,
lonely mind. What started out as personal in a book translated to
something completely different
on film. The 'spectre' who visits Jay became nameless, the memories
became far from lucid. The display upon the screen is either fictional
or fictitious and
Jay can't tell the difference anymore. I like that A Vision
of Life (the book) is
more personal and the film is more open to interpretation.
By the time I started shooting my mind had changed about making it so
personal, I almost wanted the viewer to become Jay and apply it to their
own lives - maybe even to allow it to help them in a cathartic way
to exorcise their own demons.
You of course also have to talk about your poetry
used in Caught in a
Landslide for a bit, and how would you describe yourself as a
poet?
How do I describe
myself as a poet? I'm not sure I do. I've just always written poetry
since a boy in the late hours when my soul needed to shriek and I needed
to divert overwhelming pain
into something more productive. I have now released three poetry
anthologies, Master Crotch and the Sex Hungry Human Minion (2014),
The
Ideation of Six Feet Under (2016) and Seeing Red (2017). The majority
of the poetry used in the film is taken from
The
Ideation of Six Feet Under. I penned
those poems during a year and half break from film and all that 'Wade'
stuff and it was a real change in direction to my former material. It
was dark, it was real and I sliced my own creative vein open and allowed
myself to be naked to anyone who was watching or listening. The
Ideation of Six Feet Under poems inspired my non fiction book A Vision of
Life and that one inspired
the film. Each project just seemed to feed into the next in a continued
effort to throw my hurts to the tide.
I host read out aloud poetry off
of my website www.jayproctor.com/poetry
which is a particular favourite element of my work in film and writing.
I could never had imagined that my Soundcloud channel would have acquired over
55,000 plays, and my hope is that this film will help people heal as I
hope the poetry did. So what kind of poet am I? I'm just a person
scribbling about his life on paper, hoping someone else finds some reprieve from
within it.
Caught
in a Landslide features several song by Australian musician Edward
Gugliemino - so what can you tell us about the tunes used in your movie,
and what drew you to exactly this guy's music?
Aren't they
just fantastic songs? So, it's the end of that incandescent summer in 2016
and I've shut myself off from the world, I'm laying around doing a lot of
moping and an album on Spotify becomes the soundtrack of my aching heart.
That album being Late at Night by Edward. I'm being bombarded by
images of the best summer of my life while Edward teases my ears with
lyrics like 'Caught in a landslide, I was wasting summertime. You were
such a crime to waste my life...'. WOW! The song haunted me, those lyrics
touched me beyond anything. This guy in one line had encapsulated my
circumstances. I had to find Ed online and reach out to him, I had to have
him on the soundtrack! Luckily for me Ed was quick to respond, was kind
and supportive, and it really just went from there. Ed will never know how
grateful I am to have included his music. The very fact those songs are
the soundtrack makes this project so much more authentic for me as a
creator. I remember getting his reply email; We were actually in Kent
filming some exterior shots (the scene of my crime) and that's when the
message came through. It all fell beautifully into place. Originally the
film was to be called 'A Vision of Life' but Ed had suggested perhaps
changing the title to match the song - an idea that I agreed with fully as
the project had evolved to something quite different from the book I had
written. It all just made sense in the end! I really urge all viewers to
go and check Ed's music out. It saved me many a time and its impact will
be with me forever I'm sure.
Do talk
about your co-director and cinematographer Wesley Strong for a bit, and
what was your collaboration like?
Wesley and I had just started working together on a project we
run for youths in Milton Keynes. One day we were just talking and Wes
was telling me about his own artistic contributions to his own music and
music video creating and I was like, fuck it, let's roll! I'd had a hard
time finding someone dedicated to the same vision I had and really Wes
and I's meeting was just another cliche 'it was meant to be!' for this
project. I really digged the cinematography Wesley did for this piece.
He seemed to understand the images I was trying to capture, that was of
great importance. I respect his patience for the amount of countryside
walking we had to do relentlessly... haha! It's no secret that I'm a bit
of a loner in life, people stress me out, but I do believe Wes and I
have formed a friendship here and I'm sure we'll do something creative
together again one day.
