What was the original brief for your film Double Dutch for Rogues?
The brief was to make something quirky, unconventional and tongue-in-cheek. I was driven by the shoes’ unique style and colour whilst also combining the practicality of actually wearing the shoes. Rogues are flat and smart but they also can’t help being the statement piece of your outfit. Therefore, I wanted to create a playful take on fancy footwork. So I decided to take Double Dutch from a playground game and transform it into something intense, sassy and slightly rebellious.
The film is spot on for the brand – simple idea crafted with great directing, styling and editing. Did you work out the frames and techniques before the shoot or did the film develop in the edit?
We went in with a thought-out storyboard of everything we wanted to get on the shoot day. However we left some of the skipping shots more open, so we could roam around the girls as they performed and decide what looked best as they were in action.
The film definitely evolved in the edit – the intro and outro remained true to the storyboard, but the skipping section was decided in the edit to create a high energy and fast-paced montage. Skilfully edited by Ben Corfield.
What were the main challenges of the production and how did you resolve them?
The main challenge for this was probably the location. I had such a specific idea initially, I was looking for a school gym that was monochrome in style as I wanted the shoes to really pop. Instead we decided to go down a bit of a different route – to construct the gym ourselves in a harder environment and build on the art department and different lighting techniques.
How did you go about finding the cast, the cool skippers who look like models?
It was obviously very important to find girls who had a personality of their own, just like the shoes do, but who could also Double Dutch at a great level. We had a great team of girls, who had sass and a great look but also worked really hard! Not to mention a brilliant choreographer!
We’ve just seen your first music video too – Snakes and Blaggers for Ocean Wisdom – which is shot in a completely different style to your fashion films. How different was this creative process for you?
I wanted to something that stands out from the other work I have done so far and I really love rap music, I’m a massive fan of Ocean Wisdom.
I feel that his music really stands out in the UK rap scene and so I really wanted to make a video for him. I went in to a creative meeting with a friend of mine Craig Dolan who is an animator.
With Snakes and Blaggers, I wanted to do something that was a mix of live action and animation, something a bit edgier and darker to fit with the song. It needed to be somewhere that showed a gritty side of London that would stand out in black-and-white so we shot over a night in Hackney Wick, in a sparse environment that had a lot of character.
Now that you’ve signed to Biscuit do you see your style of filming changing?
Being signed to Biscuit brings new opportunities to explore different styles so I am really looking forward to growing as a director and working on a variety of different projects.
What is your background which led you to directing?
I started off art directing fashion campaigns and then my ideas expanded to something I felt I couldn’t do justice to in a still image, so I started to turn the shoots into short films with the help of good friends. Once I did my first film, the ideas got bigger and I’m having the best time exploring all the possibilities film has to offer.
List five inspirations that have connected with you recently:
I’ve been re watching Charlie Kaufman movies and I’m inspired by his non linear storytelling & surrealist themes whilst maintaining realistic and relatable characters.
I’ve been following Nadia Lee Cohen’s ‘100 Naked Women’ photography project. I love her mix of over saturated bright colours, with a dark underlying narrative. Her subjects are so well styled and cast that all her pictures look straight out of a film.
I went to Amsterdam over Christmas and a whole host of different light installations were dotted throughout the canal systems and it was amazing to see, especially at night when the light reflected off the water.
Jennifer Reeder’s short film ‘A Million Miles Away‘ I loved. I liked her experimental take on subtitles and thought it was an incredibly executed take on the exploration of young womanhood.
The people I work with. I am constantly being inspired by the collaborations I have with the people I work with.
LINKS:
Represented: Biscuit Filmworks
