Deep Time: An Interview with William Barrios

Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘Deep Time’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?

My last projects before Deep Time were a music video for the artist Paris Cole and as a co-writer and 1st AD on a short film by Erick White called The Darkroom. I learned film from these experiences, countless more projects, and from my time in CU Boulder’s film program.

Tell us about ‘Deep Time’. How do you describe it?

Deep Time is about a group of six scientists investigating a barrier that speeds up time as it is crossed. But the main villain in Deep Time isn’t anyone or anything we see onscreen: it’s the company that’s sent these employees to investigate the time-bending phenomenon. The film explores the ways dedicated people can have either their passion for discovery or their commitment to procedure manipulated by vague corporate motivations.

Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.

My favorite filmmakers are Alex Garland, Hayao Miyazaki, Charlie Kaufman, David Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Satoshi Kon.

If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?

I would love to expand the idea, presented in Deep Time, of a company that sends employees to investigate unnatural phenomena. The world would be in the same vein as The X-Files, the video game Control, and the online collaborative writing project The SCP Foundation.

Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?

I am a big fan of putting as much energy as possible into pre-production. No matter how much scheduling, planning, pre-vis, and rehearsal time we get, I always feel like we could use more. Allowing the space to explore and experiment while on set and still remain on schedule comes from extensive familiarity with what needs to get done first.

What was the hardest part of making ‘Deep Time’.

The hardest part of making Deep Time was creating a convincing effect for the barrier. I taught myself VFX for this project, and, specifically learned a lot about motion tracking. In the future, I now know how to best set up a production for VFX to be applied as easily as possible in post.

If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?

I am focusing on a career in editing at the moment, but am excited to collaborate with other filmmakers on their projects as they arise.