Interview Two

M i c h a e l  B a r t l e t t

BudgetFilmMaker.com: Tell us a little about yourself and how you became a film maker?

Mike Bartlett: I am actually trained as a Software Engineer, so my background is very technical.

                     Although I enjoyed Art subjects at school, I found that grades were always allocated

                     on opinion. There is nothing more disheartening than putting in a quality piece of

                     work, only to have it be graded low by the same teacher who has given a high grade

                     to a crap piece of work. I found science-based subjects to be far more rewarding.

                     After School I soared through College and University, gaining degrees in Computer

                     Science and Artificial Intelligence. Filmmaking stayed firmly at the back of my mind.

                     Then one day in 2001, I saw a movie which had been dubbed 'The best American

                     horror film in the last 10 years". I couldn't believe how a film could start off so well

                     and then just implode like that. I found myself saying "If I had a chance, I could

                     direct something much better" and then suddenly, almost in that instance, filmmaking

                     jumped to the very forefront of my mind. It was perfect timing - the technology was

                     financially accessible, and I felt I had reached a point in my life where I was ready to

                     take on such a challenge. I launched the website MakingTheFilm.Com and set my

                     goal: to make a feature film, and show everyone who is interested how they can do

                     the same.

BFM:  Before you made Mnemosyne, you made 3 ultra shorts for a UK Camcorder

             competition to gain experience. Tell us a bit about them.

MB: Back in 2002 I was working with a local Amateur Dramatics group in Letchworth called

       'The Settlement Players'. My friend Colin Barret, who runs SimplyDV.Com, informed me

       that Camcorder User were running a competition for films that were of 60 seconds or less

       running time, on the subject of Identity. I got together with the Amateur Dramatics group and

       my friend Jeff Day, and we agreed to work on three short films together. Jeff wrote two of

       them, and I wrote one, but got to direct all three. I did it to gain experience with actors, but

       actually believed I could make the top 10 with my film, Origins. Ultimately none of them

       made the top 10. Still, it was great experience never-the-less.

BFM:. How did you first come up with the idea for the film 'Mnemosyne' ?

MB: My fiancée, who is from Missouri, USA, had been living in the UK with me for the best part

        of a year, studying. She eventually had to return home at the beginning of 2003, and the sheer

        jolt of having someone you love being there, and then not being there, was really difficult to

       deal with. I wasn't really happy in my job, either, and the pressure was there to make a really

       good film for my site. I guess it became overwhelming, and as a result I began to get

      depressed. The key was turning the depression to my advantage by channeling it into ideas.

      I became obsessed with coming up with a film totally driven by atmosphere as opposed to

      story. Then one night I had this nightmare about the end of the world. I remembered the sour

      feeling of the dream when I woke up - that feeling of helplessness, that all human bonds have

      been broken, that family, friendship and love are meaningless because it is the end. The feeling

      was something I had not seen much before on the big screen. Jacob's Ladder is probably the

      best example of it. I decided to try and write a script driven by this. At school I really enjoyed

      a book called I AM THE CHEESE by Robert Cormier. I'd always wanted to base a film on

     this, so I began using the structure as a basis but tried to make it more intricate. By about the

     3rd or 4th draft I'd read LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel, and that inspired me to take the film in a

    new direction. By the time I had finished the final draft, I had something which was more-or-less

    a cross between those books, with a lot of heavy, dark atmosphere and a story of isolation

    thrown in on top.

BFM: How did the shoot go ?

MB: The first day was bloody murder. I just became overwhelmed at having to lead a team.

        Instead of making executive decisions, I found myself asking for everyone's opinion. The

        team lacked a leader, and that is where Kevin Gates stepped in. He had just come off the

        back of directing his feature, The Unseen, and thus held everything together for me. One

        particular member of the crew, with directorial aspirations of his own, stood around making

        sarcastic comments in an attempt to be humorous; but when you are that stressed, there is a

        fine line between humor and irritation, and it didn't go down well. After the baptism of fire

       (that was the first day) was over, I stepped up to the plate and took control of the film. Of

       course I had my moments - it was a low-budget movie essentially using professional

       volunteers - but overall, the team gelled and I led it well. When I first began making the film I

       was scared to film in public, was always losing focus, and was lavishing unnecessary attention

       on distractions. By the end, we were meeting schedules on time, were totally focused, and

       were working together like a real team should. This is the kind of thing Film School or books

       can't teach you, and it was invaluable experience.

BFM: The process seems to have taken a long time from concept to completion ?

MB: Yeah, for a short it took way too long - 18 months. There were a lot of things that slowed us

        down, but ultimately it was a case of me not getting my shit together. From concept to casting

        was three months. Then the bulk of the filming was weekends over July and August. I didn't

        start the editing until October, but by mid-November things had got so bad at my job I had

        resigned. I then did nothing much except programming and resting from December to April to

        regain lost skills and motivation. Then I got a new job in April 2004. At that point I began

       work again on the editing and picture-locked the film by July. The sound guys took over and

       did Foley, ADR and Music. After two mix sessions with Rob Whitaker in September, we

       were nearly done. I used October to polish off special effects/sound for the Halloween release

      and the festivals.

