What is Gorilla Film Magazine?

So what exactly is Gorilla Film Magazine? Well we’re certainly not just one thing, that would be ridiculous. In addition to this blog there’s obviously a rather awesome website, where we review both feature films and shorts, and archive a lot of films we like, so you can watch them straight from our site. We also have a fair bit of film theory, news about upcoming film-related events, as well as interviews with interesting filmmakers. Incidentally, as we’re all young, hip and cool, we’ve got our very own Facebook page, managed by this guy, and a Tw*tter account to keep you in the loop. It’s totally rad. People still say rad, right?

Of course primarily we’re a magazine, which means there are 64 page, full colour copies of Gorilla Film Magazine floating around London. Issues 1 and 2 have already been printed, and are full of sexy content you won’t find on the site. We have interviews with people like Elliot Grove, Oscar Sharp and Jack Garfein, a ton of stuff on the independent film world, tips on practical filmmaking including guides on how to write scripts and identifying stories and characters. We even have our very own ‘top five’ lists, and if you want an example of how we handle such an overused formula, check out our Top Five Alternatives to Summer Blockbusters on the website.

Gorilla Film Magazine wants to raise awareness for films and projects you might not otherwise have heard of, and talk about film in an interesting way without getting bogged down by too much pretentious waffle. There’s plenty of tips for aspiring filmmakers, as well as some down to earth theoritical stuff, including a continuing essay about movie monsters.

If you want to grab yourself a copy, you can buy them online. They’re about four pounds, depending on where you are, and we’ll use the money to buy alcohol print more copies.

We don’t just make magazines, blogs and websites though, we’re not lazy, we also spend a good deal of time hosting or co-hosting events around London. We’ve had film nights, we did a Treasure Hunt for the East End Film Festival, a 46 Hour Film Competition and entertained the Student Film Festival with our spin-the-wheel premise-making game. We’ll keep you informed about our next event, hopefully we’ll get to do a lot more film nights soon.

Finally, an important part of Gorilla Film Magazine is the community, we like the idea that anyone can get in touch with an idea for an article, or a film they want to send us. If you’d like to get involved in any way, send us an email to content@gorillafilmmagazine.com. We welcome all contributions, and if we like you we’ll happily promote your work.

So that’s us, Gorilla Film Magazine. Issue 3 will be coming online very soon, as a kind of celebration of our new and improved website, so stay tuned for that. If you have any further questions I believe the video below should make everything clear. Have a wonderful day.

Screening of 4Q Films: Serious about Silly

Gorilla Film Magazine is still making use of the free drinks at the 4Q films screening, when the lights finally dim and Anton Short steps into the spotlight. Hurriedly, we sit down, and merge with the small crowd of friends and co-workers, still gulping at the wine and beer, and spilling salted peanuts into our laps.

“I actually wrote something for the occasion” says Anton, as he prepares to show his portfolio of short films, that he made under the 4Q films title “it was clever, full of gags, nothing like this.” everyone laughs, Anton seems like a nice chap and the relaxed atmosphere, and free bottles of social lubricant, puts us in a fine mood.

There is a time and a place for arthouse cinema… This isn’t it

The portfolio is a selection of short films and even shorter sketches, the latter being performed by So On And So Forth, three comedy performers who seem like they’re destined for great things. Anton’s films are both funny and cruel, but also surprisingly warm. Living With Mum tells the story of a man’s awkward relationship with his mother, which was strained when she was alive, and even worse now that she’s undead. Sharing a house with zombie mum might be really annoying for young Jake, but it gives him a chance to work through some issues, and patch things up. The film has an element of Braindead, which of course you can trace back to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, but this is just a superficial resemblance and actually the tone is very different. Living With Mum is not a horror film, in fact it’s the cuddliest short at the 4Q screening, with a genuine sweetness, evoking lighthearted laughs.

