Episode 7 - James Price - Stargirl Director | Renderyard Interviews

Today we speak with James Price the director & producer of the sci-fi short horror film Stargirl for the Renderyard Interviews. To find out how she produced and created the film.

Interview Transcription

Speaker 1: [00:00:05]

Hello everyone. Today, on the Renderyard interviews. We're interviewing the director of the short film Stargirl, who is James price? Hi James. How are you doing?

Speaker 2: [00:00:15]

Hi, I'm good. Thank you. How are you?

Speaker 1: [00:00:18]

Pretty good? I've been looking forward to speaking with you, for quite a long time, your short film. On the Randy, I'd YouTube channel has been really successful in In the almost one year period that it's been live. It's gained over 100,000 views and it has regular daily comments. Some actual arguments going on between between viewers, which is always interesting trying to analyze aspects of the film and giving their run kind of ideas. And and then just obviously, you know, other people who just, you know, In their appreciation of the film and their enjoyment of watching it and also asking, you know, more about what's coming next. So, we thought we would get you on and ask you directly

Speaker 2: [00:01:14]

access. The, I didn't realize to the other day that it had 100,000 views in the

Speaker 1: [00:01:18]

yeah. Yeah, it's been spin doing

Speaker 2: [00:01:20]

well. I was quite surprised, actually, colleague of mine. It said, I had no idea. He'd made that made that film, but he is. He's got 100,000 views and I was like, yeah, pretty cool. I know. So I'm pretty speechless by that. Actually

Speaker 1: [00:01:40]

you, you started Stargirl I think as a Kickstarter or GoFundMe. I'm not

Speaker 2: [00:01:48]

sure which platform you're gonna

Speaker 1: [00:01:50]

Indiegogo this 3 and your what was your final kind of shooting budget.

Speaker 2: [00:01:58]

Oh, that's a good question. I think it was about 8,000.

Speaker 1: [00:02:01]

Wow, okay, that's that's good. 1,000

Speaker 2: [00:02:04]

pounds. Yeah. Cool. But we didn't raise that much on you go but but about that was sort of shooting and all in basically. Yeah that we post and but with everything when you're doing a short film as a lot of beg borrow and stealing and favors and Yes. You know, it's interesting but how we'd made before few years before which was shell-shocked? Think in the end cost 16, we went into making that so that was kind of fun. Five of us went off to Japan and Brilliant. It was sort of three separate shoots. We had a London shoot, which was the Interiors for Japan. We had the Japan stuff. And then we have the flashback stuff, which If we shop at three different periods of time, we end up, we were going to do the Japan stuff at the end. We ended up being the first stuff we shot so that it's okay. And

Speaker 1: [00:03:06]

yeah I mean it's a really interesting perspective that your first film creation was actually ended up being a feature film and and the short film star girl was film you did next. So how how did that kind of unfold? Did it begin as a smaller project? And then turn into a

Speaker 2: [00:03:26]

feature. It did. I mean, it started off shell-shocked as as short film and it came and I had never made a short film and I've never worked on a short film. I worked in art departments for like this is my 20th year profession, we being filmed this year, so I've got quite a bit of experience and I've got like Stockholm was shell-shocked, 2005 7. I think so. I had no experience of making a short film and my like I always a really impressive people who can come up with a story and 60 seconds and tell it and that to me is like the perfect short film. It's yes it's a joke is getting and you'd gone whereas I'm much more long form and so it was coming at this Ridiculous lengths of whatever we did was so much in the film that everything I read as I other 40-minute Marco is dead. You know, it's that MIT that's that time that nobody wants. Right? May have changed now because of the streaming platforms and, you know, you'll have an episode of your favorite show and it'll be an hour and a half and then you'll have another episode right after its 30 minutes. And it's like,

Speaker 1: [00:04:42]

yeah. 50 minutes is the sort of sweet spot. I am noticing that things on HBO can. Go slightly over an hour and it's still going, it's still viewed as an episode and then the shortest thing will be 25 minutes. Yeah, I'm going to Star Girls Star Girls length, I think is a

Speaker 2: [00:05:05]

surround 2012.

Speaker 1: [00:05:09]

Yeah, 20. So you're you're under the threshold. It's completely in the short film area and how long was shell-shocked in the end? It's 75 in the

Speaker 2: [00:05:19]

end of 70. Okay, rather with credits, and

Speaker 1: [00:05:22]

was there a time where you decided through shooting or did, you know, straight away. We're going to make this into a feature when you sort of went through the script or did you think we'll start as a short and then oh, actually there's a lot more to explore here. We should expand this.

Speaker 2: [00:05:41]

Yeah, it was during the editing process. I think that okay, me, that it was something. I'd started to look at people's first films that they've made in length. And yeah I just felt like I wanted to. Maybe I fell in love with little bit too much with the characters and K. And also I was reading I never get to do one film at that point. I was like actually if I'm going to do this then because it is a huge amount of time and effort and you know years of yeah of just absolute. Everything you've got into it and it it's grueling and you think, oh my God, if we come all this far, we've shut all this stuff. And I didn't want to really get rid of it and it was some sort of thematic things that I wanted to try out from different perspectives and so yeah, it sort of evolved really and I I'm I don't know whether I would have known always deep down. I mean, I would have always wanted to make it as a long film and it started off with different ideas that it maybe I was. Like, well, actually, I'll make it as a piece of Animation if I have to,

Speaker 1: [00:06:54]

and okay.

