Interview: Chris Carmack and Chris Zylka

Outside of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, there hasn’t been anything else that kept us from going back into the water. Sure, there’s been some fun in sci-fi efforts like Deep Blue Sea or indie ones like Open Water, but Relativity Media and Snakes on a Plane director David Ellis hope their 3D effort will terrorizes audiences more than the thought of another Jaws sequel, in their Shark Night 3D.

Killer Film caught up with the Chris’s, Chris Carmack and Chris Zylka, and chat about the 3D technology, David Ellis, and of course, those sharks…read on!

Jon: How did you get involved and what made you want to take on the roles of Dennis and Blake in Shark Night 3D?

Chris Carmack: Well, I read the script and I thought it was a blast. A 3D shark movie would interest me as a movie goer. I was drawn to Dennis, my character, as I love playing bad guys. I smoked the audition and the writer was there, I talked to him about it, and we thought it was a good fit.

Chris Zylka: Oh my goodness. I think it was a chance to work on a 3D movie, since they’re becoming so popular and it’s a shark movie. (laughs)

Jon: [to Chris Zylka] Now this is the first of three 3D films you shot, back-to-back-to-back in with Piranha 3DD and The Amazing Spider-Man. Even though IMDb says Piranha 3DD is first, you shot this first, right?

Chris Zylka: Yes.

Jon: I can’t imagine as easier gig that staring at Sara Paxton and Katharine McPhee all day, but I heard you two had to train with ex-Navy Seals for the water-related scenes. How was that?

Chris Carmack: We had to train with them, like you said. It was cool, as I am comfortable in the water, as most of the cast was I think. When we were training Kat McPhee kick all of our butts, so apparently we lose some macho points for that.

Chris Zylka: Yeah, we did do about a week or so of underwater training, jet ski, wake board training, stuff like that. It was a really, really tough job…to ride a jet ski, all day…that’s sarcasm. (laughs) It just a blast. Every bit of it was fun.

Jon: Did this water training help you when you went to shoot Piranha 3DD?

Chris Zylka: Yeah, absolutely. Every time you train for stunts or underwater stuff, you bring that to your next projects. Shark Night 3D definitely helped me with Piranha 3DD.

Jon: [to Chris Carmack] Did this help the underwater scenes like with the fight with Dennis Milligan, as seen in the still (to the bottom left)?

Chris Carmack: Well, primarily, the training wasn’t so much about skill as it was about comfort. If you’re underwater, you’re surrounded by a substance that could kill you at any moment. You want to keep your head about the situation. Where’s the air tanks? How much air you have? You don’t want to panic and breathe the water into your lungs. so it was to make us comfortable, to be underwater for long periods of time, with available air sources for us if we needed them or to signal for them.

Jon: While Jaws is the definitive killer shark movie, Shark Night 3D‘s trailer really promises the fun, so I imagine a lot of this energy I’m seeing from the TV Spots and clips was on-set. Talk about the filming and the cast.

Chris Carmack: You couldn’t ask for a more fun cast. David Ellis [the director] was great. You were excited to go to work. Even if you’re waiting around for a long period of time due to a set-up of a complicated shot, it was just a blast from beginning to end.

Chris Zylka: First of all, the producers were so wonderful to work with; so fun. We had our own great little community on set for two months. The ensemble from day one were great friends, and still are to this day. That bond we all had, I think will show in the film. Joel and I have become so insanely close. He’s a brilliant comedic actor. Kat and Sara are just gorgeous and easy to get along with girls. Very talented, too.

Jon: Sometimes these long set-ups are for the 3D cameras, which take awhile to do the proper lighting, to position the actors correctly, did that cause any annoyance as an actor to just get in there to shoot, or to quickly get back into a scene after a bum take?

Chris Carmack: No, not really. That happens with regular cameras too. One thing that was restricted was the bulk of these cameras in a tight set, which didn’t allow for much room or movement. We had to be still more than maybe we would have liked too, due to space limitations.

Jon: Can you talk about working with David Ellis, who’s on his second straight 3D film after The Final Destination?

Chris Zylka: When I heard David Ellis was on the project, that was the icing on the cake. He has a background in second unit directing from the Harry Potter movies, so he knows action and how to set-up a scene, giving the audience the thrills. I think people will love what he created.

Jon: You’re other co-stars are these sharks, either mechanical or CG. Talk about working with these effects.

Chris Carmack: Well, I was in the water with some of the mechanical sharks. I didn’t have any scenes with them using CG sharks. They’re pretty damn scary. But everyone kept the shoot light and fun. A lot of comrade on-set, especially since we filmed in Shreveport, LA.

Chris Zylka: Those mechanical sharks are so real looking, there wasn’t a whole lot of acting going on that’s for sure, because we were all scared. No CG sharks for me.

Jon: How does Shark Night 3D compare to other David Ellis films [Final Destination 2 and Snakes on a Plane]?

Chris Carmack: Oh wow. I guess that’s in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? I think it’s up there with the others. I’m not positive, but weren’t the others R-rated? So this one being PG-13 trends a little lighter on the graphic violence, but there’s a lot of tension and fright involved.

Chris Zylka: Well, um…hmm. I haven’t seen the film yet. (laughs) I think every project is different, so this will be different than his others.

Jon: Speaking of very different projects, you’re Flash Thompson in The Amazing Spider-Man. A lot of questions have been floating around and you have the best first-hand knowledge, so how will Andrew Garfield differ than Tobey Maguire?

Chris Zylka: Andrew is brilliant and a pleasure to work with. So focused. A great person, as well. He’s going to bring something new to the franchise that people are going to fall in love with from the first frame.

Shark Night 3D opens everywhere from Relativity Media on September 2nd.