So On And So Forth

Suicide Tuesday, on the other hand, is a little different.
“I didn’t mean to go so far with that one,” says Anton apologetically “it ended up quite dark.” It’s the better for it; Suicide Tuesday is a gleefully cruel tale of a man who attempts to commit suicide, only to be told he needs a permit “I think it’s a universal feeling, it’s hard not to get fed up with all the bureaucracy that controls our lives. I was fairly pissed off when I wrote that script.” Despite the grim concept, there’s still a jolliness to the film which appears to be a staple of Anton’s work, indeed the tagline for 4Q films is ‘Serious about Silly’ and I think that rather elegantly sums up the theme.

The final short film was Tube Rage, a fun little sketch shot on the London Underground. The film shows off some rather wonderful prosthetics from make-up artist Hayley Barkway, who worked on the film for her graduation.

Says Barkway “I liked the idea of a classical werewolf character in such a modern setting. Although actually shooting on location was a nightmare; we didn’t have much time at all” in the film, a frustrated individual succumbs to Tube Rage and literally transforms into a beast man. The film is funny, but ends all too abruptly, perhaps a consequence of shooting in such a difficult environment. “The guy in the make-up is my boyfriend,” adds Barkway “he’s not an actor, but he’s someone I had regular access to! He actually got quite into it, but it must have been strange for other people on the tube, seeing this werewolf walking around”.

Hayley Barkway’s werewolf, getting Tube Rage

“Thanks for your patience,” says Anton, after the quickest screening Gorilla Film Magazine has ever been to “please stick around, there’s lot of interesting people to talk to, and more importantly there’s alcohol”.

We congratulate Anton Short on his pleasant screening, and ask him about his decision to have such a small gathering of people in such a spacious venue “I should have invited more people, shouldn’t I?” he sighs “or got a smaller venue, the place looks empty!” we ask him what’s next for 4Q films “right now I’m just plugging these films, and wondering whether I should just make them available to watch online. They’re not at the moment because I want them eligible for festivals, but now I’m thinking I’d rather just have as many people watching them as possible. That’s what it’s really all about, isn’t it?”

Rebuilding a relationship in Living With Mum

The people at the event all seem to be either involved in Anton’s projects or just enthusiastic friends, so this feels less like a screening and more like a celebration. However, 4Q films could certainly do with some more exposure, the shorts were fantastic, and Gorilla Film Magazine has a lot of respect for such a noble cause. There seems to be a focus on comedy that has a strong narrative, as well as a genuine passion for taking silly ideas seriously.

Check out the 4Q films website, to learn more and watch some funny clips.

You can also follow Anton Short on Tw*tter by clicking on this link.

The 46-hour Film Jam

On the 24th of June SAE and Gorilla Film Magazine hosted a 46-hour film competition, hoping to encourage young filmmakers to get off their arses and make a movie. The team leaders put their hands into the mystery box and plucked out a scrap of paper with their theme written on it, they were also given a mug to use as a prop and a random line of dialogue to fit into their film. Each movie would be about three minutes in length and had to be delivered before the deadline on the 26^th, otherwise they wouldn’t be eligible to win a prize and their film wouldn’t be shown on a big, shiny screen. A couple of the teams were still rendering their films come the screening, and some of them didn’t even have time to submit, but nevertheless the films that were shown were a joy to watch and it was surprising to see how well these shorts had come together, despite the amount of time the filmmakers had to write, shoot and edit their babies.

Getting started

Out of the selection of shorts that were shown, three would go on to win prizes, and it was down to three judges to decide what films deserved the honour. After a half hour of energetic discussion, in which most of the conversation boiled down to how surprising the quality of the shorts were, the three judges shuffled awkwardly to the front of the screening room and announced the winners. Third place was ‘Ben’, the judges were impressed not only with the inventive camerawork and coherent story line, but also with how the filmmakers had taken the theme of ‘redemption’ and turned it on it’s head, showing how the idea of redemption can really mean something different depending on the individual.

