Bird's Eye View

From Stage to Screen: BEV chats to Fiona Gordon, co-director and star of the magical comedy RUMBA

Rumba, in selected cinemas from Friday 31st July

BEV’s Creative Director Rachel Millward had the happy chance to see Rumba this week. Delighted to see something so fresh and involving on screen, Rachel was fascinated by how the creative trio used their physical theatre background to bring a new vision to film. Read on for some enlightening insights from co-director and star, Fiona Gordon:

 

Rachel: What prompted you to venture from the world of theatre into cinema?

Fiona: As soon as video cameras were available, Dom and I began to experiment. It took a long time to translate physical theatre language into cinema. Things really worked when we started not to worry about trying to find a ‘cinematographical’ way of working, but instead to take advantage of what physical theatre can do. So, we used the frame – instead of editing to make rhythm, we’d do it within a sequence shot. This gives a really good momentum for the actor, and lets the audience choose what to focus on, rather than directing their gaze through close-ups. In theatre you have to use your imagination, you have to make believe. We try to keep that in the film. That’s why we use corny old effects rather than slick digital ones. There’s a sense of it being faulty – that’s a very ‘theatre-ish’ thing to do.

Fiona Gordon, co-director and star of Rumba

Rachel: How do you create your work? Do you use improvisation or write a script, and does that differ when you are working with theatre or film?

Fiona: We work in exactly the same way for both theatre and cinema. We write through improvisation. The disadvantage of cinema is that there is no audience reaction straight away, but we have 25 years of theatre experience, we can imagine their response, and we have developed our own sense of timing. The excitement of theatre is that it happens only once, whereas the excitement of film is that you can work on it forever, working it like a painting or a novel.

Rachel: How do you attract funding without a script?

Fiona: Obviously we need something on paper to present to funders, so we improvise and write at same time. We have learnt to describe in writing what we do, how to evoke the scenes without going into technical details. Funders are beginning to get used to our style and to trust and support our vision.

Rachel: What was the budget for RUMBA?

Fiona: 1,600,000 Euros. This came from Belgium and French governments, CANAL +, and the regions. If we had more money we would spend it on more time to rehearse and experiment. It was a 9 week shoot, and a 12 weeks edit.

Rachel: Do you always make comedy?

Fiona: Yes! We don’t write funny stuff, but when we improvise we make it as funny as possible. Our starting point is always characters that move us, stories that move us. The improvisation always starts with ourselves – the characters are very close to us, so we have an empathetic view towards them. We never have to think about their psychological background…

Rumba, directed by Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy

Rachel: What advice would you give to women working in theatre or performance who want to start working in film?

Fiona: Start filmming right away. Don’t think too much. Try things. Writing is one thing, but when you start to film it’s completely different – everyone has different style. We like to ‘find’ the script, not have a pre-conceived idea. You need a camera, just a cheap one. And you should try, and try again. If you write and don’t try you can wait a long time before someone is interested, and you miss the chance of learning how to refine your own film language.

Rachel: Your creative partner, Dominique Abel, is also your life partner. How does that work?

Fiona: With comedy couple you can’t decide it… you can be in love and try to work together, but it might not work. There’s a very specific chemistry required… I’m just lucky to find that with Dominique. We often have huge arguments when we write, because we are each imagining different things. But when we film we agree immediately.

Rachel: And you have a third director, Bruno Romy, who does not take a lead role like you and Dominique. How does the collaboration work?

Fiona: We all improvise together, including Bruno even though he’s not primarily a performer – he’ll play all the other roles, Dominique and I play ourselves. So Bruno isn’t an outside eye looking in, we are all used to being both outside and inside at the same time. Even whilst Dominique and I are being filmed, we sense where the camera’s eye is and what it is reading.

Rachel: Who are your inspirations?

Fiona: Kaurismaki, a Finnish director, plus we love all the pioneering silent film comics – because they didn’t come from film backgrounds, they had strange amateurish ways of filmming. We love that!

Rumba opens at the ICA, Odeon Panton Street and Key Cities on Friday July 31st. For more information please visit our First Weekenders Club page.