James Appleton. The Sound of Silence
Мне очень нравится снимать короткометражки, но рынок ими переполнен. Так что я их снимаю для удовольствия и творческого роста, а не пытаюсь ими заработать на жизнь.
What's your favorite filmmaker/film?
I honestly don't have a favorite filmmaker or film. I like any film which succeeds in being effective of the type of film that it is, regardless of genre or style. I see this as the main challenge in filmmaking - to make a film the best it can be for what it is, whether it be a slapstick comedy, a social drama or a violent horror, whatever, to me its about maximizing potential and opportunity within a story and genre. I'm still developing my voice as a filmmaker, and am trying to do that naturally without being too self-consciously influenced by others.
“James (27) began making films whilst studying film and media at Goldsmiths College, University of London” Please tell us about your experience studying there.
My degree course was part academic and part practical, so at the same time as reading about film theory we got to play with cameras, shoot and edit various small projects, and learn how to make films with the other students in a trial and error environment. I think this combination of academic and practical development has given me a solid foundation from which to develop my career. It was great to learn how to make things within an educational institution, to make all the inevitable early mistakes in a place where it doesn't really matter! It was also an extremely critical environment which was very stimulating. I found that being taught how to make films, and actually being able to do it successfully aren't close by. I've learnt by doing, through trial and error, and am of the belief that whilst you can teach filmmaking, to be a successful director you have to also consolidate your education by actually doing it, being highly critical of your own work and ultimately by learning from your own mistakes. Being taught the theory is useful, but when you're under pressure on a shoot and need to make quick decisions, I believe its experience which can guide you the best. Also you can be taught how to break the script down, plan the shots and schedule, but not how to visualize, and I think this is something which gets better with time. I'm learning all the time, and hope to be for the rest of my career.
When did you realize you’re interested in filmmaking? How did it all start?
Well there are anecdotes I suppose - I remember when my cousin brought a camcorder to my family's home when I was 8 years old. It was in 1987, so it was one of those enormous VHS camcorders. I used it to make films in the woods near to our house. Many times everything was a point-of-view shot, with myself as a monster and my sister as the victim! My sister and I used to perform tricks in front of it, using edits to make each other disappear. At a similar time, I used to draw (very childish!) storyboards for sequels of films I had seen, and insist on going to see the same film at the cinema up to 6 times. Quite strange I know, I got into the habit of wanting to remember sequences and see if I could when I watched a film again. Later in life I went down the Art route, which was influenced by school teachers more than anything. So I went to art school as I had a strong interest in this area, but its there that I realized that I wanted to make films as I didn't like working alone, it felt very limited to me. So in my late teens my interest was revived. I made a couple of art pieces with camcorders, and although they weren't narrative films this experience was enough for me to want to explore it further at university. I always wanted to make narrative films, but wasn't yet equipped with the knowledge of script writing and story structure to be able to do so. This began to come whilst at Goldsmiths College.
Please tell us about your early works; what were they about? How did you make them? Non-budget filmmaking is a fun thing sometimes, isn't it?
As I mentioned, I directed several short pieces whilst I was at Goldsmiths, anything from 1 minute to 10 minutes long. Most of them were experimental as at that time I was thinking visually and not as narratively (as I believe many new filmmakers tend to). It's during my time at college that I began to learn about screen writing, story structure, and working with actors. The first few attempts weren't very good, but there was an improvement with every project, and I enjoyed seeing that improvement and it's probably why I am still doing it today. As for non-budget filmmaking, well yes its very hard work! I'm not working on projects with no budget anymore, but by my experience tells me it success isn't very often about the budget, it's about successful creative collaborations, understanding the people you work with and having their trust but also having the confidence to trust others, and thinking on your feet. I have recently shot projects with small budgets but they look better than projects I directed a year or two ago which had larger budgets - because of experience and collaboration. I have fortunately built up a team of people who I work with from time to time depending on who is available. It's sometimes too easy to blame the size of the budget for any shortcomings. A budget is only too small when you're trying something with it which is going to be too compromised for the resources you have. Most importantly of all, I think you need a very positive attitude! There are lots of difficulties and it can be exhausting and very challenging but I love doing it anyway and the rewards are always worth the labour. As for information on my projects, you could look at my website for information - www.jamesappleton.com
Right now in Russia companies never use short fiction films as promos (only corporate films). Could you tell us about your contract with Sony for Sound of Silence and other works of yours?
