Dad makes 'Ghost Story' filmmaker not afraid of no ghosts

Milwaukee-born filmmaker David Lowery's "A Ghost Story" locally premiered at the Chicago Critics Film Festival in May. It opens this weekend at Chicago's River East 21 and Century Centre, plus the Evanston CineArts 6.

"A Ghost Story" is a gothic meditation about the necessity of letting go in order to move forward. It stars Casey Affleck as a composer who dies, then returns to silently haunt his home and wife while donning a bed sheet with two holes for his eyes. Sound strange?

Lowery, 36, director of "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" and "Pete's Dragon," took my 5 Questions Challenge.

Q. What impact did your father, Mark Lowery, a theology professor at the University of Dallas, have on your movie?

A. He was also a father who loved and still loves to tell stories, and he was a dad who loved to scare his children. In a fun way.

One of my earliest memories was him hiding under the staircase in our home in Wisconsin, making scary ghost noises and pounding on the stairs. That terrified me!

Then he made a recording of himself doing that, to convince me that it wasn't actually him. He would play the tape recorder making these sounds under the stairs while he was in the living room.

Now, I really appreciate that he scared me and made me believe in ghosts as a kid. Those attributes he instilled in me not only played a big part in my fascination with ghosts, but my desire to make this particular film.

Q. In its own way, creating "A Ghost Story" was a personal leap of faith, wasn't it?

A. I lost confidence in this project early in the shoot, within the first week. I was worried that it was too high-concept. I'd fall flat on my face. But I persevered.

My innate belief in that concept prevailed, and it ultimately worked in the movie exactly as I hoped it would. But there were some rough days on the set when I thought it wasn't going to turn out.

Q. I understand you had a tough time finding the key to making this movie work.

A. We went into this thinking that Casey (Affleck) would be under the sheet every step of the way and his performance would come through the fabric. The footage we got from that approach was unsatisfactory, to say the least. It felt clunky and had no sense of presence to it. It just looked like a mistake.

We realized we needed to keep the ghost as still as possible. So when it did move, it would have an ethereal quality. From that point on, everything was relatively easy, but those early days were a real trial by fire.

Q. So you used your art director David Pink as Casey Affleck's ghost stunt double?

A. Yes. For one thing, he was willing to do it. That costume wasn't easy to wear. But he was the same height and size as Casey, a perfect double. He was a natural fit.

Q. So, how does it feel to create a movie that both the public and critics like?

A. It gives me a great deal of confidence. I always want to make audiences happy and give them their money's worth, and give them something to think about.

But I also love film criticism as an art form. That this movie is engaging to both audiences and critics is sort of the best of both worlds for me.

I now feel more in touch with my fellow human beings. It definitely raises the bar for my next movie.

Q. What's that?

A. "The Old Man and the Gun" with Casey and Robert Redford. My work on "Peter Pan" for Disney is just a writing thing for the moment. We'll see where it goes when the script is done.

• Dann Gire's column runs Friday in Time out!