BFM: Did Mnemosyne turn out the way you hoped ?

MB: In a way, it actually turned out better. I think I did a good job of visualizing parts of it, but a

        bad job visualing other bits. The Car Crash ended up being totally different to what I had

        envisioned, but I am more pleased with it. I think, for some people, the film lacks a lot of

        entertainment value and may be a bit too artistic, although for me this is what film is all about.

        A lot of the compliments I have had are along the lines of how affected some people were by

        it. I don't know if many people actually 'enjoyed' it or not. I wasn't out to try and stamp all

       over the viewer or overwhelm them or anything like that, but it was important that I didn't

       compromise on my vision - it had to be atmosphere driven - you had to experience the

       nightmarish world with the protagonist - you had to feel a barrier stopping you empathizing or

       bonding with the characters.

BFM:  What special effects were involved ?

MB: I've only seen a few low-budget films that used CGI, and all of them have had an

        overwhelming feeling of ''nafness" to them. I don't believe people should be able to look at

        any part of your film and say 'that looks tacky'. For my film, I had to somehow fake a car

        crash. I did this by not actually showing the crash itself, but instead showed the build-up, and

        then a dizzying shot through the sunroof to emphasize speed and panic. I faded the clouds to

        red to symbolize doom, then cut to black with the sound of car tires screeching. The sound

        then cuts out. The next bit was tricky because we had to show the aftermath of the crash. I

       decided that the car should hit something and spin off onto a hill. We achieved this by parking

       the car up against a hill and burning rabbit food and straw in a metal bowl behind the car.

       This gave the illusion of smoke/steam coming from the front of the car. I then grabbed a still

       from this shot and warped the wheel and side of the car using paint shop pro. James Marshall,

       who did the poster, then managed to visually crumple the car using various paint packages.

       The resulting still image looked like a wrecked car. I then took the area we had changed and

       cut around it. I took the graphic and laid it over the moving video. It was that simple. I used

       this strategy for removing insects and birds from the footage as well when the shots were

       locked down.

BFM:  If you were to do it again would you do anything differently ?

MB: I put my hands up and admit to being one of those scatter-brain, creative types. One thing I

        am not is a producer, despite how well I network and get on with people. If I did this film

        again I would recruit another producer and then hand over everything to them. I learned a lot

        about producing from making Mnemosyne, but I am not sure I am cut out for it, to be honest.

       Of course, it may have just been my overbearingly nasty 9-5 job that affected my

       performance and attention to detail - I guess we'll never know.

BFM: There are a lot of references to other films - why ?

MB: For years now I have wanted to make a particular kind of movie. A man on his own,

        walking deserted streets, trying to figure out what has happened to everyone else. This is

        something that has been done many times before. But for a long period mainstream movies

        were so dire, it was like they were scared to try anything like this. Then 28 Days Later came

        out. People said I had copied the beginning, but in actuality, both Danny Boyle and myself

        were referencing material like Day Of The Triffids and I am Legend. Even when 28 Days

        Later had come out it didn't put me off - if anything it inspired me more. The other references

        are to Donnie Darko (When the character awakens on the road), to HAL from 2001: Space

        Odyssey (The Kettle), to Mulholland Drive (Real events matching dream-state events),

        Vanilla Sky, and to Jacob's Ladder (final scene homage - although cut from my movie). I

        wanted to make this my 'homage' film, and kind of get it all out of the way now. It is unlikely

        my future films will contain them.

BFM: What was the budget for Mnemosyne?

MB: I originally set aside £1,500 for the movie. It ended up costing £2,000, but I'm still very

        pleased with it. I've seen other shorts that cost around £1,500 and this film is a million miles

       ahead in terms of its ambition and where the story takes you.

BFM: Can you break down the budget for us?

MB: Well, if my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was £450 for the loss on the Canon

        XM2 (Which we bought to shoot the film as opposed to renting), £500 for Equipment

        Rental, £700 for travel expenses, and the rest on miscellaneous costs.

BFM:  Why were the travel expenses so high?

MB: For me, the crew has to have a personality as well as talent. I can't work with people who I

        couldn't hang out with in a social situation. My gut feeling for people is one of my best skills.

        I found a great Director of Photography (Mark Jeavons) and Sound Recordist (Rob

       Whitaker) in the Telford/Wolverhampton area. The journey for these guys was 4 hours each

        way - and they were willing to do it because they believed so much in the script. Rob even

        offered to pay half his travel expenses, but in the end I didn't think it was fair to him as Mark

        was getting reimbursed for everything. So as you can imagine, over the span of seven weeks

        their expenses added up. But my point is that to them it wasn't just another 'job' for the

        resume. I felt that if paid work came up they would turn it down because they wanted to be

       on this film with a passion. When you have people like that on the film, it's worth every penny.

       If I had shot the film over one or two weeks, as opposed to weekends, the expenses would

       have been lower, but circumstances (particularly with me using all my holiday to fly out and

       see my fiancée in America) meant we had to bite the bullet and shoot it on weekends.

BFM: The lighting and sound have received much praise - Tell us a bit about them.

