Think you’ve seen hard core Gore?, Blood, Guts and Special Effects?? ha think again, this guy will blow you’re mind away, yeah you heard me, he WILL blow you’re mind away.
Ever seen AGP: Bouquet of Guts and Gore? yeah, Marcus did the Effects on that. So I had to Interview him and ask him all about the Special Effects. Here is our interview.
Nightmare Asylum: I know you’ve done work with Stephen Biro for American Guinea Pig: Bouquet of Guts and Gore. What exactly would you say you’re Title is? just Marcus Koch Special Effects or MK FX? or what would you personally like to be know as?
Marcus Koch: My Company name is Oddtopsy FX, i mainly specialize in hard gore, or extreme graphic fx work, mostly lots of life casting and body parts along with all the blood guts and gore.
Nightmare Asylum: We all know the Effects of the blood was amazingly done, what else did you do on set and how do you start something like that? what’s the process? and how to you carry it on throughout the movie?
Marcus Koch: AGP Bouquet of Guts and Gore was a different animal all together, fx wise, granted our budget for the entire film was tiny, so i had to make the most of it. in most films special effects gags only happen on screen for a matter of seconds, , but in this case the entire film is full on fx work that never really cuts away. so it was a definite challenge to build two bodies that had to be systematically cut apart, with no chance for a second take. once a limb was off, that is was it. there was no going back for another shot. i spend 2 months prepping both bodies, each had different things that had to happen to them, so it was a lot of painstaking work. also on set i had to do a lot of tattoo Cover up, which was also grueling, as the heat i nthe warehouse under the lights, and filming in the summer months. and make up kept sweating off.
Nightmare Asylum: I take it you went to college to learn all there is to know about Special FX, what college did you attend and how long did it take you in college to learn Special FX?
Marcus Koch: Oddly enough and this is bad to admit, i am a high school drop out, i had been making my own short films since iwas 8, and the older i got the more increasingly fx heavy they became, i was always facinated with gore fx. and knew from an early age, thats what i was going to do when i grew up..outside of that i am completely self taught, its been many years of tiral and error and experimentation, and reading and watching and learning everything i can. even at 38, i still learn new things and new techniques, now days finding information is a bit easier with internet and youtube. for anything you could ever possibly want to know how its done, there is a youtube tutorial, or some kind of information allready out there. so i keep up with things and try new tips and tricks for even some of the most basic , beginner things. becuase i can always learn something new.
Nightmare Asylum: What other movie/movies have you worked on?
Marcus Koch: a lot. I’ve lost count, according to my IMDB is 68 or so. but there are many short films not accounted for, or other full features that have either never been finished, or never released. or (on the more extreme side of things, things i keep my name off of)
Nightmare Asylum: What got you into the whole Specal FX in the beginning? Who’s you’re inspiration?
Marcus Koch: Just watching horror movies as a kid had me hooked, thankfully my parents never stopped me from watching horror films, and took me to my first horror film when i was 3, and i was hooked ever since. we’d go to the drive in or rent VHS tapes. and usually horror was it. and i would ask my dad “ How’d they do that?” when i’d see someone get decapitated or an arm cut off, and he’s reply with “special effects” id see the same actors over and over in different films, so i knew they didnt really die or get hurt, i had a very good understanding from an early age that its all make believe , and i thought to my self, that would be the coolest job in the world !! to make fake heads and body parts. so i just started doing it. and one thing lead to another. and i have never given up on the dream.
Nightmare Asylum: How long have you been in the Special FX business?
Marcus Koch: ive been making my own short films and fx work since i was 8. so according to that , about 30 years, but started taking it very seriously when i was 14, and directed and released my first feature when i was 18. called ROT, so about 20 years on a more serious side. and the last 10 years have been pretty much non stop work from one film to the next getting paid, and working on some bigger budget pictures. so i’d say ive been doing this professionally for about 10 years.
Nightmare Asylum: Who have you worked with/collaborated with? would you work with them again?
Marcus Koch: hard question ive worked with a lot of great people, Tim Ritter who made Twisted Illusions and Truth or Dare, among other many awesome SOV mvovies, was the first guy to give me an fx job away from home, when i was 18, and get got me connected with other directors in the shot on video world, and little by little more i did the more i got to do. and soon after i was working with guys from full moon, and Troma, and Andreas Schnaas ( who made Germany’s low budget splatter fests , the Violent Shit films), i got to work on his film NIKOS the IMPALER, tho i think the best time ive had on set was a short film in an anthology called SWEETS directed by David Gregory. for a film called Theatre Bizarre. hands down it was the smoothest shoot. so many crew members and a large cast, it was the best well oiled machine. everyone worked together on the first day like they’d been working together for years, so i’d Love to work again with David Gregory, also the recent film WE ARE STILL HERE, i had known Ted Geoghegan for many years, and worked on several films he had written, but that was the first time i’d worked with him as a director. that was also one hell of a show to be apart of, everyone was so down to earth, and fun to be around. and i worked with my long time fx partner Cat Bernier. who i consider my Red Right Hand., i ’d love to work with those guys again.
Nightmare Asylum: What would you say to someone who is interested in learning Special FX, just getting into it and someone who’s already in the business?
Marcus Koch: 2 things, first for those interested in getting into special effects, would take what you’d like to do and focus on all aspects of what it takes to make something, be to try learn everything, learn, make up application, learn sculpting and mold making, learn life casting, learn fabrication. learn what each material does, and the pros and cons, learn what you can do with no money., learn to think on your toes,. and see where you excel in , then focus on that. work at haunted houses, and zombie walks, and learn how to deal with working with many people in a short amount of time. learn how to budget your materials , work on no budget backyard movies, that will also teach you things you can never learn in a class room. As for advice for fx artists who are all ready working. that’s a hard one..but i would have to say. that even if you are working as a professional. never fool yourself into thinking you’ve learned how to do everything and have mastered any of it. there is still one more way to skin a cat that you haven’t yet thought of. so be a sponge. absorb new techniques and methods, even if you think you have it figured out. you may see that someone can do other things that achieve the same end result , but fast or more effective than you’ve either taught yourself, or been taught by someone else.
Nightmare Asylum: Is there anything you would like to add?
Marcus Koch: special effects is such a wide smorgasbord of different things. from creature and character design, to simple cuts and bruises, to fantasy. and horror, to the blood and guts, the best thing is to pick the one thing you like the most and go with it, if you design creatures. do that, become the guy who people call on to design creatures. if you specialise in dental prosthetics, be the person people call for fake teeth , if you can punch hair for hours on end. be that person. if you like blood and guts. be that person. if you make awesome molds, be a mold maker. but always make your work shine. no matter how low of a budget you are given to work with. be the one, people want to work with.
