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. Read the full story
Thursday there was only one event that was really on my mind…. the BEV/WarpX Last Laugh Comedy Night at the Roxy. Very simply because my short film was showing and there would be lots of very funny women that I admire, or at least was excited about seeing for the first time and was consequently very inspired. Though I was gutted that I wasn’t able to go to Alraune as well, which was apparently very amazing.
On 4th February 2009, the Last Laugh participants pitched 23 ideas to Warp X. We’re very excited to let you know that four projects have been selected for development. These are:
Last Laugh participants gather for a cheesy group pic
In 2008, Birds Eye View launched a whole new project to continue our support for women filmmakers beyond our annual festival. As our first BEV Lab, we have set out to discover and equip the next generation of female comedy film-writing talent, with our amazing production partner Warp X, with funding from Skillset. Read the full story
To celebrate the launch of the first ever BEV Lab: Last Laugh, we re-cut our special comedy trailer that was previously screened at the Comedy Retrospective programme in the Birds Eye View Film Festival 2008.
Watch Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones) Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me) Jessica Hynes (Spaced) and Jo Brand (comedian) commenting on the lack of women in comedy today, and the need for the Warp X and BEV Comedy Lab.
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