Strings
Rob Savage is a filmmaker to keep an eye on over the next few years as he is making waves with his feature length debut Strings.
The movie has already picked up a gong at the British Independent Film Awards and has been doing well on the festival circuit and this weekend Strings will be screened at the BFI Future Film Festival.
We caught up with the director to chat about the new film, making his feature length debut and how the film has been received.
- Strings is your new film so can you tell me a little bit about it?
Well Strings is my first feature that I made when I was eighteen years old after I had finished my A-Levels.
It is about a German exchange student who is about to head back to Munich but in the last summer that she is in England she starts an impulsive relationship with a British boy.
They both know that it can only last a few weeks that they have got together.
- You have penned the script as well as in the director's chair so where did this movie start for you? And where did the idea for the project come from?
Originally I started making it as a short film and I had even shot a few days with friends of mine in the parts.
But as I was editing the movie my area had a massive power surge and my laptop basically exploded and I lost all of this footage.
So I gave up on it as a short film and started re-writing it as a feature using my own life experiences; I was the same age as the characters and a lot of my friends were going through relationship break-ups.
- How did you find taking the project from a short to a feature?
It was freeing in a way because in a short film you such a limited amount of time to tell a story or to give information about a character.
But because I had ninety minutes to play with we could be a lot more subtle and tease information out of the scenes rather than giving it all away.
- As you have mentioned already Strings sees you make your feature length directorial debut so how did you find the transition from shorts?
It was definitely a learning curve. We had basically no money, we had about £3,000 to make the whole film, and we shot for about a month.
I started out wanting people to think that I was this hardened professional but I think as soon as I let that drop and really started talking to the cast and crew, it was the first film for all of them as well, we started taking it slowly and got a nice dynamic going.
- Speaking of the cast the likes of Philine Lembeck and Oliver Malam are on the cast list and they are making their feature film debut so can you tell me a bit about the casting process?
It was interesting because the lead role of Grace was originally an English character but I was introduced to this German theatre actress called Philine Lembeck.
We met and started talking and we shared the same interests and like the same kind of films and then I went home and started re-writing it for this German character - which made her feel even more alienated in her situation.
- As you say this was a first feature film for many on the cast list so how did you find working with their inexperience?
I found it really reassuring that no one had done a feature before because no one knew how it was going to work.
So we very much all knew that we wanted to make something special so we got up every day with this enthusiasm to really make a statement with our first film.
- How have you found the response to the film so far?
It has blown me away. We only really expected our friends and family to see it and now it is getting a UK cinema release and it is playing at all of these major festivals.
I think it is just nice to see everyone's hard work rewarded because everyone really invested in the project. So it is nice that they are getting this reward now.
- The film picked up the Raindance Award at the British Independent Film Awards so you must be thrilled at the way it was been received at that festival?
The most surreal thing was a lot of the people who inspired me to make the film in the first place were in that room when I was getting that award; Terry Gilliam was in the first row when I was accepting it. So it was very surreal.
- The film is set to be shown at the BFI Future Film Festival over the weekend so have you got a busy few days ahead?
I have got a crazy weekend. The film is also showing at the Glasgow Film Festival on Friday, the BFI Future Film Festival on Saturday and at the Glasgow Film Festival again on Saturday night so I will be going back to Glasgow for that. Then I will be in Dublin on Sunday and Monday.
- You have worked with The BFI Future Film Festival for some years now so how important do you think events like this are for up and coming filmmakers?
It is incredibly important as they have really helped me out. I did a sci-fi film that they really liked and since then they have really taken me under their wing.
It just really legitimises everything that you do as having a film shown at the BFI is just so prestigious and that really helped me.
- That leads me into my next question really they are an organisation that have helped you out but there are a lot of people out there keen to make their first film and get into the industry. So what advice would you give to those taking their first steps?
I would just say be ambitious and really try something that will make you stand out and so when somebody hears about your film or sees your film they go 'wow, I can’t believe that they did that for that amount'. Just try and find something that gives you an edge.
- We are always hearing about how difficult it is to get films made in the UK at the moment so how difficult was it getting Strings funded and off the ground?
We funded Strings ourselves so it wasn't equipment, you can get digital equipment quite cheap now, so it was more about the organisation of people.
So I just say if you can find five people who are really enthusiastic that is better than thirty people that don't want to be there.
It is better to have a key crew that really want to there every single day at six in the morning.
- You are still very early on in your directing career so how did you get into film in the first place?
I think when I was about twelve my dad showed my Apocalypse Now and I became obsessed with the idea of making films or the possibility of what film could do.
So I got a camera and started recreating my favourite film scenes and slowly they got better and turned into my film.
- You have mentioned how Terry Gilliam is one of your film heroes so can you talk about who else you admire or have influenced you over the years?
I think in terms or people who made me want to make films filmmakers like Richard Linklater and Kevin Smith, or people who have not been born into the film industry but have scraped everything together to make a film.
They may not have been sure that it would get seen but they brought all of their friends together and made it on basically no budget.
- Finally what is next for you?
I am developing my second feature film with Vertigo at the moment and it will be in a similar vein to Strings; so it will be a coming of age romance.
- And are we going to see you pen the script as well as direct?
Yes, I have just finished the first draft and we are casting now. So we will be shooting this summer in the south of France.
Strings is being shown at the BFI Future Film Festival this weekend.