Yes, 3 short films I've directed were used by Sony for the PSP across Europe. I love making shorts, but the market place is saturated with short films, so I make them for enjoyment and creative development rather than to make a living. This way anything that happens with them such as prizes at festivals or television broadcasts is a nice bonus!
What did the script for Sound of Silence begin with? Whose idea was that? What was your work with Stuart Robinson like?
Screen East are one of 7 or 8 regional organizations here in England who commission short films funded by the UK Film Council each year. I applied to Screen East as a director and shown several scripts by different writers which they had short listed on merit. So I actually selected Stuart's script and then we began a process of development together. I wanted to sharpen and concentrate the script and we worked together to achieve this under the supervision of the Executive Producer Darren Bender. One thing was the tone - I wanted to make it more humorous and more appealing, which we achieved together partly during the script development stage and I also took this forward into the way I directed the film. The idea behind the script was always very strong and didn't change during development, more how it was executed shifted to become sharper, punchier, slightly lighter and more poignant.
The problem of noise is familiar to anyone who works in art or journalism. Is it a problem for you? Could you tell us about the sharpest incident?
Well it was a problem to me last year when I was shooting a short film in a studio which happened to be next to a shoe factory, which made all kinds of noise as the machinery kept switching on and off. Oh and of course when you're on location it's always passing cars and planes overhead! In answers to your question though, noise isn't something that I get too upset about, in fact I feel uncomfortable when there is no noise! I don't like silence at all, so I'm pretty much the opposite of the character in 'The Sound of Silence'. I don't think not sharing his views was a problem when it came to making the film - it just made it more interesting for me.
What are the production details of Sound of Silence? How many shooting places? Is the room a real interior or was it shot in a studio? How long did it take you to make this film? What were the toughest and the funniest parts of shooting?
Looking back I can barely believe it but the shoot was just 2 and a half days! Budget limitations meant that the producer wanted to limit filming to such a short time frame. There were numerous locations and the filming schedule was extremely tight. I had to drop many shots I had planned, and often only had time for one or two takes in certain moments. The shoot, despite being very tightly scheduled, was well organized and it meant that minimal time was spent traveling between locations and setting up for new scenes. All I can remember was jumping in and out of vans for the whole shoot. We were moving so quickly, but we had a very experienced lead actor and good Director of Photography which helped a great deal. All the rooms are locations. The main characters writing room was actually the art directors house. The upstairs where the party took place was shot in an entirely different house so I had to make it look like its upstairs even though it was a ground floor room on the other side of London!
Please tell us about The Last Place You Look and your other new works?
The Last Place You Look' is a very short (90 seconds) surreal comedy about a guy who finds a void down the back of his sofa where missing objects drift timelessly. It was shot in a day using green screen studio in the morning and a location in the afternoon. It's quite a funny little piece that I'm quite pleased with. I've been looking to develop my skills with green screen and compositing so it was very useful for my technical development in this area. I've just finished work on ':-)' which is a 15 minute drama surrounding a growing social problem here in the U.K called 'Happy Slapping'. This is where teenagers are making video clips on their mobile phones of their friends attacking or hitting random strangers. It's the most challenging material I've dealt with as a director, and the result is a challenging film I am proud of. The cast members were all 15-18 years old and I found it a terrific experience working with such young actors. The story focuses on Jake, a loner character who finds some new friends and the video clips they make become increasingly antisocial until something very bad happens which shows them they've gone too far with it. It will begin to screen at film festivals this year.
Why do you stick to making short films? In Russia usually filmmakers very quickly transfer either into purely commercial work (like advertisements or video clips) or get into soap operas or into feature films.
As I've mentioned before, I see them as a terrific way to help develop and gain experience, as well as try new things. I enjoy making them and enjoy improving. I don't only make short films though, also music videos and I've begun to direct commercials which is an area I have a growing interest in. I am also developing a feature film project which I hope to film during 2007, and am now looking towards my first television drama work.
A few words for your Russian viewers.
I hope you enjoy the films! I'd love to visit one day.
Anything you would like to say.
I update my website about once a month so it's a good place to see what's happening - www.jamesappleton.com