The prizes are handed out

The second place went to ‘Ashes’, a beautifully shot film about lost love. The judges enjoyed the mood the film created, and appreciated the stylish, clever visuals and intriguing contrast of narratives.

First place went to Love Against the Odds, a heartfelt little film about the wonder of love. The film itself was a narrative of imagery, focusing more on objects, or landscapes rather than the couple who long to be with each other. We glimpse a quick shot of the protagonists, but the majority of the time we only see associations in the form of random items, which builds a feeling of nostalgia and a kind of understanding of what love is like in a long-term relationship. The tone of the film is light and breezy, and the expression of love bursts out of the semantics and gives you a hug. The imagery that is usually presented when dealing with the subject of love, such as kissing, is never shown, because it doesn’t need to be, the film is about love itself, no the presentation of it.

The judges and the winners of the competition 

This is the first time either SAE or Gorilla Film Magazine have hosted a 46-hour film competition, but I’m sure it won’t be the last. Check out the winner of the competition below.

Emmaalouise Smith talks about her experimental short film: The Midnight Pen-pal

The Midnight Pen-pal is a short film by London film-maker Emmaalouise Smith. Shot on a mix-medium film palette, including; super 8mm, 16mm and PX instant stills. The project is made up of an all-girl cast and crew, with Emmaalouise both starring and working multiple roles throughout production.

The narrative is based upon a poem written  about living at ‘The factory’ in Leytonstone during the summer months of 2008, where observation, personal projection and feminine interaction are all key themes.  Colour and mise-en-scene heavily motivate the piece, telling the story of a girl, and her dreams and desires through audio/visual experimentation and an overtly  ambiguous time setting.

Emmaalouise Smith: I used the shoot as a kind of observational experiment amongst the people I was finding myself living around. And from writing, styling and directing the vision of the action I could let the situation and scene in question just play out… and SNAP and SHOOT whenever I saw the action I wanted to capture. I always had a very clear idea about what I needed to ‘find’ through my small script, storyboards and test-shots with the girls, and I soon found out that by simply making the scene look and feel right, the people involved would react in the way I wanted- not naturally- because cinema verite cannot exist when working with super8mm (the camera is too loud to be un-noticed!), but I found myself capturing the emotions and insecurities I aimed to uncover initially, by simply painting the picture I saw in my head.

I’m completely self-funded, and never let budgets rule over my films, there’s always a way to make something work; whether it means making my own ‘lenses’, hand-processing stock to make my own special ‘effects’ or simply using the help of those around me.

The Midnight Pen-pal can now be seen in full, at festivals and screenings in and around London toward the end of 2011, as well as plans to present as part of more exhibitive and installation environment with stills photography and sound-scape for the upcoming months. Previous notoriety has been given through screenings such as a Q&A showcase at the Rich Mix cinema, The Pictures , the 5th International Cambridge Super 8 Film Festival, and the 2011 East End Film Festival.

You can read the full article on the Gorilla Film Magazine website by clicking on this link.

Filmmaker David Fedele chats about his new documentary Bikpela Bagarap

Bikpela Bagarap is an independent documentary by Australian filmmaker David Fedele. The film explores the human face of illegal logging in Papua New Guinea, an island less than 200km from the northern tip of Australia, and is essential viewing for anyone who cares about the environment, the welfare of their fellow human beings, and the unsustainable future we are creating through corruption and greed. A story of the exploitation of people who find themselves forced into dealing with the problems of a world they never really chose to be a part of in the first place.

David Fedele: I had been to Papua New Guinea once before in 2006, where I spent 3 months traveling solo around the country, and made my first ever documentary called “PNG Style”. This was more a “film-by-accident” than anything else, as I had never picked up a video camera before, and used it as a way to document my experiences and combat loneliness. This film went on to win “Best Documentary” at Portobello Film Festival 2010.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth, with over 900 different languages and cultural groups. It occupies the Eastern half of the island of New Guinea and is home to one of the richest rainforests in the world. However, it today remains one of the few countries in the world that still allows the export of raw logs, and this is greatly exploited by Asian logging companies. The World Bank estimates that 70% of all logging in Papua New Guinea is illegal, although most unofficial sources put the rate even higher than that.

