Luke Jeffery makes his return to the low-budget filmmaking front with his quirky new thriller that documents the dark underbelly of Morris dancing... “Ther ‘Morris dancing,” reckons fi ‘commenting on the olde world pastime that involves strange hats, weird footwear and lots of sticks. Throw in afew beards and tankards and yor pething that could light, to make iked the idea by her par It daprogrammer, who the Intervention fancing. Fair enough. The film fe England and the BFI it tke a much arger project" reckons Luks had over a hundred ex «and shot in eight different loc 13 often seem quite empty, and wanted this to look like it was par ofa feature fm. cedEven though we had around £8,000 of funding, the fim was completely home grown. We tried to spend the money wisely and make the most of the resources we had available, Infact, the bulk ofthe calogue scenes Were shot in my parents’ ving room! Perfect cocktail For Luke, making the fim isthe culmination of many previous projects and a desire to push the creativity envelope alitle more than he had done previously. “I've been making fms for as long as | can remember,” he says. “When | was growing up | spent all of my {ree time shooting fms with my fiends. We did't storyboard, or write shot sts, we just went out and ld it. | stucied firm at university and, after | graduated, I made a short called Seeing Red. The fm received a lot of positive attention and helped me to secure the funding for He's Bel. It also screened at Glastonbury ‘etl this year which was pretty cool” Mind you, recruiting cast and crew for such an ‘offeeat idea must have presented him with some interesting challenges. Nevertheless, Luke had no problems getting a complete team together it seme. Charlie Coleield played the part of cult deprogrammer Howard Webb and helped to produce the fi,” he ays of the enthusiasm that was brought tothe project by the curious new team members, “Jocelyn Chandler- Hawkins also produced the flm, and Ben Tallamy was 4st AD. Ross Gil, who shot my last fn, returned as Director of Photography, and Sarah Vigars acted as ‘rt Director, dressing all the sets and sourcing all the props and costumes that we used in the fim. Jimi ‘Stewart was our sound recordist and worked closely ‘alongside the fim’s composer and sound designer, Bon Hudson. We had a couple of camera assistants, Nick Loven and Jacob Brandon, and my parents disCee ere eens peaeeieielin. = = Herren a eats a ee MN Se ee ec ee Se ahaa ee erent nme ies fee ed ee ed that theres always a risk involved when See tt See Cn ac) Tea ect) Pe etato larger-thar-itfe fis ~ surreal stuf" he grins. im aig fan of rs ike Nic liam and Fran trust, ke wth all 1 ‘scale things down, but with tis ming up with ‘tomake things even further thank their Shorts the fimmaker 1 adcitonal funding, and | “Filmmaking is supposed to be fun, and if you keep people happy then things go smoothly” Ido st pronty is to jing thousands sting everyone ‘and bring their ed lunches. On my have barbecues at ic 3 the attemeon, + forthe shoot. Filmmaking is 0_be fu, and ifyou p people happy then thing t more smoothly.” Kit considerations {At ths point, and on the subject. ding large armounts ‘camera kit we decided to use equipment we already ovmed and re comfortable pete wee his colour-blindness.” says Luke, by way of explanation. “There lot of simi cfs. think immaking of the cast and erew from ‘Seeing Red returned for Hels‘coming tagathe! Subtle changes se with any fimmaking me aspects of the project evolved whilstit was in ion, which goes to show be needed along the way. There are some big citferen between the orginal script a the finished fm,” reckons Luke "And for me that’s part of the fun Avan suddenly became a vintage sailboat, anda ine of da {got tumed into a song. I sup "have a faity relaxed attitude to directing a fm. | spend alot of time taking tothe cast and cr ‘during pre-production, 50 feo the need to micromana ything onset. you hay the right combination of paopl, and everyone is comfortable, then the resus area lot sryboarded, and writing shat lists ke to cout the best way to ‘might decid in fe want the lighting, Ibe using, but after that I try to keep things fairy fd, To be honest, most oh ideas happen o} re up with something that's better than anything I could have thought ofin advanc Fresh outlook Luke's attematve outtook ang inventive subject mattor already to be securing him plenty of interest too, judging from the feedback he has gained so tar. already had ak of interes nthe fim.” reckons the flmmaker, “And think ie go down well at festivals, I's something a bit diferent. The funding campaign really apture people's imaginations, and we had dancers from aroun the 0 the fim. | n't even, were Moris danc but ing the project. even got a mention in Metro! been fay focused on Hels Bel but once it's fnishe planning to gob script. Tere isn't really much room for character development rk on something a bit ‘The featureis a fairy contained think’ est budget. | to me, rather than budget blockbust Valuable experience ed further weight to Luke's isthe fact that he hasic rampat oking rmething Speck to We fal {got the chan : me. "The fin 18 them, The production fis solutly perfect. There as shot in & a feature thirty extras inside, all river Teign, sand Mons agrees the flmmaker. “Th “Even though it’s on ther ideas 9 raw bales to cress the rel post- only a short film, “Then they ell tured Up a a there are eight routine. Outside | Gjiffarant locations %8Y tthe shoot. We w his carer progressing, wth a of fimmakng Ia oe offered he u fuly-eoged feature yng not to theatre work, which featured’ facoff on tho horizon. From tho Its also abrilat way ST actors and practi dancer, ie making more from him rls. There's a grea mmaking | We also sh . meeting with Bal on erat . realy,” adds the fimmaker. ceeier tered co ; got the feature al planned o ays ts of supportive of the project We ewin pl going on. Eventhough gst alt of production oust need t= short film, are eight different Location magic ively litle out the funding. Tr to ‘The power ofa captivating locaton | money you're motivate by Monts dancing material just is somthing that Luke has rel nen fimmaking ft for inacommruniy pub ted curing Hels Bos ah short fis Tally Hoin itdehempston | realy ades hat extra fs that other than fim festivals, Z| eee)