Director and child stars of “Monster House” animated in recent interview

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Gil Kenan, the director of “Monster House,” and two of the young stars of the film, Spencer Locke and Sam Lerner. The enthusiasm of these three while discussing the film was palpable. They had been traveling around the country, attending screenings and meeting with the press, and response to the film has been very positive thus far.

The interview took place in a round-table setting with other members of the print media.

Kenan, an energetic young man clad in a t-shirt and jeans, looks more like a college student who has pulled an all-nighter than the guy behind a monster-sized animated film. When asked about the time period the film is set in, Kenan stated that he was looking to tap into a sense of nostalgia.

“It was important that this film had its own place and time,” he said. “I didn’t want there to be some random Christina Aguilera reference.”

Children will be able to relate to the young characters in the film, but observant parents will catch things that may date back to their childhood. What Kenan is able to do by not pin-pointing a particular era is capturing the visual aesthetic of growing up.

The process of making “Monster House” featured the motion capture technology that was employed in “The Polar Express,” although “Monster House” has more of a cartoon feel than a realistic feel. Unlike some animated films where the voice talent merely needs to record their lines, motion capture requires that the actors be present to perform their roles. The actors would don special suits and wear motion capture discs on their face while acting in a 20x20 black box stage that was created where the movie was filmed. For Kenan, directing “Monster House” was a sort of return to theater directing.

“In high school, I directed theater and really thought that would be my career. I was always comfortable on stage, and I kind of miss it,”Kenan said, adding that the director/actor relationship is preserved in a film like “Monster House,” unlike films with more traditional animation. As for animation, Kenan, who always loved to draw, interned at Disney in an editing suite at the age of 17 and fell more in love with animation at UCLA’s film school.

“There are limitless possibilities and the power is intoxicating. It’s like finding the black magic to the universe,” Kenan said, adding that animation was critical to this film, which was originally slated to be a live-action film. Prior to getting the job to direct “Monster House,” Kenan directed an animated short that caught the attention of many powerful people in Hollywood. Two of the most powerful, directors Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, were impressed with Kenan, eventually giving him the job and serving as executive producers on the film.

“They were amazing mentors to me and were always in my corner,” Kenan said. “Monster House is a suburban adventure or domestic fantasy, and that type of film is very close to their hearts. Their films (i.e. “Goonies,” “E.T.”) shaped me.”

It took 40 days to shoot “Monster House,” but the process to bring the film to the screen has taken three years, a period which Kenan considers “the best time of my life.” While Kenan continues to travel to promote his film and vows to get some rest, he is already in pre-production for his next film, a live-action science fiction film that he promises will have some “animation magic” for effect.

Locke and Lerner came in to the round table after Kenan and were as bright and energetic as Kenan, despite the amount of travel they had been doing recently. The two young actors have appeared on various television programs in the past, but this film is their biggest film to date. They filmed their parts two years ago and were excited to be re-united on the press tour.

“We went to lots and lots of auditions,” said Locke. Lerner agreed, adding “it was at least 10 each and there were lots of mix and matches, where they were looking for the group of kids with the best chemistry, so me, Spencer and Mitchel got to know each other and some scenes very well.”

The two youngsters offered up lots of praise for Kenan.

“He is just amazing and so excited about everything,” said Locke, who voices the character of Jenny. Kenan showed the group lots of pictures of what their characters would be looking at in a number of the scarier scenes and even built a replica of one of the film’s rooms for the kids to hang out and perform in.

“Gil is really just a kid at heart,” said Lerner, who voices the character of Chowder, recalling a time when the director took his young cast members to In n’ Out burger while they were still in their motion capture get-ups.

While the kids enjoyed working with everyone in the all-star cast, getting to meet and act alongside Jon Heder, Napoleon Dynamite himself, was a big bonus.

“I think Mitchel and I jumped on him the first time we met him,” Lerner recalled. Locke stated that she was much more mature when she met him, though she was excited as well. Heder gave them all talking “Napoleon Dynamite” watches and both Locke and Lerner agreed that he was a blast to work with.

The pair have enjoyed seeing the movie at a number of screenings around the country and are pleased with the response that the film is getting from kids. Both would love to do another animated film in the future. Locke is currently filming “Resident Evil 3” in Mexico, while Lerner has shot a television pilot with John Leguizamo. Their advice to kids who would like to pursue a career in acting is to not get a big head, find a good agency and work on their craft.

As for their thoughts on the film, now that they’ve seen the finished product a few times, they both think that everyone should see the movie.

“It’s a funny, scary family movie,” said Locke. When Lerner was asked about the scarier elements of the film, his advice to young viewers, though not too young, was to “suck it up. You can handle it.”

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