Speaker 2: [00:06:57]

And I still never made me animation and I've after several attempts of trying. I would love to one day. Do some animation. I thought Star Girl wouldn't quite be cool as an animated. Yeah, that would have been very interesting and it's and we also have a spin-off that we wrote but we've not really done much with a six-part 30-minute version with Just to meet your Hunters, you know Joker? Yeah yeah

Speaker 1: [00:07:24]

yeah. Kind of alternative. Indie X-Files.

Speaker 2: [00:07:29]

Yeah, exactly. Sort of in The X-Files meet own four walls is basically and there's a whole backstory is we were going to call it Fallen Angels. What it had fallen angels? I mean it's not doing anything right now but there's six grips there, which show this that would be good. It's pretty. And I've co-written it with a friend of mine, Brian genin, who's a massive huge Doctor, Who fan and I mean, you could go on University challenge for Doctor, Who is ridiculous. And so, it's this kind of like, just like you say, X-Files meets Red, Dwarf meets. Yeah. What is, you know, they go around getting into Venture in trenches and Fallen. Angels thing comes from its the, I think the American Air Force They call for things that they think Are UFOs.

Speaker 1: [00:08:24]

Right? It's okay. So, okay. So you've basically you've been working in the art Department sector of filmmaking for the last 20 years. Presumably, what was what led you into the film industry? How did you, you know, follow that path.

Speaker 2: [00:08:47]

I think it's kind of long. Path. I was going to want to a school. Be a stonemason and I had an apprenticeship lined up at 16 fell through at the last minute and I ended up going to the local art. I grew up in the herefordshire where we shot Stargirl. Good aren't College there and run do like literally two weeks before term. I went to art college and did a general art design course instead of walls and that led me without any real kind of like I was really, really dislike. Sick, and I just want to try and do something. Creative and yeah, film industry back. Then didn't really exist in the 90s early 90s, especially things like Trainspotting hadn't come out, shallow. Grave was just about to break. So, you know, it's like how Barren it was. Yes, I think during that year, that I left school for winners of funeral came out, and then so it wasn't really an option. And then I went to art college, Pulp Fiction happens and Blu-ray. I think a lot of people it changes Changed. I remember going into college on the Monday after seeing on the Friday night and everything I've been doing before and make no sense anymore, right? So it's regressive sort of thing happened. And then I went to University and applied Arts which was contemporary designing and making and during that period somebody I don't know exactly who but people started to I mean I'd always loved film and TV, don't get me wrong it's always like my obsession watch a lot of film and yeah but it was never anything. Thing that I thought was a option and then somebody started to mention, you know, set design, these things you to come up and then Shane Meadows happened. I remember what I've done. Always, first film was, with Bob Hoskins. Can't remember now. That's like the guys from the Midlands, you know, wives some and so I and it can't felt quite appealing to have a job created job where you get paid Eight you go, you day's work. Whereas like everything I was doing up until then I was like making stuff and then you've got to sell it and then you're like, you know, there's so happy and so growing up with a little van, a small little farm and like business. And so just having us business was just like, no, I don't to do that and then okay, name to London and tried getting into some work experience, with couple different companies, which was really hard to get. I mean I would knock on people's doors and just generally make a pain myself and eventually got some work experience fine. I didn't have any of the right skills. Yeah someone switched me onto a Course in Kingston which doesn't exist anymore for production design. Okay. And I was like got myself on that cause for skin of my teeth and then through that I was able to get get my first job. Again I have over my first job. I pretended that I lived in Wales and I didn't Right order and stuff, okay? And and and

Speaker 1: [00:12:01]

other films are series that you've worked on during your career. That will recognize.

Speaker 2: [00:12:09]

I mean, the last thing I Productions are now, I've just done the Icarus files remake for ITV, I can design that I've done. I've done a boy called Christmas as a supervising art director Paddington to did. Way back when I did some Spooks I think I remember that. Why? A lot of things over the years? I done a film called The Nest with Shonda working. I think I've heard of it. Yeah the back to how he got on to star girl because was telling Sean one day about this little idea, I had for this mom and he one day. He just finds his blue alien hominid. Pixie Wyatt. See that. As long as I have not written it any more than that, it's just a gem germ of an idea. And he's I should just do it. Just do it man. And so I did. Yeah. And then he's like, you got to make it, you got to make a find a way to make it. And I know, I'm not really sure about short films and it's just, I just make it just make it and so it was kind of his encouragement,

Speaker 1: [00:13:20]

so during that kind of path before you got there, you you'd go. Gone to college, then you would hustle to find work. You've got experience. And then you'd landed some paid work and slowly or folding yourself into the industry and and in quite early on, I think in 2009 you decide to what becomes your first feature film, how long was the gap between leaving college and kind of falling through the work environment is you get the you know, the Bug Guy We'll make my first film. How long do you think that timeframe was

Speaker 2: [00:14:00]

