Blackmoor is a short film that will be featured during the Cambridge film Festival as part of the Short Fusion: Contravention strand. Shot on location on the Devon Coast and in East London, the drama stars Gwilym Lloyd (Royal Shakespeare Company), Stacha Hicks (David Brent: Life on the Road, Captain Phillips) and Matthew Jure (Grantchester, The Tunnel) and features a soundtrack by Billy Bragg. Day Moibi met with the team behind the short, to discuss their inspiration and future plans.
Day Moibi: What was the inspiration behind Blackmoor?
Ed Buggé (Producer):We wanted to make a film that felt like a good short story; something subtle, strange and affecting that suggests a whole world beyond itself. James (Lewis, Director) spent a lot of time with Philip Morgan, who wrote the script, reading and discussing possible departure points. The original idea for Gwilym Lloyds’ character (Munro), for example, came from Joyce Carol Oates’ story “Where Is Here?” and Blackmoor quickly departed from its source materials and developed its own narrative and identity.
The film was also inspired by the beauty and harshness of the North Devon coast. We spent a weekend driving around looking for locations and were completely taken with the cottage. It is both wild and domestic, which suits the story. It also has a kind of timelessness which meant that we could set the film there in the mid-1980s; something that was supported with Billy Bragg coming on board with The Man In The Iron Mask for the soundtrack. The fact that the story takes place within living memory but still a long time ago is highly significant. It enabled us to create a retrospective feel toBlackmoor, so that it the film appears somehow familiar and unfamiliar to a modern audience at the same time, reflecting one of the key themes that drives the narrative.
DM: The landscape is beautifully shot and is plays a huge part in the dramatization of the film, what were you trying to accomplish with such a technique?
James Lewis: Jacob Robinson (DP) did an incredible job in capturing the landscape’s hostility and beauty. Without giving too much away, the wintry landscape is central to the relationship between two of the characters as well as being a metaphor for their relationship itself. For that reason, it was a very deliberate decision to shoot in late November, although I’m not sure any of us were quite expecting the driving rain and 40mph winds that lasted for most of the shoot! There were times on location, with shooting delayed while we towing vehicles out of the mud or the camera crew were simply being blown off their feet, when we were certainly questioning the wisdom of that decision. But for all the logistical challenges, the gamble paid off, as it actually enabled us capture the beauty and harshness of the setting more effectively on screen.
DM: There is a very subtle purposefulness that chills the viewer. Was this your intention?
Max Pirkis (Producer): The first half of the film works a bit like a slow-burn thriller. We wanted to almost dare the audience to imagine the worst possible outcome without ever misleading them. With each scene the space inhabited by the two men gets smaller and smaller but you’re no closer to finding out who Munro is or what on earth he wants. The longer this goes on, the more menacing his presence becomes. You feel the menace through Matthew Jure’s character especially when the film switches to his perspective inside the house – he did a great job in communicating a sense of invasion. James was very drawn to the idea of the audience feeling the building tension between the two characters without really knowing the reason why until we reach the final scenes of the film.
DM: What are your future plans?
EB: Our production company A Certain Kind is up and running and we are developing a broad slate of film and TV projects. We have been closely with Blackmoor writer Philip Morgan on a new screenplay which we are developing into our first feature and are also collaborating with a well-known musician on a scripted drama project. We are building a young, talented filmmaking team around us and we are very excited about what we can achieve.
Blackmoor screens as part of the “Contravention” strand at Cambridge Film Festival at 11pm on 22 October and 27 October at 8.00 in the Cinemobile on Parker’s Piece.