The issues raised in this film effect all of us, as most of the timber logged from Papua New Guinea ends up as timber decking and outdoor furniture in the “western world”, yet we have absolutely no idea about the story behind it.

When I decided to return to PNG in December 2010, I had the general idea of a film that I wanted to make – to document the “human face” of illegal logging in PNG, and give a voice to the local indigenous communities that are being exploited by Malaysian logging companies and corrupt politicians. But I had no idea how I was actually going to make this film. I just bought myself a ticket, and three weeks later found myself in the jungle of Papua New Guinea.

When I first arrived, I just started talking to people and tried to find out as much as I could about the issues. When I explained to people that I wanted to document their struggle, they were more than willing to help me in whatever way necessary, to ensure that their story be heard.

And wherever I went, I heard exactly the same stories. Customary landowners being forced to sign documents that they don’t understand, for the promise of “development” – fresh water, health and education, but these essential services were rarely provided. Traditionally, the local communities rely on the forest to survive, but their traditional hunting grounds are being destroyed, waterways polluted, and their way of life ruined forever.

My background is not in filmmaking at all, so I have never really been taught the “right” way to go about making documentary films. I am not interested in having a crew with me – just myself and a small camera. That’s how I like to work. Also, as this film was exploring such sensitive issues, I had to keep as low a profile as I could. A lot of the film was shot undercover in two of the main logging camps deep in the jungle, and the surrounding villages. The only way to access these camps and villages was on the logging roads themselves, travelling on the vehicles of the logging companies.

To avoid detection, I couldn’t stay in the logging camps for more than a few days at a time, so I found it difficult to follow particular characters throughout the film. Instead, I decided to combine many peoples’ stories into a narrative that could be followed. I wanted to give as many and varied people as possible the opportunity to be heard and have their stories told.

I am very proud of the resulting film BIKPELA BAGARAP (which loosely translates to “Big Damage”). I produced, funded, filmed and edited the film myself, and though this has provided me with many challenges, it has also allowed me to make exactly the film that I wanted to make.

The biggest challenge however about making a film like this totally independently (without a production company, commissioning editor or distributor), is now getting the film seen by as wide an audience as possible. I have made the film available to watch for free online, and am going to use human rights film festivals around the world to promote the film. It screened at its first festival last week (Agitprop Film Festival for Peoples’ Struggles – Manila, Philippines) and was extremely well received. I am looking forward to getting this film out into the world, to raise awareness of what is happening in Papua New Guinea.

Check out the trailer of Bikpela Bagarap below, and if you like what you see, go watch the full film by clicking on this link.
And don’t forget to follow the project on Facebook.

Filmmaker Sam Pilling on making ‘I Know’

Around christmas time Sam Pilling, 24, Chris Lee, 24, and Paul Storrie, 23, all 2009 graduates of London’s Central Saint Martins, made a film for a Genero.tv competition. The film was a music video for ‘I know’ a musical number by an increasingly odd David Lynch. The film cost about £450, money raised by the filmmakers themselves, they used an old treadmill to emulate a ‘track’ and wedged a tripod in the back of Paul’s car (strung up with bungee ropes to act as shock absorbers) to get the shots from the moving car. Director Sam Pilling talks about his experience making the film.

How did the video come about?

Well, I saw the competition on Genero.tv advertised, and knew my work schedule was pretty free in the run up to Christmas, so I suggested the idea to [co-filmmakers] National & Book [Lee and Storrie], and then we got right on it!

What was your reaction to the Lynch song?

We loved it. There was a world there with character and feeling. It was naturally very cinematic and crying out for a film to be made for it. The song’s sinister mood carried real mystery and intrigue and instantly appealed to us, evoking an array of imagery from the off.

Are you a Lynch fan?

