Art Feature

A deep breath: Ty Jones and Aaron Laue on Last Breath
by Dan Lybarger

Writer-director Ty Jones and producer Aaron Laue (pronounced “law”) have dubbed their Kansas City-based independent production company Ministry Machine. So, it’s not surprising to hear the two talk about their new horror movie Last Breath as if it has been blessed by a power greater than their own labors.

One of their blessings may be the experience that both have received making movies in the area. While Jones was born in Houston, he's lived here since 1980 and graduated Grandview High School. He now lives in Lee's Summit. Laue grew up in Crane, MO, a town near Springfield that's also the home of Miami Vice cop Don Johnson. He moved to KC in 1996.

Ty Jones (strapped to the table) is tormented by the Dark Figure (Aaron Laue). Notice how the table is at an angle because Jones is much taller than Laue in real life.

Last Breath is Jones' first feature, but he's made nearly 40 short films before it. In 1997, he made his first short, a five-minute entry in the Independent Filmmakers Coalition of Kansas City's Bentley Film Festival Competition won an award. The Bentleys require filmmakers to make their movies using a single camera without editing or synchronized sound. Many of the shorts he made later featured Lau, who also starred in the locally made Song of the Dead.

The new film debuts as part of KC FilmFest on Sat., April 25 at 3:30 p.m. at the refurbished AMC MainStreet Theater at 14th and Main in the Power & Light District. It stars Jones and Mandy Bannon as a Michael and Tina Johnson, a married couple whose relationship is slowly falling apart in front of the nervously watchful eyes of their impressionable son (Alex Neustaedter).

When the two examine a “fixer-upper” warehouse that Michael has bought for a new business, the doors close behind them, and a creepy long hair man (Laue) in a trench coat starts tormenting them.

Known only as the Dark Figure, he punishes the Johnsons physically and emotionally even though they don’t appear to have done anything to earn his draconian wrath. He also recovers quickly from punches and kicks that should have incapacitated him.

“I wanted the audience, and I think this is the key to good writing, to wonder why this guy is doing this,” says Jones. “There’s something more to Aaron’s character that we’re not seeing.”

Thanks to some expressively shadowy cinematography from Lawrence’s Jeremy Osbern and some convincingly gruesome wounds courtesy of effects makeup artist Thomas C. Mounkes (Magnolia) from Emporia, Last Breath features its share of chills, but Jones says he wanted to accomplish more than simple scares.

Jones explains, “I like saying something in my movies. I think Saw kind of said something. I think (the sequels) were just about the torture. I always wanted to make a movie about the effect of divorce on kids and consequences of actions.”

If examining moral issues in a movie with rats and a vengeful torturer sounds like an odd combination, both Jones and Laue recall how their difficult, financially strapped shoot was repeatedly saved from oblivion by lucky breaks and financial backers who were as enthusiastic about Last Breath as they were.

“Payroll was due on a Saturday, and it was going to be about $8,000. And we only had $1,000 in the checking account,” says Laue. “I remember waking up on Thursday morning thinking, ‘We’ve got only one day more of shooting before I have to go sell my body on the streets of Lee’s Summit or something.’

“On Friday morning, I was all dressed up for work and had my makeup on, and a call came through from the bank. ‘Your loan just came through for $50,000.’ So we were able to make payroll.”

Their luck also seems to have extended to the casting. All of the performers live in the area, including Jeff East (Superman: The Movie), who plays Michael’s mentor. Bannon and her co-star Megan Flynn were the first actresses who auditioned, and Bannon, who stands approximate 5’10”, looked credible standing opposite of Jones, who is 6’3”.

“Some actresses come up to here (points to his chest), and it would have been like she’s my little daughter,” says Jones.

The situation wasn’t as natural with Laue, who had to menace Jones, even though he’s six inches shorter. Laue had to be placed creatively in the frame so he could scare his much taller victim.

Laue and Jones say that casting themselves as the leads was simply a matter of practicality. “People ask me all the time, ‘Why do you put yourself in your movie?’ Number one, I know I’m going to be there. Number two, I know whatever I’ll have to do I’ll do.”

He briefly regretted taking the role when he was pelted with a hailstorm of baseballs. There was no stunt double, and the pain he experienced was real as his cast and crew bombarded him.

“We should have shot it first when the crew was less angry at me,” says Jones.

Laue quips, “It hurt us more than it hurt you.”

Last Breath could probably not have been made without a Panasonic hdx 200 digital camera that enabled them to use slow motion and keep the costs under control. The movie features some dramatic camerawork, including an establishing shot from a helicopter.

“We could buy it for what it would have cost us to rent the other one. (The hdx 200) cost us about $7,000. The regular camera would have cost us $12,000 to $15,000 thousand to rent,” says Jones.

Even though the film is now up for public scrutiny, Jones admits that some of the scenes don’t quite work the way he intended, like a scene where real rats terrorize Bannon. Jones and Laue remain good friends, but Laue helped Jones, who shot most of the movie in 2007, reach an end to the shooting.

“I helped him with all re-shoots,” says Laue. “I shaved my head. I left for vacation for seven days. I came back from Mexico, and I’d shaved everything. We’re done with Dark Figure here because I know Ty. He can always make it a little bit better or add a little something.”

Dan Lybarger can be contacted at Lybarger@efilmcritic.com