I guess, kind of ways. Maybe. I think I try, I do. Remember trying to write a script when I was at University, right? Never getting very far on never knowing how to do it or never really, and then sort of dropping it. And then I had I remember have had a book which was are full of ideas ideas or not but never Ali. So and then, I sort of had this misconception when I started out directing that, that maybe I wanted to create the whole world rather than just and and Productions eyes, do create the whole world, but they also don't, they create the world for the story to exist in. They don't just read story. The exhibit that happens in the world such as I understand. Yeah. So I was like, yeah, I just want to do it. I want to, you know, one thing

Speaker 1: [00:14:55]

this made this universe,

Speaker 2: [00:14:57]

I want to do all of it, right? So that really appealed to me, and I spend a lot of time, whenever anyone tried to offer me short films to design, whatever. I'm like, no, no. I'm going to do my own thing and want to spend that energy, quite hard. I think it's getting easier because it's so much work now, but it was hard to sort of Step the next In TV and film. Yeah, no one wants to take a chance on you until you've done it. And then so how do you do it? And that's where the short film sort of thing exists and so I'd always resisted. And if anyone had offered me to design short film, I go. Oh, how about this person? Or that person, and I'd spend my energies trying to write and, and do that. And I'd actually written after before after shell-shocked, and before Stargirl think there's like three or four. For feature scripts that have okay wrote, but, you know, never did any more with or sort of got script reports down and sent like, for advice and rewrite and things like that. But also, I was interested in genre, which I think is now beginning to become acceptable in the UK. This was not a robbery about if it's not like proper worthy stuff, you can't explore theme attic and Interesting story arcs with yeah, Americans don't seem to have that problem and I

Speaker 1: [00:16:24]

think. Yeah, especially with the, the well, it's a decade. It's 10 years. I remember when Iron Man came out, which was a long time ago. Yeah. And that was the Genesis of this insane, Marvel Universe, you know, and I think that whole area of the film industry is now as you say Unraveled led to this acceptance of the genre, you can. Yeah. You step in you create something and then you can just unwrap it as far as you wanted to, you know, absolutely care. So I I mean how how do you feel the industry is at the moment things, you know, we've had we've gone through the Harry Potter industry of in the UK filmmaking and now I guess that trying to spin off into the other area. I can't remember what it's called. But you what, how do you feel the strength of the UK film industry is at the moment.

Speaker 2: [00:17:31]

I also just pick up in other points quickly. I think Game of Thrones was quite a big game changer as well.

Speaker 1: [00:17:37]

Yeah, and Island. And

Speaker 2: [00:17:38]

yeah, they won't they they suck people's very clever the way they suck. People in like this historical u.s. and it didn't get super fancy. Fantastico until everyone was like, into the pump, it for me. And then against the end of the first series, there was wagons for everyone Within by that. It should, I

Speaker 1: [00:17:56]

know, I know where are the dragons.

Speaker 2: [00:17:59]

I mean, it's, it's crazy. Busy, the the film and TV over here at the moment, like, finding crew is really hard or okay weeks, finally experience, I try it with, in the art departments, I work in, get new people in all the time. Time each job we try and do work experience with people and just try and get us. You know, help get people in but it's sort of, almost like 10 years too late. Everybody should have been doing it a bit earlier because it's summer. I write, you've only people getting of experience because it takes to get to get fully really good in like anything. It's sort of ten years before you have that knowledge

Speaker 1: [00:18:46]

of the slow side. Saturation, daily, Daily Grind and you learn on the job and yeah. In the job you're behind.

Speaker 2: [00:18:58]

So they and it's not being Keen or it's just as things that you do that. You that were a problem last time. You just circum. You've seen it all. We've got, you know, I know you haven't seen the exact same things, everything's different be you know what's coming? You know, are you know how to circumvent that up? Get around it or deal with. There's a lot of politics involved in her. Not in kind of like because actually we're sitting facing making a film or TV show that you have to deliver every day. So the stuff that live. But there's also, everybody has every department has different pressures and constraints and making films actually has made me and directing and seeing it from the different, you know. I know what a sound department needs in a set. I know what, how something is going to be lit? Or I know where the problem is for the locations, with the weather, could the catering and, you know, just seen it all by of making films. That gives me yes, rounding. So when I'm makes me a better production designer makes me better, you know, in my day, in my day job. And so it's it's kind of good to have that overall groaning and I don't think short films are good for that. Yeah. So there's an argument for not necessarily going to University

Speaker 1: [00:20:23]

spending time. Yep, yep. Yep. Don't get into debt and trying go the opposite direction. I mean I went to college, I did fine art, very similar story to you grew up in the countryside and Cumbria now. The light district. Lot of people were like, who don't don't do art. Usually not gonna get a job. You were right? I loved it. I loved it when I was there and then as I came out of that environment as I yeah the world doesn't really work this way does it? Damn, I've got to reinvent myself and and then they spent like three or four years understanding the world of work. And then once I got an idea of how that works started to pull the creative aspects back into that have to fold that back. Can and it's difficult. Having half of college, should train people for well actually didn't need this thing called money and you need to think about how you're going to make

Speaker 2: [00:21:31]

it. Yeah.

Speaker 1: [00:21:33]

And you know it's just something I think that seems to be missing.

Speaker 2: [00:21:38]

I couldn't agree more like got come out of college unions. First time and I was just like thought that some Italian design house was going to get Africa. This is what I believe is that, right? I'm going to be in Milan designing Design

Speaker 1: [00:21:53]

Furniture, where, you know, what? When you sort of see how your shot film has performed. And obviously your feature film, where do you believe that you would want to go and next with your filmmaking?