Lynch repeatedly demonstrates fearless film-making, something we all aspire to, so the idea of doing a film for Lynch was enough to warrant all the work we put in. Legend.

How did you conceive of the idea for the video?

It was a subconscious method, we listened to the song over and over, talking through the visuals that came in to our heads, discussing the mood we felt the song created — purely inspired by the sound and feeling. We didn’t concern ourselves too much with what the judges might be looking for, or the idea becoming too “Lynchian.” Our main aim was to capture the dark and seedy mood of the song, taking advantage of its fragmented and repetitive nature. The narrative developed naturally from this process.

Tell me about your male lead, Daniel Vivian, and why you picked him.

We wanted an actor with a dark, mysterious look — with real character and feeling about them. There’s something about Daniel’s look that was perfect for the character we wanted to bring to life. He has a very masculine look to compliment his character, but something a bit deeper and darker, that he really brought on with his acting, that created this suspense and untrustworthy nature to the character. In fact we almost went with another guy, but National was adamant that Daniel was the right man for the job — and it was definitely the right decision. Daniel was extremely enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with. Being a lofty 6-feet-and-7-inches, we were concerned that he wouldn’t fit in the car, but with a few minor adjustments everything was alright on the night. A big fella, that’s for sure.

What about the girls — are any of them real sex workers?

No, though this was an early consideration of ours, but logistically it was looking too expensive and uncontrollable.

You say the video is about lust, desire, and obsession. Can you say more about the “story” of the video, as you see it? Why is the guy sitting on the toilet?

As a simple narrative breakdown, we wanted to portray the demise of a man whose feelings of lust, desire and obsession controls and engulfs him. As a viewer, we are not sure whether all the women he sees are in fact real or part of some warped inner reality. The man is on the toilet as a metaphor for this lust: something he wants constantly regardless of where he is, and what he is doing. The toilet also suggests his vulnerability in this situation, the breaking of his control, and a turning point in the narrative where we discover that his desires are actually controlling him. The fact that he cannot leave the toilet to reach the woman represents his frustration.

For the woman in the blue dress, you could have cast a Barbie doll, model-type, but you chose an older woman. Why?

The reason we chose Ruth Davies to play the woman in the blue dress is that we wanted “the toilet scene” to illustrate the extent of the man’s obsession and clouded vision. The man’s feelings of desire have taken hold and looks simply don’t matter to him. He simply cannot get enough of her, his feelings are uncontrollable — yet she is the one girl who is just out of reach … unobtainable. This adds to his loss of control and his characterisation as a true womaniser, only interested in sex and women as objects.

How much did the video cost to make, and how long did it take?

The video cost just under £450 to make and took two weeks and three days from the very start of the project (developing the idea) to uploading the video on Genero.tv. Because of the [lack of] budget we had to get creative with our film-making techniques – using Chris’ mum’s old treadmill as a tracking device and strapping the camera in to the back of Paul’s Dad’s hatchback with bungee ropes as shock absorbers! We shot most of the video in and around my flat with a quick trip to our old university for the toilet scene.

Are you pissed you didn’t win the competition?

Yes! We all think it’s a shame, it would have been really great for David to have seen our film, as I think he only judged the finalists. We are disappointed, but these competitions are so unpredictable that it would have been silly to lose sleep over it.

You can check out Sam Pilling’s website to see more of his videos.

Mark Bowsher, director of Brenda, talks about making films on the cheap

The 2 Days Laughter Short Film Competiton was co-founded by Mick Etherton, Chris Cordwell and Jo Samuel of Beeping Bush Productions in partnership with Jean Lynch of Close-Up Film. Today, the competition is still run by Mick , Chris and Jo who have developed relationships with local filmmakers, film festivals and cinema audiences whilst establishing connections with local media and KCC Film Unit who actively promote both the 2 Days Laughter and the 2 Days Later Competitions on a national scale.

