Alexandra McGuinness
Alexandra McGuinness has had the London Film Festival experience before when one of her short films was selected to be screened - but this year she is back making her feature film debut.
I caught up with the Lotus Eaters filmmaker to talk about the movie, making the transition into feature films and what lies ahead.
- Lotus Eaters is your new movie so can you tell me a little bit about it?
Well Lotus Eaters is the story of Alice, who is a model who is trying to give it a go as an actress in London; the film is set in contemporary London.
The movie is told over a summer and it charts the story, mainly told through a series of parties and events, and she is surrounded by a group of friends and people that she thinks are her friends.
The film is also about her on/off relationship with her boyfriend Charlie, played by Johnny Flynn - and it is a comic/tragic story I suppose you could say.
There is a lot of music and fashion elements to the story and it is also filmed in black and white - it's a movie about moments really it's of a scrapbook film and less of a plotted narrative story.
- Is there any particular reason why you chose to shoot in black and white?
I had planned to since the script stage because it is this an ensemble story it automatically gives the audience some distance from the characters - some of the characters are quite unsympathetic and it puts the audience in observational mode.
We were also inspired by a lot of eighties fashion photography and I think that it adds to that - I had taken a a lot of black and white photographs when I was writing the script.
- You penned the script as well as directed so where did the story originate?
I wrote the script with my co-writer Brendan Grant and the script is a lot of stories brought together and there are lots of characters in the story - that were both of our ideas - centred this character Alice.
There are some things that are taken from bits of conversations that we had heard or witnessed but for the large part it is a fictional story about someone who is at a point in their twenties where they are don't totally know where to go next they are a bit lost in life, I think a lot of people can relate to.
And they are in a relationship that they should probably get out of but they are hanging on because they are in love with the person and they don't really want to get out of it.
- This is your debt feature so how has this differed from short projects that you have worked on in the past?
I think with a short you are really in a sprint it maybe a fully realised snack that you know how you want it to look and you can have a lot of energy to get it done.
But with a feature I realised that there are a lot of people involved and you have to keep them there and keep them focused and with you the whole way through the project - you also have to keep your actors and your crew aware of where the story is emotionally and narratively because you are shooting out of sinc most of the time.
So you have to keep them motivated and energised because you are working over a six week period - or longer.
But I found the post production period - we edited for about six months - that was the hardest part of it keeping focused for that amount of time.
- How did you experience in short film help with this movie?
I think making short film in and out of film was a wonderful learning experience from a technical point of view because you know what to ask for from your crew and you can also try things out and learn what doesn't work.
You will also learn you style - and I think that is what short film is really great for
- Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Johnny Flynn are just two of the names on the cast list so can you talk me through the casting process and did you pen the script with anyone in mind?
I had worked with Antonia before on a short. One of my producers showed me a YouTube clip of Johnny singing with Laura Marling and I met him for coffee, I needed someone who would be able to sing a song within the film.
And the rest of the cast came about through regular casting sessions, looking through people who had just come out of drama school and also looking at quite a lot of models and people we saw in the street and friends.
It was a varied process and one that my producer was involved in. We then paired people together and seeing how they worked as we needed to find a believable clique of frenemies I suppose.
I think we assembled a really interesting group of young actors and it is really interesting to see what they are doing now; Johnny is in Jerusalem on stage in London and Antonia has been in some wonderful films this year - including Albert Nobbs.
Amber Anderson is on billboards of Burberry while Gina Bramhill is in the new season of Being Human.
It a really interesting cast and all of them were great to work with and they all got into the project - and I can say that all of the are great people as well.
- The movie is being screened at the BFI London Film Festival this week so you must be excited about that?
It is exciting yeah, and the first screening is on by birthday as well. I have just been in a festival in San Francisco and this will be the first time that we will have screened in London, we have been in Tribecca, New York and Ireland, but this will be our home town screening.
It will be interesting to see what people are going to think - there will be two screenings and most of the cast will be there to do Q&A's so it's going to be really fun.
- How important is the London Film Festival for up and coming British filmmakers?
I think it is really important because what the programme has managed to is to show a mix of up and coming films that will come to the cinema anyway and films that won't find and audience - a mix of both British and international filmmakers.
I know that we are part of a British programme of really interesting films and quite a lot of female filmmakers.
The film festival is now encompassing all of London as it is now in the West End and BFI we are screening at the Ritzy in Brixton.
