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Josh O'Brien Josh O’Brien, director of the short film My Name is Sarah Hayward, answered one of my e-mail mini-interviews in June 2009.
“When I left school at 16, I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. Unlike many filmmakers you hear about, I didn't make films when I was a kid, I didn't run about with a Hi-8 camera or anything like that. Although I had always had a fascination with movies and pictures, I always had a very visual imagination and for a while I intended to become an animator but my lack of drawing ability hindered that ambition fairly rapidly. “I remembered a film from when I was a kid that had always captured me, Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands, but it was only when I revisited it after leaving school that I had a bit of an epiphany, realising for the first time, or at least acknowledging that people actually make films, that those pictures that flicker on the screen are created from scratch and that there were processes behind it. It was only then that I decided that filmmaking was what I wanted to do. “I went to college to do media production and after coming out of that, I opted not to follow the academic route into university and instead decided to go straight into trying to make films. My Name is Sarah Hayward is the first project to come out of that decision. Although I spent the inbetween years writing, writing, writing scripts; both features and shorts. I also landed a job as a video editor and have spent the last few years editing and doing every odd job on-set of many small and low-budget productions around London. Those on-set opportunities were facilitated mainly by the resource of like minds that I am involved with called OTT films, which is a group of people who gather to help each other reach far beyond what they could pull off on their own.”
“I'm a big believer in reaching for the stars and grasping for things far beyond your reach. I'm also incredibly ambitious with my ideas and stubborn in that, if I want to do something, nothing and no one can tell me that it can't be done. “I see the process of making short films as an opportunity to expand my abilities and knowledge. Ever since my first films, that I made entirely by myself, even starring in myself, I have tried to push the boundaries of what I could actually achieve. I feel very strongly that doing ambitious projects, while a lot harder and more work, gives birth to a much greater wealth of knowledge and experience than doing something far smaller. “As for doing a historical short, that was born out of the basic idea and premise of the script and my love for the aesthetic of period films. It was simply that the idea that came to me for the film was set in a period space and therefor there was no question in my mind to ever change that. I don't think the story would be as sustainable or watchable in a modern setting.” How did you assemble your cast and crew? “Various places. Our leading lady, Charlotte Hunter, I had seen in a feature called Icharus Broken and thought that she was marvellous. So I got in touch with her directly and without even really auditioning her, offered her the part. “For the other various parts we held auditions, which was a first for me. It was very interesting to me to see how so many different people approach a part, some were prepared, others were not. Overall though, I think myself and my producer Ben Williams, both knew who were right for the parts as soon as they walked into the room.”
“I am happiest with the whole aesthetic, production design and overall feel of the film. I do think that if people stick with it, by the conclusion of the piece, it does catch you and carry you along nicely. The only real thing I get annoyed about when watching it is the beginning sequence which I directed all wrong in terms of performance. The performances that are there are strong, but it lacks tension. It needed more tension. “I also would like to reshoot the some of a particular flashback sequence where I feel that I did not create enough of a relationship between mother and child. I feel like I neglected that relationship while we were shooting. I didn't catch it right. Other than those things I am extremely happy with the work and am so proud of what everyone involved achieved.” Where has the film been shown and how has it been received? “Obviously the film has been shown at LIFF, the London Independent Film Festival, where you saw it, other than that we have done various other screenings for cast and crew, and it was shown at an awards night for OTT films where we won film of the year. “The film has been extremely well received by all who have seen it and the cast and crew like it a lot which is what I'm most happy about. The film will be winging its way onto the internet very soon, so keep an eye out for it.” What projects are you working on, or planning, now? “At this moment in time, I am writing a lot. I have two shorts that I want to do before trying to raise funding for a feature but the very next thing is going to be a short comedy about modern day pirates which I hope to be shooting by the end of the year.” Website: www.goldensparrowstudios.co.uk | ||
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What is your background in film-making?
Why did you decide to make something as ambitious as a historical short, and what particular problems did this present?
What aspects of the film are you happiest with, and which would you change if you could?