Posted in: Interview, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: horror, interview, lionsgate, saw x

Saw X: Director Kevin Greutert & Production Designer Anthony Stabley

Our full interview with Saw X director Director Kevin Greutert and Production Designer Anthony Stabley which took place in the SAW Escape Room in Las Vegas.

We've shared most of our interview with Saw X director Kevin Greutert and production designer Anthony Stabley, but one thing we did mention back in our first post about this junket was that these interviews were conducted in the SAW Escape Room in Las Vegas, so the backgrounds were interesting. So we have a video of the interview and the full transcript if you're wondering how the conversations went down, including a brief little chat we had once the interview had technically concluded.

Kaitlyn Booth: "Old horror movies had to be directed really well because they could only shoot the animatronics and the monsters from very specific angles because they were being held together with duct tape, a shoestring, and the hopes and dreams of the production crew. And I've always thought about the Saw movies with the traps. And I want to know how you shoot these traps without giving away what is fake and what is real. How do you shoot these traps without showing where the fail-safes are?"

Anthony Stabley: "There's a combination of things going on here. First, there's all the tests that we put together, right? Because we want to make sure that on the day that we're shooting, everything works. And it's a combination of the trap team art department putting together traps and then mechanical effects, making those wheels turn. And then we're working with prosthetics; we're working with stunts. We're working with basically eight different departments.

"So we have to do all of our homework. The other part that's even before that work, or concurrently, is that Kevin put together some great storyboards. I love the storyboards, and we had this rolling board where we could see all the drawings, and it was kind of like when you're shooting a commercial, and you know what we're trying to achieve. So I felt like, basically, it was a lot of homework, you know? And the storyboards gave us this opportunity to say, Oh, we're going to see this gear move, we're going to then see a reaction, etc., etc.. So I think that's the way it worked out."

Kevin Greutert: Yeah, and we want the machines to really work. But the fact is, any portion of one of these traps that's actually moving, there's probably some guy underneath it with strings. And in the case of one of the scenes towards the end of the film, there are so many different people pulling ropes and cranking things. We've got lighting cues where lights are turning on and off on cue. The stunt coordinators are doing their thing. We shot in Mexico, so most of them only spoke Spanish. Fortunately, Anthony's fluent in Spanish, but we've got translators. You know, here's what I'm saying. It's a big operation. It would probably be really funny to see.

Anthony Stabley: In some ways, we talk about John Kramer, that this space is kind of like the theater of life and death. We've said that, but there are realistic components to the movie, and there's also this theatrical kind of thing. And really, for all of us shooting, it was like doing this Broadway play or something. There were so many components of people hiding and pulling, and this goes up, and this goes that way. So it was a lot of fun.

Kevin Greutert: We have an incredible digital effects team in Toronto called Switch Effects. And so I don't want to didn't want to make it seem like their contribution wasn't absolutely essential because it was. It always is. And there wasn't really that much CGI blood in this. Fortunately, we really made all that work. But a lot of it is digital trickery.

Kaitlyn Booth: So this is the most that Tobin has ever been on screen. What was that like changing from behind the scenes, having him so involved on the ground?

Kevin Greutert: Well, it was a huge asset from the beginning and all the way through the end of post-production to have Tobin Bell so involved. He really put his heart and soul into the performance, into the writing of the script, and just into the philosophy of of Saw. He's the he's the gatekeeper. He's the one that makes sure that we're not getting sloppy with what John Kramer would or would not do. So he's he's the godfather of Saw at this point.

Anthony Stabley: He was great with us in the art department because we would walk through the sets, and he would say, Oh, I'd like to have this in my hands, and I would like to do this, and we'd like to cover some of these traps so we don't really see them. There is an art to horror because we show certain bits of information, and we hold back certain bits of information. And then for Kevin, you know, we love to have that big reveal. So there's so much fun to it, you know, And he was great, Tobin. Awesome.

[Before the cameras turned off but as I was walking out of the room]

Kaitlyn Booth: Thank you guys so much for taking the time to talk to me.

Kevin Greutert: Thanks a lot.

Kaitlyn Booth:  Also, by the way, I first Saw movie I've ever seen.

Anthony Stabley: Oh? Did you like it?

Kaitlyn Booth: Yeah.

Anthony Stabley: Oh, I love that. That you liked it

Kaitlyn Booth:  Yeah, it was interesting.

Kevin Greutert: Were you able to follow the story?

Kaitlyn Booth: Yeah, I read a lot of Wikipedia and got everything all right

Anthony Stabley: Thank you. Thank you.

Saw X: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most chilling installment of the SAW franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw's personal game. Set between the events of SAW I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer – only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, John returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through a series of ingenious and terrifying traps.

Saw X, directed by Kevin Greutert, stars Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, Michael Beach, Octavio Hinojosa, Paulette Hernández, and Joshua Okamoto. It will be released on September 29th.

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