The Composition Of An Oyster: An Interview with Jon Campbell Rose

Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘The Composition Of an Oyster’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?

Initially in my early teens I was interested in photography and writing and acting as separate disciplines, not really fully understanding how a director did what they did. As a lover of movies I started to explore making my own little skits and music videos, whilst reading about how to make films as well. I did a little course at NYFA and enjoyed the experience, though it was interrupted by some family tragedy, and ultimately decided film school wasn’t for me.  I wanted to figure out my own path (not to mention I couldn’t afford it). I started making short films and music videos, with almost no money and small crews which made me have to learn all the different departments more thoroughly. I was all over the place trying to explore tone and types of story and genre, and I still am to this day. My feature film Mola was sort of the zenith of that arc - dramatic, funny, sentimental, bombastic. Oyster - as we affectionately refer to this film - is actually the film I feel most closely represents the sort of feeling I want my films to have. There are a few more coming up that I’m excited to share soon.

Tell us about ‘The Composition Of an Oyster’. How do you describe it?

The Composition Of an Oyster is a strange one for sure. It’s sort of an anti-romcom. The hope was to take a look at romance through an uncomfortable and sometimes dark lens, exploring the dynamics of love in a more toxic form and how that love can lead to manipulative, dishonest and even harmful behavior. Absolutely nothing like what happens in the film has happened to me but it does explore maybe what I see as the worst parts of myself that could - in a very exaggerated way - come forth in a bad coupling. It’s a movie essentially trying to say: it’s okay to break up, it’s okay to move on. There is something romantic about dispelling the romanticized affectation usually forced upon us by the conventions of the genre. Plus, who doesn’t love little food poisoning and a bodily function gag.

Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.

Oh so hard. I got started with the Coen’s, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lynne Ramsay, Wong Kar Wai…those were my idols. Then American New wave: Coppola, Scorsese, Altman, Kubrick, then I got into the German fellas: Wim Wenders, Fassbinder, Herzog. I’ve just gotten back into Hirokazu Koreeda recently, after rewatching Like Father, Like Son and I think there’s no doubt he’s the best filmmaker alive today. No question. I aspire to make a film as simple and perfect as even his worst film one day. My tastes are constantly changing; I like it all. I’m as impressed and entertained by Jaws as I am by Bergman. It really depends on what the story I’m telling needs - each of my films have their own unique lineage. Molar, my feature, harkens back to Alex Cox, Altman, Scorsese and Wilder, Oyster comes from my love Harold Pinter, Noel Coward, Peter Greenaway…Mike Nichols... Lots of brits I’m now realizing (not including Nichols). I’m all over the place though; and I hope people don’t mind that cause that way of working isn’t going anywhere.

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

I would want more actual shooting time first and foremost; to really work with actors and explore styles, find new rhythms and ways of doing things. I have a loose rehearsal process but I’d love a bit more time to be spontaneous on set - the stuff is always my favorite. I have a few big projects in the works right now: one about a bunch of runaways in LA who break into houses and have bacchanalian parties; it starts as a sort of wayward family but then slowly shifts into something more sinister and dystopia. It’s called Wreakers and I have more pages of script than I know what to do with. Hope I can get it off the ground soon - there are possibilities. It mostly takes place in one big decrepit estate, so once we find that it should get a little smoother. I’m setting up an Altman-esque film set in the world of antiques fairs that we hope to shoot in Arkansas next year, which I wrote and am directing. I have one that’s set in the 80’s New York fine dining scene… There’s Pictureman, which is probably the craziest thing I’ve put to paper: it follows a tabloid journalist’s descent into obsession and existential ambiguity… It’s also very funny and very sad. It’s always good to have a few different things on the burners…we’ll see what comes together.

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

Preparation. Make sure everyone is on the same page. The last thing you want is everyone getting on set with a completely different goal in mind. This being said, allowing time in a schedule to explore performances and ways of shooting is always great, but it should be a form of addition, accumulation, not adversarial. I have never gone over budget or over schedule, maybe a couple of re-shoots here and there but still within schedule. That mostly has to do with setting up priorities: what is essential, what is surplus, and then creating an environment that is fertile ground for something special to happen in between all this. I only work with people who are committed to projects, and I do whatever I can to get their skin in the game, whatever creative contribution allows them to fuse with the vision, have some stake in it.  

What was the hardest part of making ‘The Composition Of an Oyster’.

Well, first off I broke my big toe in the first 2 hours by running around with my shoes of – this should be rule number for filmmakers: “never take your shoes off onset” also “no running”. That got me onto a rough start. Not only that, I coincidentally got food poisoning a couple days before. Sara, our lead actress, thinks it might’ve been psychosomatic…very possible. The hardest thing was by far blocking in that small bathroom scene;  making all the moves work with the limited time and complex effects we had to go...lots of liquids. We only got one chance to do some of the shots in this film, and if we messed it up, a rest would’ve cost us the whole day. On top of that, we have 8 pages of dialogue at a dinner table. Rehearsing that, getting all the beats right, and shooting it in a way that was dynamic and escalating and not just too boring was one of the funnest creative challenges I’ve ever had. I think we did it, I hope.

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

My feature debut Molar is hitting streamers soon and we’re doing a limited theatrical for it across the US, also waiting to hear back from some festival we just submitted to. Just learning about that whole phase of the process, the marketing & exhibition phase, which has been very interesting. Definitely not my natural inclination, but something necessary for all filmmakers nowadays. It’s an important part of how your film bleeds into the culture; our distribution company Buffalo 8 have been immeasurably helpful and for that I am so grateful. It is always nice to have an advocate in this business. In between all that I’m just writing, writing and writing. I have 6/7 feature scripts ready to go, it just depends on having the stars align, quite literally whether that be casting, money, location, or just my own inspiration…. A feature film can be a long haul; sometimes 2-3 years, so you better love being in the boat you’re about to sail or else the storm won’t be so fun.