers, so I find that my taste and interests are mixed between those genres, which is great because the two are so similar — they both require an intense amount of clarity and detail. All in all, though, I grew up in the church, hearing stories in sermons and Bible passages every week, multiple times a week. It's baked into my internal rhythm. A lot of those stories are incredibly simple and, therefore, dense. I'm always going back to them to try and understand them better.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
I hope people feel inspired to take a leap of faith, have courage, and defy when necessary. Even if it hurts.
Can you tell us a bit about your next narrative short film, Nobody Skates Except for Me, and your upcoming feature based on your TV pilot, The Gospel According to Eddie?
Nobody Skates Except for Me is a dramedy set in the skateboarding world, I'm shooting it this fall — so excited to finally shoot something again! And The Gospel According to Eddie is a religious dramedy about this teenage kid who doesn't fit in in a world of seemingly perfect Christians. I'm still working on both projects and hope to bring both of them to the big screen.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!