What can you tell us
about your directorial approach to your story at hand?
At
last I was free with no compromise. I didn't want to follow a modelled
story or script. We were creating some arthouse, experimental film here.
We had the basics of what we wanted to achieve but then we just went out
and created. We directed as we went, we invented as went and right up
until the last shot scene we were playing as we went. For the opening
scene (when the two hands close up, entwine) was us re-enacting the front
cover of
The
Ideation of Six Feet Under that wasn't planned - it just
seemed like a good idea at the time... It was a beautifully romantic
moment for Wes and I haha! We had many moments like this when it came to
doing small link ups between the books and the film. Freedom was the
directional approach to this piece.
You
also play the lead in Caught
in a Landslide - so what can you tell us about your character,
what did you draw upon to bring him to life, and how much Wade Radford can
we find in Jay?
You will find me embodied in that character. Or at least the 'me' from
that time in my life. Maybe it's easy to play yourself, yes? Not when
you're stepping into yesterday. That's like someone pointing a mirror at
you and forcing you to have a good hard look!
What can you tell us about your co-star
Robbie Manners, and what made him perfect for the role?
Robbie's
a nice guy! He enjoys delving deep into his character. My heart goes out
to Robbie, I'd tell him one thing in an email, only to change my mind,
then only to change my mind again. So let's say he's very adaptable,
because I'm a fucking nightmare when it comes to my 'oh I have a new
idea!'. I had a lot of correspondence from Robbie prior to the shoot. He
really wanted to get to know Jay, to know A Vision Of Life and his ghost-like character.
I sent him many extracts from the book and he was forever
dedicated.
A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
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I was about to
say everyone got along and was friendly; now that's true, but I'd be
worried if all three participants couldn't get along! It was a quiet
shoot, mainly made of Wes and I for the most part. Every element of its
creation was as unusual as I guess the film is. It's been a long project
from start to finish and every barrier that could have reared its ugly
head did! But our life's about learning, it's our calling and our journey
and I feel I learnt a lot about myself on this particular journey; maybe
more than I learnt on any other film I've ever made. I learnt to
persevere, to not be impatient, to be adaptable.
My patience is not something I have ever really perfected in the past,
but this project demanded it. Wes and Robbie helped me bring my vision
to life in a project that most would not have understood at the start.
On paper from the off-set it probably sounded like the ramblings of a
mad man... maybe it still is? I feel I want to shout out to Thomas from
Nevada as well. I'll just come out and say it, he funded 75% of this
project and supported me to bring this to life in a time that I think
everyone else had thought I'd given up. His kindness to me is the reason
this production ever took off.
The
$64-question of course, where can your movie be seen?
Oh goody! Well we have just released (outside of America and Canada) a
limited Vimeo run to rent or purchase. You can check it out at
www.vimeo.com/ondemand/caughtinalandslide2017
- be quick it's a very limited screening run! America and Canada, you'll
be getting it in Summer 201 8- Yes, it is due for distribution out there
and the rights are signed away... sorry folks! But when the time comes do
grab yourself a DVD! Physical copy releases outside of the US we have
no plans for at this time.
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Caught
in a Landslide yet?
Screeners have just gone out to reviewers this week, it's hot off the
press! We can't all act as quickly as you, Michael (thank you and I'm
glad you enjoyed it). All latest reviews will be going out to my
Facebook page and the movie one.
Any future projects you'd
like to share?
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Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
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My mind is spinning round and round, lots to contemplate so do stay
tuned! For now I want to run with this project for a while and get it
out to audiences as much as possible.
Your/your movie's website, Facebook,
whatever else?
www.jayproctor.com
www.facebook.com/thisiswade
www.twitter.com/whothefuckswade
www.facebook.com/caughtinalandslidefilm
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I have merely forgotten to ask?
Please just check the movie
out, feel free to discuss it and support arthouse filmmaking. I recently
have undergone major website changes with lots of free content on offer so
have a browse www.jayproctor.com
Thanks for the
interview!
Thank you, I think the opportunity to reflect on this long ass project
has been most delightful! :)