Speaker 2: [00:22:10]

That's a good question and I'm going to actually have to read some of the comments that have On the yeah actually I haven't haven't dived into that

Speaker 1: [00:22:23]

but I think they all want to follow up pretty much or some kind of extension.

Speaker 2: [00:22:27]

Well, that's very interesting. Well we were we are what we have been working on it and covid kind of parked in a little bit and life stuff got in the way. But yes, will maybe relook at the? I would like to do something. So if we were to do something like that, Fallen Angels would probably pitch it to a to a Netflix or somebody like that to, to do it justice, really? I think too, of course, take it to the kind of Next Level. I've got several, and I think I mentioned agree, Keen had you before I have my shoes, do something in animation, whether that's designed the animation or directly at Animation. I would really love to do that. You have an idea of what genre of

Speaker 1: [00:23:23]

Animation. Would it be CGI? Hand-drawn and claymation?

Speaker 2: [00:23:28]

Probably be. I really love who doesn't like the Studio Ghibli style of Animation, but I think there's this amazing piece of software called blender. I don't know if you're familiar. Yeah, they also have this tip to Tool called Grease pencil again which you a kind of hand drawn a fetal but you can build it all previously in in 3D and some of the concept guys I work with and I did a trial we were looking to there's my cousin's, got an amazing Archive of of veterans from the second world war and interview archive that he was he was a hospice nurse and he was okay Commission I someone in herefordshire to go around and interview these guys before they died and he's got amazing Archive of stories and we've started trying to develop an idea based on this guy who had been a German soldier and he's been a w and coming over here and living but he had this amazing story and we started working because we concept A Lot in blender for Off and we came up with this, it's about 3060 seconds, maybe start of this. This idea for his story where he narrates over it and we would and I think it's beautiful but we couldn't get the funding like Micah get the funding and then it got pulled. So that's I'd love to do that but getting back to the store. So I would probably look at Doing it in with blender, okay? I would think anybody would have a more of a traditional feel rather than it and it's just over to help. And anyone who is interested in getting into V effects, or animation or computer gaming design or Channel. Check out blender. It's free. It's like amazing. And it works very well with unreal and all that sort of stuff. So I can't recommend it enough and even making still images it. It's beautiful. You create something of.

Speaker 1: [00:25:49]

Yeah. I've, I've followed the kind of two decks area of computer technology and animation in films for a long time. And the, the recent Unreal Engine is mind-blowing just the level of detail, even for human characterization, four phases, which is one of the hardest things to do. Or hair. It's like I can just tell that this is not real but mine it's from if you know if you just glance you think the person's real? Yeah you know I haven't quite got the skin pause texture I think that's you know I closed up when you can look at the detail of the skin but we're getting to the stage where it's kind of scary where you know the world of acting is He's definitely going to flip on its head. And, you know, I think obviously voices are going to be always highlight the most important characteristic in animation or one of them, but the human element is, you know, something that might not be required as much.

Speaker 2: [00:27:12]

So yeah, it would be. But I mean, one of the great things about directing live action is and especially when you've written dialogue yourself is hearing that brought to life and You can't control what they do. Yeah, actors. That you, you can dress them up, you can give them lines, but then and you can kind of direct them in the space. But the fact that you don't have to manipulate every single detail of nuance and it, and it's kind of the first time you hear dialogue, you've written brought to life, it just I would just this massive grin on your face and

Speaker 1: [00:27:53]

laughing

Speaker 2: [00:27:54]

probably giving the actors Insecurity because you just like, what is it laughing at like, you know, just like it's nothing. You've done. It's

Speaker 1: [00:28:03]

just yeah, you brought my

Speaker 2: [00:28:05]

character to life just exist in, I had, yeah, that's what live action has and the collaborative nature of everything, the more people you have involved, the better things get, I think, you know, it's so beautiful just seeing having an idea and then seeing people run with it and just

Speaker 1: [00:28:23]

have you have you watched scanner die. Berkeley with kind of the name of the director Keanu. Reeves is the main character in search of rotoscoped. So the whole film was shot in as, you know, a film live action with the camera.

Speaker 2: [00:28:42]

Oh yeah, I have seen that. It's a female. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: [00:28:45]

And then they digitally painted over every frame and it's probably very different to what you're visually. Putting forward for your next film. But just the development behind that if you get a chance to watch the behind the scenes and how it was our credits, brilliant.

Speaker 2: [00:29:07]

I remember I remember watching it. Well, we were doing shell-shocked, actually I think it was James yet until was like we could do something. If you seen this we could do that the whole the whole thing because it was very much that Spar was very much inspired by Japanese kind of manga.

Speaker 1: [00:29:25]

That's right. Yeah a care. And and then I Ghost in the Shell,

Speaker 2: [00:29:30]

the shell, which is a matrix massively. You can think. Yeah. But all the things I would do that's that is definitely John ra. It's like, you know, I've written westerns, I'll drink female Westerns Space stuff

Speaker 1: [00:29:46]

well that'll be Westworld pretty much, you know,

Speaker 2: [00:29:51]

a great day to work on. It's kind of like everything you want Westland and sci-fi

Speaker 1: [00:29:55]

today and then we'll just we'll just bring it into like the future just kind of tick all the boxes. Yeah, yeah. And I didn't even realize it was a new season coming out. I was like, what zenzen for season 4 trailer? They, oh my god. When is this Have have you been a Sci-Fi kind of fan from for a long time? I was it just an area that suited the the script.