BM: Rob Whitaker took on the job of the final sound mix. He took the foley by The The Team

        and the score by Stephen Hoper, and mixed everything down, laying in atmospherics where

        appropriate. Rob also recorded the dialog on set with Adam Modley. They did a terrific job,

        and were probably a bit gutted that I wanted to ADR the entire film. I have always preferred

        the sound of ADR to live sound, and in an unusual film like this it adds to the surreality. Mark

        Jeavons came in at the last minute after my previous DP was having financial problems and

        had to drop out. He was a great guy to work with, and did a terrific job to my spec. By his

        own admissions he had never DPd on a film of this size before, but because of his honesty

        and his training, I knew I could trust him. He was quick, precise, and because of his

        contribution, one of the most common compliments I get on the film is "It has a very

       cinematic, film look - even on the interiors."

BFM:  The story and pacing have come in for the biggest criticisms - How do you feel

            about that?

MB: If this movie had been some kind of Hollywood experiment, there is no doubt it would have

        been 'tightened up' (running time dramatically reduced) and I would find myself on the DVD

        commentary saying "I used to love this scene" almost all the way through the film. Thankfully I

        made the kind of film I want to see. Without meaning to sound arrogant, it's a simple fact that

        with this kind of film, you either love it or you don't - there isn't much middle ground. The

        people who didn't get it didn't understand why it moved at the pace it did. They didn't get the

        ending. They thought I sucked as a writer. The people who did get the story understood what

       I was doing. of course, they may have done some things differently and had criticisms of their

       own, but overall they liked the result, were affected by it, and some went on to say it was the

       best short film they had seen in a long, long time.

BFM: So your strengths are directing as opposed to writing ?

MB: Allegedly, Yeah - even the negative comments don't question the vision or how I wanted it to

        be shot, etc. Even the most disparaging remarks that bordered on 'deconstructive criticism'

        acknowledged the direction. The comments about the writing were either that there wasn't

        much of a story, which I agree with, because it's more about atmosphere than story, or that I

       don't have any talent as a writer and that I should never direct from my own written work

       again.

BFM: Do they have a point ?

MB: I don't think so. This film isn't about snappy Tarantino Dialogue. I am still in touch with some

       of the actors who I didn't cast and even they say that if I can write another script as good as

       Mnemosyne, they'd love to be in it. They say it is one of the best scripts they have auditioned

       for. Giles Foreman, who trains actors around the world and has also directed, has said I am

       very good at writing dialogue, and was surprised when he found out it was my first proper

       short. I also think fusing the two completely different settings with one set of dialog is

       incredibly difficult, and, if anything, I did it to show just how well I can write. One professional

       writer recently said to me that he has read hundreds of screenplays, and very seldom enjoys

       one, but he loved my script. He said it's a good achievement when there is no dialogue for the

       first 5 minutes and the film has you hooked. I do, however, take the point that there wasn't a

       lot of 'story' in the film. The characters are thin, and the dialog is minimalist. I wanted a

       mood-piece, and that's what I produced.

BFM: What advice do you have for other filmmakers?

MB: Simply to trust your instincts and to make the effort to plan meticulously. I did the first, but not

       the second, and that ultimately hurt the film.

BFM: What can we look forward to from you in the future ?

MB: Well in December 2004 the DVD will be ready for Mnemosyne. It will feature a second

         version of the film which shows what was really happening all the way through the film,

         including subtle moments like when the Doctor turns the sound of birds on. It also has my

         commentary, plus a visual guide on how to achieve certain special effects, such as removing

         unwanted artifacts from footage such as birds/flies, plus a tutorial on how we did the Car

         Crash effect. I have two side projects, one a collaboration, and one an experimental piece,

         and then in 2005 I hope to direct a feature which I hope to finish in early 2006.

BFM:  Finally  how did David come to be in the mental institute in the first place?

MB: This is something that I have chosen not to reveal in the film, along with what 'condition' David

        is suffering from. John Cassavetes did the same thing with his film 'A Woman Under The

        Influence' - if I was to have 'labeled' the condition, I'd have been opening up a can of worms

        with regard to how 'accurately' I had expressed the condition. I never gave the cause much

        thought. When the rough-cut was finished I noticed that everything in the narrative ties up

        with the mental institution, except the car crash. Therefore, one could interpret, that

        David is reliving the experience which caused his condition. He runs away, thus running from

        the truth. Remember the doctor's words "Some run, others hide." I must stress that this was

        not designed in this way, but it would seem the obvious conclusion. By the time we began

       ADRing the film, I had already decided to insert some echoes of voices saying things like

       "You killed her - remember?" and was going to point directly to the car crash as the root of

       his condition; the implication being that he killed someone else and retreated into his mind as

       a form of denail. But we never went that route in the end - I like things much more open-

       ended. After all, if there was an answer to everything out there then we'd know if there was

      an afterlife, if God exists, and the nature of the universe. But ultimately the world is full of

      unanswered questions, and in my mind at least, it makes life much more interesting.

 

      Mike Bartlett's film 'Mnemosyne' can be seen in the 'Films' sections of www.BudgetFilmMaker.com.