D!RTY POSTCARDS
is a rule-bending unification of fictional narrative drama, sketch show, reality television, music video, animation, video installation, documentary, NFT, TikTok and fairytale.
It takes traditional formats and interweaves mixed media: WhatsApp voice notes, handmade physical sculpture, puppetry, poems, elaborate costume and historical artwork.
A comedy with the attitude ‘there is no such thing as a joke’, at a time when men’s mental health is being spotlighted, the film encourages expression of the uncomfortable as a means of self-care.
The film can be seen as a feature piece or as 10 separate episodes with internal themes, ranging from identity to environmentalism.
The film has multiple layers and meta-layers for the viewer to explore. For example, a sketch may function as a standalone comedic and dramatic piece exploring a range of themes, while simultaneously showing character development and creating the conflict and resolution that drives the storyline forwards.
Once the viewer realises that the film is being made entirely by one person (direction, script, acting, camera, sound, characters, lighting, music, props, editing…) Dirty Postcards becomes a meta story, expanding into a myriad of psychological and sociological themes.
COSTUME
"You are timeless
Just a season
Out of touch
A resident of heaven
And if they need you
You'll be here
In your body
and your imagination."
"The Witches Pool is filled with reflective black nonexistence.
Sickly-sweet flowers mark the path,
whereafter the river is silenced like a child.
Did the pool foster and rear it,
or was this witch delivered from the pools black bowels?
I really don’t remember."
EQU!PTMENT:
I shot the film on an old 2018 Huawei P20 pro. I used a tripod and a DJI Osmo. The phone had a deep depth of field, punchy colours and high contrast, which lead to the postcard aesthetic: creating narrative through lines, textures, colours and internal movement. The phone was portable and allowed shooting on the fly with no worry of damage. This made the shots in the bath, the POV of the spider, filming at sea, on the cliftops and woodlands achievable solo. I used minimal lighting, just a strobe, a spot and a disco ball. I got to know the light in the house, what time the sun bounced off the houses opposite to give consistent light. I worked on a 2018 Macbook Pro, using Premiere Pro. For audio I used an Apogee Duet and an Aston Origin and mixed on Logic Pro X.
ENTW!N!NG F!C!ON AND REAL!TY:
I grew up with reality entertainment so am used to hyper-realism, but I also like to make things with craft and purpose. I used reality to strengthen fiction, Interweaving real WhatsApp voice notes left by a group of my best friends, with some scripted and acted messages to support the narrative.
I use parts of my real story, real pictures of my grandmother, subtracting and adding information for effect.
AC!ING W!THOUT ACT!NG A D!AR!AR!ST!C APPROACH:
As an actor I practice Meisner and exploration of real emotions. For example, 12 months into filming, my father died with Covid. The night I found out, I couldn’t sleep so went to the beach and filmed.
I avoided ‘acting’ and expressed reality wherever possible
"We all live on holiday,
and at the end of a holiday,
one must go home."
REAL WHATSAPP MESSAGES
FROM A GROUP OF BEST FRIENDS
“Now things are gonna start changing by the day, by the hour, by the minute, panic, alarm, alarm, alarm!”
“It's official. It's a pandemic”
“If we’re all gonna be like isolated or whatever, that's gonna be pretty fucking tough, so I'm looking forward to these messages keeping me alive.”
“As much as I'm scared of Coronavirus - I am - there's a bit of me that's been waiting for the world to burn for so long. And I can feel that part of me getting excited and I'm ashamed of that.”
“Because we’re spirits trapped in animal bodies, I forget that we are in animal bodies and viruses just remind you that you're not that different from the cows.”
“Just instead of volunteering to call up like random old people, I should really call my grandma and have a nice long chat with her.”
“Tried to ring an ambulance but couldn't get through because the health service is so stretched, there was nothing anyone could do and she died.”
“Oh God, this is gonna last for so long and I'm not prepared for that in my mind. My tiny stupid little millennial little instant gratification mind can't handle the idea of something lasting longer than two weeks.”
“And what I can hear through the wall in the house next door is someone coughing absolutely dreadfully.”
“I've also been having a bit of a shift time. It's hard to plan a future when you don't know, and without something you're aiming towards, things can get bleak. So what's the solution to that?”
“I did 3020 Push Ups.”
“So we go to the spot where we actually got married and we stand on it and make wishes to the gods.”
“I swam in the ocean today. It was nice to be out in the sun and the sand and, like, it was very refreshing and it made me feel connected to the planet.”
POETRY
D!SCOVER MORE
PROPS:
A film is an illusion, a magic trick. Seeing is believing, and a spectacle sells an idea. The elaborate sculptures, puppets, costumes and props become ‘hyper-real’ because the audience sees I have laboured over and breathed life into them. My belief in them invites you to believe with me. Jonathan, with his carefully made hands and hair, Punch and Judy witht their 7 unique outfits,
The Fuck It Button with its sturdy metal functionality, the Elvis costume with its neurotic detail, the Russian dolls covered with my face from the scene before, even the boat, which in reality my best friend and I spent months fixing, are all labours of imagination and love that lend credibility and production value to the story.
A scrapbook of genres and eras, juxtaposed playfully and reverently, make up the musical texture of the film. Almost all of the music is performed by me, and any of the original parts I have recorded and produced myself.
There are originals and covers, and often the choice of song, artist or genre are a comment that expand upon the themes in that moment of the film; from the contrasts of Cool Britannia to Lockdown Britain in 'Get On Up, to the golden age of travel to the global pandemic in Come Fly With Me. Certain songs I rework or re relyricise, such as 'A Little Less Isolation'.
The theme tune 'Dirty Postcards' by The Korgis inspired the title. My teacher and friend Bill having played drums on the original track!
MUS!C
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CL!CK
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