Speaker 2: [00:30:25]

Yeah I mean I'm not I wouldn't go. I'm like a new buggy con it but yeah yeah I do love sci-fi so I wouldn't want to be tested on on my profile knowledge. I mean you don't grow up in the 80s being born in 1907 without Star Wars, casting a long Shadow on your Childhood of course. Yeah.

Speaker 1: [00:30:47]

I was I still remember seeing Empire Strikes Back

Speaker 2: [00:30:50]

at the cinema. Well, you and the Jedi was me. I don't remember. I'm past. I like you maybe a little

Speaker 1: [00:30:57]

the darkest one of the trilogy and I'm like five or six or something, she do. If I parents were a bit crazy, it's for their love that, I became such a film fan, drag to the cinema. It's a see films that were way too inappropriate

Speaker 2: [00:31:18]

for my brilliant. I mean

Speaker 1: [00:31:20]

God I saw Jaws. Imagine that what age I was when I saw that and Raiders of the Lost Ark that was it. I was hooked after

Speaker 2: [00:31:33]

that. Yeah. Raised a lost

Speaker 1: [00:31:35]

art. Every Steven Spielberg sort of film really pretty much The good and the

Speaker 2: [00:31:41]

bad. I like I still love Flight of the Navigator. I never forget when I watched that one before is amazing. Yeah, good. Compared to, I would like that more than ET oversight, which is very controversial but everyone's like it. So the film

Speaker 1: [00:31:58]

that. Blew my mind, like in a big big way was the abyss by James Cameron and I saw in on an afternoon probably about 15 people in the cinema and there's Cinema like the Odeon in Newcastle or something. I think it was supposed to be at work and I was skydiving. And as I can't be walking around, since going to see me, I got Cinema. Ah, oh yeah, someone told me that, that was good. Some this guy was American, I've been talking to he'd Seen It in America. I had no idea what it was and I think it the abyss came out the same time, Batman, the original Batman, you know, with Michael Keaton. Okay? And I think I've seen that, like, two or three times as I, okay? This Abyss thing have no idea what this is went in and just was like, oh my

Speaker 2: [00:32:57]

God. That's it. You know, right a bit.

Speaker 1: [00:33:02]

I'm either going to make films. I'm going to somehow be involved in them. Yeah. All right. That was it. So I mean you you basically you you filmed in Heritage and I was one question. I did have fun myself, was the location of the farm? Was that somebody you knew? Was he your family? Yeah. Or how did you manage to solve Wrangler and entire Farm?

Speaker 2: [00:33:33]

My uncle's farm right. So it was yeah, written. I knew where the where the seams are going to take place. As I wrote it so I I've he was going to meet her new that he's going to be feet and sheep on that field. I mean the tractor. Which died now. Actually got my uncle does but it's yeah I knew I mean that tractor I drove as a kid when I used to dad used to borrow that and we used to do silage in or I'd go and yeah so driven on that track too many times

Speaker 1: [00:34:14]

you driving the tractor in the scenes. I was Rosalind the actor.

Speaker 2: [00:34:20]

Andrew was Andrew pride no relation whatsoever It was unbelievable because I particularly, I always wanted to do a kind of Western setting that bar of the world. The Welsh marches called Mark and there's a particular way you speak as a particular humor. And first of all, I actually sorry and if you watch, this actually has Paul Whitehouse submitted a brief minute, he read the script and considered it, and it never ever happened, which is a great shame because I think Hawaii has amazing and should do more serious stuff because he's just genius. But I started looking into who could play the role of Stan, who's named after my friend's dad, and This is I just started researching Welsh actors, because I was like, well, I'd rather it be a Welsh actor and I was a couple of guys. One guy was in Twin Town which is very funny film from the 90s.

Speaker 1: [00:35:28]

Yeah, I remember. Yeah.

Speaker 2: [00:35:30]

Brilliant called the wells Trainspotting but it's not the wealth transfer is not so much, it's fine but it's really funny and sighs like I wanted someone with an authentic accent that new and then I found this guy called Anjou price who was from herefordshire so I started So I said to the cap, forgotten her name. Then Maddie, I think you did the casting. Can you approach this guy? And I just thought he was younger than I thought I wanted and to be a good bit older than.

Speaker 1: [00:36:04]

Yeah. Like weathered farmer

Speaker 2: [00:36:06]

haggled. Yeah. What away bit older, but he grew up on a farm. He liked me. He'd been any gone to London. He started acting, he was He was just on the, I was like, well, because of his authenticity are going with him because he had had the accent, right? He had the humor, he was able to jump in a tractor and drive it. He was a, you know, he did what he's a knew what to do. When you feed his sheep, he knew what he did. He just knew how to inhabit that fit that. Yeah, because his mannerisms of

Speaker 1: [00:36:41]

absolutely spot-on. And then, it wasn't until I watched the interview with him. As I he grew up on a farm. Because he looks like a complete natural.

