You’ve had immense success with your graduation film Stanley Pickle picking up awards here and there on the festival circuit. What were the key lessons you learnt from making Stanley Pickle?
During the making of Stanley Pickle, the key lessons we all learned from being thrown in at the deep end were organisation and preparation. There were a few hairy moments with production design where animate-able sets weren’t ready on time, but we all clubbed together and helped each other out, so the key lessons were in collaboration. It’s not about one individual; it’s about the teamwork.
Once the film was completed I was faced with the task of getting the film out there, making press kits, a website, DVD’s for festivals and social networking. It was hard work and expensive, but I left no stone unturned and as a result we won a ton of awards, and became the most awarded film to come out of the National Film and Television school in 2011, which meant the crew and I benefited enormously from its reputation.
Describe the process of making the film please.
Stanley Pickle was shot on two sets and two locations, frame by frame, on a Canon 40D with Nikon lenses.
Prior to the shoot, the actors were invited for a pixilation workshop where we shot a quick test to see how they handled the movement – moving an inch at a time!
Once the film was in production we all knew the score, the most challenging shots were in the forest since they were all hand held and moving, frame by frame for about an hour and half each take.
The sound was all recorded from scratch and is particularly detailed, Dario Swade the sound designer picked up the Verna Fields MPSE award in LA for his efforts.
What is the wisest thing anyone has taught you about film making?
Stop talking about it, just do it.
What are you up to now?
Stanley Pickle had his online premiere just last week and I’ve posted a whole bunch of making of pics on the Facebook page (@stanleypicklefilm2010) which may give an interesting insight to how we worked.
During 2012, I have been developing and pitching feature ideas, working in children’s television development and art directing a children’s TV pilot. Looking ahead to the new year I’m keeping my eyes peeled for new projects to get my teeth in to!
I am currently represented by Aardman for commercials and my film agent is Curtis Brown.
There’s some extra goodies in Related Content.
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