Brenda is a short, mock-documentary, that emulates the staggeringly popular ‘fly on the wall’ programs that fill up the schedule on channel 4. It tells the story of a care-worker who attempts to teach the apathetic youths of modern Britain how to survive in the potentially fatal environment that is ‘reality’. Brenda won  Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actress at 2 Days Laughter, Mark Bowsher, the director of the short film, tells us about his experience.

Mark Bowsher: It was Emma Brand (a friend from uni and an old housemate of mine) who came up with the idea for the sketch show I do for the internet, CAFLTtv, but I find that if someone comes to me with an idea I go off on a tangent and change it to make sure it’ll work with the style of comedy I like. The sketch Emma had written was basically taking the piss out of nanny state/PC attitudes and how people really have to have everything spelt out to them. So Emma wrote a script called Brenda Explains about a woman who teaches a man that walking out in front of a car is generally a bad idea and he claims he didn’t realise because no-one ever told him it was dangerous. A year or so later I wrote another script based on the idea which was more of a long magazine/current affairs programme, then I went off travelling for a year and then after coming back I found the script again and tried to film it.

Emma imagined our friend Kelly Davies doing the part but she wasn’t free and I thought Emma could do it pretty well. There was only really her piece to camera and Brian (who I was playing) headbutting the toast to film but I wanted to get a shot of them in the kitchen to put over the voice-over. So I told Emma it didn’t matter what she said because I wasn’t going to use any of the dialogue and that she should just pretend to show me around the kitchen and explain things not to do with a toaster and stuff like that. It started with the very first shot you see in the whole film and Emma just starting ad-libbing wildly and because we have the same sense of humour I was able to bounce off her and we just kept going. In the end we had about 15 minutes of footage and most of it I thought could be used for something. We never did second takes but we had to stop 5 or 6 times because we were cracking each other up. Abbie Murison who was filming for us was pretty convinced we’d rehearsed it because she couldn’t believe we were making it up on the spot.

What we’d filmed sat on the shelf for a few months while I filmed other stuff for CAFLTtv but I was slowly editing the whole sketch which had this one section in the Brenda Goswin Institute and I was struggling to work out how I would cut it down to a minute which still seemed pretty long for part of one sketch in a 10 minute sketch show. Then I remembered 2 Days Laughter and I wondered if I should try and enter and use this section just to test the water. I’m very much of the school of just grab a camcorder and film stuff instead of getting a whole crew together and doing things properly every single time.

The problem was that we needed to include certain things as part of the festival’s criteria – I picked Margate, an egg and a current news event (Gaddafi) from their list. Abbie Murison had already recorded a voice-over and her voice had been off screen during the interview with Brenda but to link it all up to the festival spec I had to change it so it made sense on it’s own and so I could mention Margate. I spent an afternoon editing it together and had my housemate/long-term collaborator John Fricker (who’s plays the crazy king Marteetee in Your Highness) record a voice-over for it to link the material and name drop Margate. I then spent 10 minutes pacing up and down trying to think how I could involve an egg and Gaddafi, grabbed my camera, the hoody I’d wore before and an egg and asked John to sit behind the camera and ask me what I wanted to be when I was older. I recorded a quick simple piece on my guitar and finished editing it.

I then had a load of problem exporting the bloody film and almost gave up because it was the early hours of the morning and I had to post it the next day to get it there in time. I had a brilliant time at 2 Days Laughter and the vast majority of the films cracked me up so I was pretty certain we had no chance of winning anything. I was wrong!

I mainly make sketches which you can see on my website, but I’ve recently just finished shooting my first short with a proper crew (all contacts I got from various 1st AD jobs I’ve done) called The Watchers with John Fricker in the main role. It’s a multi-format film about a homeless man who does medical experiments to get free accommodation and each experience is filmed in a completely different way. I’ve also shot a music video for my friend Nisha Chand which is a mix of stop motion and super8. None of these had any real budget, it was all out of my own pocket and The Watchers was the most expensive at £75.

Visit Mark Bowsher’s website to check out his sketches, and do give Brenda a watch, y’know if you’re not busy or anything.