Speaker 2: [00:36:50]

Yeah, I mean he was just so you don't have to worry about him. He just really, really. And then the costume was pretty much summer as well, granddad's jumper. And my stepdads think that's the costume could quite often things for me that people get wrong either and it's really hard to age a costume. It takes like, you know, only for the victims, their Asian property. There are hundreds of people, aging is

Speaker 1: [00:37:14]

called. Yeah, you need to get the wax off the barber jacket, which doesn't Just happen easily. It's a song of years of weathering so

Speaker 2: [00:37:22]

it's super difficult. So I was really happy with intensity of that and everything in the farm was just as it was that we did a couple of little tweaks, but I wanted that to feel, you know, and it's kind of mad and it's just such a beautiful place. It's sort of a love letter to Growing Up on a farm and yeah, the

Speaker 1: [00:37:44]

opening scene is very reminiscent of the, you know, that Suns. Just starting to come up.

Speaker 2: [00:37:53]

I was really clean to shoot it as well at that time of year because I didn't believes it's too pretty. And I wanted it to feel kind of like, you feel the Rue and we were just they were just about to start lambing. And so it was a very finite window, it had to happen. My wife was working on a, it's like, we just got two young girls. I was looking after, you know, my daughter's. And so I was like, we have to do this in this window. Yeah, we actually lost the purse. He was playing Stargirl because of it and then we we found someone else. And then so basically I thought lost my think one little thing that's happened. I said Sankar Richard, I have is I've going to need lights on the tractor and he's like all the lights don't work. He's like them work for ages and in fact was no wind and I don't know if One of the one and I love the fact. It him and dad would like fixing it on the morning. One of the lights is square and one of the lights is round that if you know, have an OST yeah,

Speaker 1: [00:38:59]

I do notice the square but not the round one and the other one rides and

Speaker 2: [00:39:03]

it's so beautiful because I like your the plan that but you know, the way he drove it, he hadn't driven a tractor for a while and you thought I'd give it a go and dad was giving her a bit of a refresher course. But Like, you know to drive that in bring the thing in off the off off the yard into the bay drop thing then and yeah and

Speaker 1: [00:39:26]

I had to, you know,

Speaker 2: [00:39:28]

as well. You know

Speaker 1: [00:39:29]

she actually in it as he was doing

Speaker 2: [00:39:32]

that and

Speaker 1: [00:39:35]

that's a good thing is your money

Speaker 2: [00:39:37]

short films. You kind of how

Speaker 1: [00:39:40]

how did you find the actress who plays via jerr?

Speaker 2: [00:39:44]

So we found her through had a casting agent Maddie and she found her basically.

Speaker 1: [00:39:55]

Yeah, Christian Christian,

Speaker 2: [00:39:58]

Christian crystianna crystianna Christina. Both of these, Chris Brian Irish version of. And so yeah, she came to lovely person and we were very blessed that she was up for doing it and being in makeup. Yeah, I've

Speaker 1: [00:40:24]

hours. I mean, she had a head cast, which is something that I don't think I could ever go through how it is. He did she know she was going to have a head cast.

Speaker 2: [00:40:37]

Yeah, we talked about it that she needs to be head cast, and that she'd be out in the freezing cold with very little on, and her background was modeling. So I think probably as you experience with,

Speaker 1: [00:40:49]

we're gonna dress you in nothing and you're going to stand around

Speaker 2: [00:40:52]

for hours and some kind of a okay, but I mean the blue didn't come off very well. And actually the we shot the blue The first day and a half the second day or something. No, first half the first day and the second day and then the next day was when she's in a disguise. I remember Christina sending me this video of like and everyone had gone home and she's like we're still keeping this stuff off. Message on the far. So I'll we're all the Quarry but I that just reminds me of something else that happened. I'll tell you in a second and if you look the next When she meets lives and she's like, he stand staying on. She's

Speaker 1: [00:41:37]

my notice the blue line across the couldn't come on, I love on, but I thought I was quite cool and that, well, that's what it's like. Oh, there's a hint. That something is not quite, right?

Speaker 2: [00:41:47]

Yeah. Well, we hadn't found that it happened.

Speaker 1: [00:41:49]

It wasn't planned. Yeah. Does anything come

Speaker 2: [00:41:51]

half? Then we realized we've got our. This is cool. Let's but

Speaker 1: [00:41:55]

yeah. It's like the hidden camouflage. Yeah. But so she's She basically in the film, she tries to kind of help Stan Ava, come what I guess is probably guys cancer. I'm assuming and kind of just gracefully let him pass away. But is it, is it the kind of life force that she's taking

Speaker 2: [00:42:25]

or? Yeah, she's taken his soul

Speaker 1: [00:42:27]

basically. So, okay. And and does that allow her to transform? To his actual shape, his being.

Speaker 2: [00:42:36]

Yeah, of course. It does how.