I have always been a big fan of the festival, the first short that I made was screened at the festival four or five years ago; I was part of a panel for young GCSE students and since then I have been a big fan.
It really showcases talent - especially with the UK film industries and plenty of European film industries being in such flux at the moment - it's a really great tool to find an audience for film that a re a little left of centre.
- You kicked off you career in acting so how have you found the transition into directing?
I really have found what I loved doing, I think a lot of directors start of doing something else because it is not always a clear cut path to becoming a director; the more directors I meet I find out that they began as painters or actors.
I loved film and it was the most visible thing I think you see when you watch films but I never committed to it as I see so many actors do - I very quickly found that I was much more comfortable behind the camera.
- How has being an actress helped the filming side of you career?
I think that it gives me a dialogue with the actors - perhaps they feel more comfortable talking to me because I know how uncomfortable it can be and how naked that you can feel as an actor in front of the camera when you are left at a loose end.
- Apart from your own movie what other films are you looking forward to watching at the London Film Festival?
Well I have tickets to see 360 so I am looking forward to that and I also want to see Carol Morley's new film.
When I go to a festival I end up seeing three of four films a day (laughs) - Strawberry Fields is another film that I would love to see.
- Finally what's next for you?
I am writing my follow-up script at the moment, it is like a movie within a movie and is set between London and Berlin - it's a comedy drama. I hope to shoot that next year sometime.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Alexandra McGuinness has had the London Film Festival experience before when one of her short films was selected to be screened - but this year she is back making her feature film debut.
I caught up with the Lotus Eaters filmmaker to talk about the movie, making the transition into feature films and what lies ahead.
- Lotus Eaters is your new movie so can you tell me a little bit about it?
Well Lotus Eaters is the story of Alice, who is a model who is trying to give it a go as an actress in London; the film is set in contemporary London.
The movie is told over a summer and it charts the story, mainly told through a series of parties and events, and she is surrounded by a group of friends and people that she thinks are her friends.
The film is also about her on/off relationship with her boyfriend Charlie, played by Johnny Flynn - and it is a comic/tragic story I suppose you could say.
There is a lot of music and fashion elements to the story and it is also filmed in black and white - it's a movie about moments really it's of a scrapbook film and less of a plotted narrative story.
- Is there any particular reason why you chose to shoot in black and white?
I had planned to since the script stage because it is this an ensemble story it automatically gives the audience some distance from the characters - some of the characters are quite unsympathetic and it puts the audience in observational mode.
We were also inspired by a lot of eighties fashion photography and I think that it adds to that - I had taken a a lot of black and white photographs when I was writing the script.
- You penned the script as well as directed so where did the story originate?
I wrote the script with my co-writer Brendan Grant and the script is a lot of stories brought together and there are lots of characters in the story - that were both of our ideas - centred this character Alice.
There are some things that are taken from bits of conversations that we had heard or witnessed but for the large part it is a fictional story about someone who is at a point in their twenties where they are don't totally know where to go next they are a bit lost in life, I think a lot of people can relate to.
And they are in a relationship that they should probably get out of but they are hanging on because they are in love with the person and they don't really want to get out of it.
- This is your debt feature so how has this differed from short projects that you have worked on in the past?
I think with a short you are really in a sprint it maybe a fully realised snack that you know how you want it to look and you can have a lot of energy to get it done.
But with a feature I realised that there are a lot of people involved and you have to keep them there and keep them focused and with you the whole way through the project - you also have to keep your actors and your crew aware of where the story is emotionally and narratively because you are shooting out of sinc most of the time.
So you have to keep them motivated and energised because you are working over a six week period - or longer.
But I found the post production period - we edited for about six months - that was the hardest part of it keeping focused for that amount of time.
- How did you experience in short film help with this movie?
I think making short film in and out of film was a wonderful learning experience from a technical point of view because you know what to ask for from your crew and you can also try things out and learn what doesn't work.
You will also learn you style - and I think that is what short film is really great for
- Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Johnny Flynn are just two of the names on the cast list so can you talk me through the casting process and did you pen the script with anyone in mind?
I had worked with Antonia before on a short. One of my producers showed me a YouTube clip of Johnny singing with Laura Marling and I met him for coffee, I needed someone who would be able to sing a song within the film.
And the rest of the cast came about through regular casting sessions, looking through people who had just come out of drama school and also looking at quite a lot of models and people we saw in the street and friends.