Interview:2010/05 Anthony Silva talks to MansonWiki about Phantasmagoria and more

Anthony Silva talks to MansonWiki about Phantasmagoria and more...
Photo by Marilyn Manson
Interview with Anthony Silva
Date	May, 2010
Source	MANSONWIKI

Interview by MANSONWIKI

Tony Silva speaks to MansonWiki regarding his involvement with [[Marilyn

Manson]], future projects, and sets the record straight about the recent leak of

Phantasmagoria's promotional trailer and current status of the film.

MANSONWIKI: I think many people would be surprised to realize that you are the

man behind the lens of some of Manson's most notorious imagery from the EAT ME,

DRINK ME era, namely the infamous photo of Manson &

Twiggy's reunion. What other work in Manson's catalogue are you accredited

with?

SILVA: There are several photos within the EAT ME, DRINK ME album itself -- the photo of Evan for

“Putting Holes in Happiness” and the blood covered Manson for “[[Mutilation

is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery|Mutilation]]...” -- as well as the back

album cover with Evan about to be stabbed. I was just sorting through some of the

other photos taken during that session actually, and there are some great shots

that no one has seen yet. I plan on pulling some of them together for a small

show in the future.

I also developed and assembled the stage projections for the [[Rape of the World

(tour)|Rape of the World tour]]. My favorite piece, which unfortunately was only

seen several times due to technical difficulties, was “[[ You and Me and the

Devil Makes 3|You and Me and the Devil Makes 3]],” where Manson’s floating lips

--a la the Cheshire Cat meets Rocky Horror -- sang the lyrics to the song in sync

to the performance.

I’ve also been documentarian on several European tours with Manson and have a

staggering amount of photos and videos I’ve taken, both on-stage and off, which

will hopefully make it onto Blu-ray at some point.

MANSONWIKI: While your name has been linked to Marilyn Manson for quite

some time now, not much is known about Tony Silva could you give us a little

insight into who you are and what you do?

SILVA: Without revealing the wizard behind the curtain? I’m a filmmaker and

visual artist currently living in Los Angeles. I have several award-winning short

films that have run the festival circuit, most notably

[http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=312952207542&comments&ref=mf animal

mechanique] and [http://web.mac.com/ccevallos/C_Digital/Anomalous_Humanite.html

Anomalous Humanite]. My visual aesthetic tends to be on the darker side, with

influences including Roman Polanski, David Lynch, and Jan Svankmajer. Most of my

early work involves elements of stop-motion animation utilizing people instead of

puppets.

Over the past several years I’ve expanding into photography and writing as well,

and have worked with other artists including Manson, Andy Dick and Clive

Barker.

MANSONWIKI: You first became involved with Marilyn Manson during the

Against All Gods tour, how did that come about?

SILVA: Completely by chance actually. It was one of those instances where

the stars must of been aligned or something.

I had a friend who was working for Dita’s management company

(still is actually) so I thought I would give her a DVD of my short films to pass

onto Dita. To this day, I don’t know if Dita actually ever watched them. Fast forward several months. I get a call on my cell at 4am. I’m sleeping.

Voicemail: the message is vague. The caller doesn’t leave his number and doesn’t

leave his name -- says he’ll call back tomorrow.

I recognize the voice and think it’s a joke.

The following night, I don’t go to sleep; it’s the hour of the wolf. 4am rolls

around again -- another phone call.

“Is this Tony?”

“Yeah,”

“This is Marilyn Manson. I saw your DVD.”

We talked for two hours about art and film and he invited me to the house to

discuss a few projects -- one of which would later become “Phantasmagoria.” On my

first visit I met Rudy Coby, who I later found out was the one responsible

for tracking me down.

We’ve been friends ever since.

MANSONWIKI: We know you are a screenwriter for Phantasmagoria, are there

any other responsibilities you are planned to be taking on for the production of

the film?

SILVA: It’s really too early to tell what my exact role will be, but I will

definitely be involved in the film’s production somehow. At one point I was

slated to co-direct, and possibly edit segments of the film, but that’s all up

for discussion.

MANSONWIKI: As a screenwriter for the film, could you describe what sort of

research went into The Visions of Lewis Carroll?

SILVA: An incredible amount of research went into the writing of this film.