Speaker 1: [00:42:42]

So my final question is the two guys, I can't remember their names. The two guys who are looking for the a meteor? Has she taken over them or are they just like, oh, cool. She's an alien, right? We're just gonna follow

Speaker 2: [00:42:57]

her. The idea is that she's good. She's taking them up to see. See where the because he's like do you want to go up and see where the meteor hit and you know what happens after that is? Yeah, we'll

Speaker 1: [00:43:16]

see. Hopefully in a series,

Speaker 2: [00:43:19]

I don't know. The thing I was going to say is I remember waking up and I very rarely get a mock-up sites but they're not, I'd gone up home the night before everyone else turned up. Weekend before to kind of get everything ready. Cut up at like 4:00 in the morning with stomach cramps and I don't know what happened, but I had a sickness bug. I was lay on the floor at 5:00 in the bathroom thinking, I can't do this. I'm going to have to cancel everybody. And then I was like, thank God everybody is in, and that first day. I was just in B I could not it was all I could do to just survive so they just

Speaker 1: [00:44:06]

pint at things go there.

Speaker 2: [00:44:09]

First thing, we shot was all of the stuff with the feeding and all of that so because you're trying to continue story order as much as possible. So the fact that Andrew knew how to do all that cutter bail to the just meant that I didn't and Barney his shot, the camera work was brilliant and We had a really good professional like the guys that were doing it. We're just amazing, the crew to crew were all there either people. I knew all the people I didn't know were very experienced and like I said, looking to step up the guy who was doing the first AP, I believe that he first aid, he's now all the time and he was brilliant and we so we were super, super lucky and when you get Let the crew know what they're doing, then don't have to really, you know, they said,

Speaker 1: [00:45:03]

yeah, I know the forgot What's called the photography. Second photography,

Speaker 2: [00:45:13]

Director of Photography? I'd like to report the yeah,

Speaker 1: [00:45:15]

he's brilliant is really, really good and I often wonder, you know, I mean the film was made in 2017, I think

Speaker 2: [00:45:26]

that we shot it in 15.

Speaker 1: [00:45:29]

Wow, really?

Speaker 2: [00:45:30]

Yeah, you should take a couple of years. How was the

Speaker 1: [00:45:32]

editing process to was it fast? Slow, did you work on it at the weekends? Yeah, Mike

Speaker 2: [00:45:39]

Friend James is an editor and I kind of borrowed all my favors with him with the star. The Shelf drop fee which took a couple years, we do it being a family needs full-time editor and do the weekends and and and then actually the special effects that were involved, took a meeting. Yeah. The meteors and

Speaker 1: [00:46:04]

Ray of Life are

Speaker 2: [00:46:06]

and all of that took a little bit times, get write the music. Easiest, I was looking for somebody who the guy who did the shell shot was brilliant musician. Who then give it up, gave it all up and now he's up in Scotland and he recommended someone that he taught when he wasn't teaching in London and then he sort of sent me a few tracks from people. He was teaching and this one guy just had this track that was at the end and I was like that's it was just little goes a just listen to these things and tell me if there's any particular style. Dial that you want. And we'll get to work school or something for you. I play. I'm listen to this track. And I was like, well, that's it. I don't need anything school. That's the one. Perfect. Yes, sir. It was so perfect. So but like everything you take a little while and then everyone gets a little bit and if you're not, hurrying it on as, as the kind of director, and your life gets busy and everyone else's lives busy. So it's sort of stops and starts. Some because it's such a big effort to get it, get it, get it in the can as it were that that takes up so much time and effort and then after that, because you've still got this other hurdle

Speaker 1: [00:47:20]

actually have to cut the film out of everything. Everything that you just saw

Speaker 2: [00:47:27]

on the sound, is also really terrific difficult or with cousin. Yeah, signed in this. And that's the thing that always amazes me, how long time consuming and just finding, I was lucky to find it. Guy hit through the sound Engineers had been to film school. We went and did the Final Mix at the film schools like a dubbing theater there, which is like brilliant. It's like the what they and we and we played it on a big screen and he did it all in an afternoon and but it's taken ages to build up the lot. You know, to do the final mixes the final bit of, of all, of all of that kind and then the grading, of course, we had to beg borrow and steal grade. Finally managed to get a couple of times to the. You can kind of do it all in the bedroom, but then, there's these times where you have, we have to do the final stuff that you have to go to a facility. And of course, they're so busy. And everyone is working flat out on their day jobs. Now it's fine time and then you know, to get that. What you want? The proper quality. You want is hard unless you can pay for the money to slot it in, but that's, that's right. And then it sort of breaks the ideology cool thing of like well, no crew, get paid, I mean initially I started it going like will pay all the crew minimal amount. It will be very kind of like, you know, because everyone should get paid a little bit. Of course we didn't, we didn't get raised enough for that. So then that's like I was like, too many, well what should we do? Should we give all the money back that people with MS and he's like, that's like, because it's not within that, you know, I'd like wrote in a dog mouth. Or like going forward with the films that we want to do now and already fall down and so on, like first thing is, like, we did when we haven't raised enough money to pay the crew. So what do we do? And he's like, no everyone will you know people are not doing it for the money James, if you're going to give him 50 Quid like four foot, it's that's more in your it's more about you than it is about what they're doing. If they're going to come and do it for expenses, they're not 50 quids not going to make any mr. Meow. Inserts. Like, once I got my head around that it's like fine. I sorta. Like wanted us to be a bit more professional than we've been before, you know, it's always better at. We've done all these favors that you had all these favors this time. He's like,

