STACK #124 Feb 2016

EXTRAS

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they’re clearly, earnestly trying to create a special effect and it’s not fooling anybody. That’s funny. 03/ Was this always a deliberate part of your filmmaking, or did it begin from literally having no budget? I mean look, we’ve got talking lion creatures, we’ve got people dematerialising, we’ve got an anaconda strangling two men. We do not – and never would – have a budget to create a sense that even vaguely resembles reality, and at the same time I don’t think we really want to. Because it’s like a live action cartoon; the suspension of disbelief is out the window to start off with, and then it’s more about a fun representation of everything. 04/ Why do you prefer actual crafted objects to CGI? I just think people have a better time when they’re looking at puppets rather than at CGI. You know it’s fake either way, so screw it – why not actually have a tangible object that the actor can respond to? I think that speaks to the early ‘90s upbringing and my generation of kids – we were exposed to a lot of children’s programs that had puppets and stop motion animated characters. The nostalgic heart lies with puppets, and now we can put it into an adult context. I think a lot of people respond to that, even if it’s on a subconscious level. 05/ Tell us about your first recollections of watching Shaun Micallef, and how you felt when he asked to be involved with series two of Danger 5 .

The second series of growing cult comedy DANGER 5 is even more kooky and bugged out than the first. Zoë Radas spoke to co-creator Dario Russo about his influences, why puppets rule, and the participation of the brilliant Shaun Micallef. DARIO RUSSO

I remember being young enough to not really know what I was watching, and laughing at Milo Kerrigan. I think that qualifies as Micallef always being in my life. Full Frontal and Fast Forward – that’s my first recollection of Shaun Micallef, so having him actually engage us was absolutely surreal, such an unbelievably positive affirmation

01/ Danger 5 reminds us of other curious, surreal comedies with intentionally cheap effects like The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place . Are you a fan? DARIO RUSSO: I loved Boosh when it came out. That was always such an excitingly unusual show; it was really inspiring to see something that bizarre. That was definitely a massive inspiration, as was Garth Marenghi , which I guess is more directly comparable to the style of things that we’re doing. [ Marenghi ] was a very conscious and deliberate retro rip-off, and what we’re doing is too bastardised to even be an accurate ‘80s retro rip-off.

02/ Your previous series, Italian Spiderman , utilises cheap production to great effect, too. Have you always found this funny as a style device? Especially at high school, I would always love watching shitty ‘80s horror movies with my friends and laughing at them, sort of, in parts where the

Danger 5: Series 2 is out on Feb 4

production values had fallen short. And if you go back to the ‘50s, especially with movies like Plan 9 from Outer Space , which is heralded as – arguably – the worst film ever made...

to have this dude involved who you respect so much. I still don’t really believe it happened. I watch the show now and... “F*ck, Shaun Micallef’s in this!”

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