There’s the obvious -- Lewis Carroll. But who was Carroll really? He was Charles

Dodgson: author, photographer, mathematician, inventor, Angelican Deacon. Beneath

the surface, however, Carroll lived a life shrouded by guilt and sin, unable to

find true happiness in his own life.

We read through Carroll’s diaries, four of which are missing, some of which occur

around the time of his involvement with Alice Liddell’s family. We studied

biographies, newspaper articles / reviews written during Carroll’s time,

historical, religious and cultural surveys.

We did a great deal of research on the photography of the era, from the cameras

themselves to the wet plate process of photography. We had a very unique

opportunity to study several of Carroll’s photographs up close at the Getty

Museum’s private collection and were able to compare them to his contemporaries

work in the field and how his method of portraiture differed from others. We

studied the medical practices of the time, as Carroll experienced great bouts of

sickness throughout his life.

We wrote primarily at night, which corresponds directly to Carroll’s visions in

the film. Like Carroll, I too began to take on a dual persona where I was living

two different lives with very little sleep. I was a television editor by day and

artist/writer by night -- struggling to balance those two distinct worlds.

MANSONWIKI: Recently, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the

unauthorized leak of the Phantasmagoria promotional trailer by Revel Studios.

What if any, was their involvement with the film and how did they come in

possession of the trailer?

Silva: When I first heard the teaser was leaked, it killed me. I didn’t

realize how fast something like this spreads online and within hours it was

everywhere and there was nothing I could do.

Revel Studios actually had no involvement in the production of the

promotional teaser. I was told it was accidental by the party in question and I

don’t know much beyond that. What does bother me about the leak was the lack of

due credit to those involved in the production, which was later addressed by

Manson himself.

I would like to make it clear, however, that this was a promotional teaser for

film investors and wasn’t meant for the general public. It was originally

presented with the actual script, so it’s very easy to take some of the images

you have seen out of context.

I have cut an alternate version of the teaser with more focus on Alice herself

which will be released at some point.

MANSONWIKI: Has this issue been resolved now?

Silva: Resolution is still pending. No comment.

MANSONWIKI:There is a lot of debate amongst the Manson fan base as to whether

or not this project will go ahead, can you shed any light on the status of the

project?

SILVA: The project is still active. What people fail to realize sometimes

is that the film industry is very different than the music industry. It’s not

uncommon for films to get pushed and rescheduled multiple times. There are script

rewrites, actor’s schedules, union strikes. That, coupled with the economic

climate we’re dealing with today, makes it an even greater challenge. I know so

many amazing writers and directors right now that have projects in waiting,

projects that get pushed for no good reason whatsoever. It can be incredibly

frustrating sometimes, but the good news is that the project is not dead and is

still with Wild Bunch.

MANSONWIKI: Do you believe that the break of focus on the film will change the

initial vision in any form, whether it be perspective or technical, if so

how?

SILVA: I think anytime you take a break from art your focus changes, you

gain new perspective. Sometimes as an artist, you get too close to the material

you’ve created and it becomes extremely difficult to “kill your babies.” You fall

in love with specific scenes or dialogue, even though they may do nothing for the

progression of the film. In that respect, yes, the script may change a little.

However, our vision of the film itself has always been very strong and will

remain uncompromised.

MANSONWIKI: Are their any other projects that you are currently working

on?

SILVA: I’ve been doing a lot of research for the next film I am writing

which is based on the short story “Scape-Goats” by Clive Barker and is something

I will direct myself.

I’ll also be directing a documentary this fall on the making-of a new film

entitled “Sick Nick” -- a Christmas slasher --which was written by / being

directed by my good friend, Mark Pavia, who wrote and directed Stephen King’s

“Night Flier.”

There are a few photo shoots and art pieces I’m in the planning stages of now

that will be finished this summer. In the meantime, Rudy Coby and myself may

have a few surprises up our sleeves.

MANSONWIKI: We've already seen some shots of Manson as taken by Perou for

the new era. Will we be seeing any of your work in the upcoming release?

SILVA: A few weeks ago I took shots of Manson as ‘The Evil Magician’ for

the Rudy Coby Experiment at the Magic Castle in Hollywood --

which was an incredible show I might add -- and we did discuss taking some new

photos and shooting more video very soon.