Speaker 1: [00:49:51]

yeah, I mean, so some something that has occurred through the distribution of your film. That it's been really beneficial for the film rich in the audience that it has is. So, your film is available on Amazon, it's available on to be, if you're familiar with that,

Speaker 2: [00:50:16]

I had to look up to be. Your TV

Speaker 1: [00:50:18]

is like, big American platform and YouTube and then lots of other places, but basically, Amazon were taking on short films for a number of years and unfortunately, they a year ago, decided, To stop taking shot films but all the films that had made it through to Amazon and Amazon Prime before the cutoff didn't seem to be affected. And so your film was, you know, now if if films are brought to us now that I shot films, we're having to navigate a new way of, you know, funding distribution for these films. Because unfortunately, I think I'm not sure, But I think to be also, I mean, I was amazed so tube. Is a feature film platform and like, star girl comes on. Like, what have they have? They made a mistake. No, I'm not. I won't say anything. And and right? And I don't like it's 20 minutes long. How the heck did this Gap there and then I noticed the word other shots up there as well. In the same kind of time, frame it half an hour, 20 minutes. And so basically, I mean you your your audience is divided between YouTube and to be. So you're covering this massive out an Amazon as well. So you're covering, you know, all the kind of pillars really? And and I think what Also may have helped your film was there was a massive Marvel series called star girl that came out as we went live on YouTube and East your film on Amazon and then and so I think that definitely was was probably a driving force. People were just searching Stargirl finding Stargirl your style girl before star go Marvel's released and just going. Oh what's that? I'm watching it. It's so you know it's all very you know happy timing lucky lucky for

Speaker 2: [00:52:39]

coincidences. It's interesting actually when we were naming it It's inspired by star man with the Jeff Bridges film. Yeah but 70s mid-70s my yeah right we'll go and watch

Speaker 1: [00:52:52]

it John

Speaker 2: [00:52:53]

Carpenter it's just lovely Jeff Bridges amazing. And so I was like, well we'll call it that because and I googled at the time I was like, well, if there any other films called star, girl, or anything, or anything on the internet and it was so like, because we Before You released it, we started making it. We start raising the money 2014 I guess there was nothing. There was this a comic called the you know there's Marvel comic called stock up but there was no talk of him being made into a TV letting you know like them adapting it for the screen you know in the Marvel Universe was still relatively small back then Iron Man pretty much it's not one of the comics I know from Marvel but you know will be That's why didn't, you know, I didn't even think really and then I saw as it was coming out that there's this then we released it on. Put it on IMBD as honest, another thing called style what are the

Speaker 1: [00:53:55]

multi-million dollar production

Speaker 2: [00:54:01]

by Marvel?

Speaker 1: [00:54:05]

So it's been, it's been fantastic. And so for any filmmakers out there, if you can find the name of a film Well, I want you to just get you on today and going more in-depth into how you create Stargirl, and more about yourself just as a director. It's been awesome. It's been really good. Just ask you all these questions and get more of an insight into what it takes to make a film. It's always incredibly difficult everyone. I speak to no one's ever said it was easy. Maybe everything worked and they were the, you know, it's not. Of the Lamb. Yeah, isn't the way

Speaker 2: [00:54:48]

we should just painted.

Speaker 1: [00:54:50]

Yeah. She just took to heart.

Speaker 2: [00:54:55]

Yeah, it's terribly. And designing, a not directing the more that you I spend time with relatively or really successful directors. Yeah, you realized that it just doesn't get any easier then he never wanted. To make the film studios, never want to give him the money to make the film they want. It's just because it's a business at the end of the day and the in battle and it's a battle and it is so much so hard to do it and like anybody, I don't know who it was. It said, but you're not nobody sets out to make a bad film. So like anybody that makes any film or gets anything finished should be commended. And if it you don't get then like just don't like it but Don't slack it off because

Speaker 1: [00:55:45]

exactly as

Speaker 2: [00:55:48]

well done for doing it. You know, if that's all you can say, just like fair play for giving it a go, it takes so much. Jeff blinkered belief and self belief

Speaker 1: [00:55:59]

against

Speaker 2: [00:55:59]

determination, and there's always this before you're about to shoot things start falling apart and I'm reasonably chilled. But

Speaker 1: [00:56:07]

that's the

Speaker 2: [00:56:10]

start and you become irrational. It's just like, oh my God. You

Speaker 1: [00:56:14]

know, happening for a reason I'm not meant to make it. Why is it doing this now? Well on that note I will let you go and just thank you very much. And is there anywhere that you would like to send your audience? Your fans? Do you have a website and blog, anything you want people to see apart from obviously watching Star Girl on

Speaker 2: [00:56:40]

YouTube Dark on YouTube be great. If you're interested in seeing more, please note it there and I'll read it. And,

Speaker 1: [00:56:49]

yeah, I mean, James is basically going to use that area. Is the kind of catchment pint for all ideas and correspondence, moving forward. So you never know. You might actually leave some influence and in what he decides to do

Speaker 2: [00:57:07]

next. Yeah, we do have a website with as an updated and a long time. So it's pixie films .co.uk Okay, but yeah, Mega who the would be lovely to see and I will read. I will read some of her and I tonight.

Speaker 1: [00:57:21]

Yeah. There's some excellent arguments in the Sahara. It's really good. All right, well, thank you very much for your time. James and take care.