The Men Behind The Magic Of Film
When we settle down to watch a movie, be it in the comfort of our own couch or the darkened seats of a packed cinema, we are taken to a whole other place. From the opening credits we are transported to another galaxy, another city or simply just another way of life. This is the superb power of film. It is an art form, a beautiful and exciting story telling tool that when put in the right hands can create magic before our very eyes. And I had the pleasure of witnessing this magic first hand, to see two of these talented craftsmen at work and hear the story behind their art.
Liam Upton, 24, is a Dublin born writer and director who is currently pursuing a film-making career in Cork City. It is clear from being on the set of one of his most recent projects “The Magic Pill” that Liam is serious and passionate about what he does. Upton works with a quiet focus and relaxed confidence that creates a calm environment on set and puts his actors and crew at ease, even as time crunches arrive and set backs mount up. His cool composure is impressive considering the amount of build up and pressure that is involved in the development of a film, long before shooting even begins.
The creative process for Liam all starts with a single seed of an idea. Inspiration for his films can come at any time he explains “It can be from anywhere, other films, other art etc or just from observing and thinking about life. This spontaneous birth of an idea and sub-idea pretty much keeps going until the movie is done, but it’s a matter of structuring it. I try to take an expansive role when I’m laying out a film. I figure out the start, middle and end but don’t describe it in any detail, then just expand and expand”.
So where did his very first stem of inspiration come from? The one that made him want to pursue film-making wherever it would take him? “I had some friends who were of a particular political opinion and others who were of a completely different opinion and I saw the problems in the world that came from political extremism and not seeing the other side of the coin and I thought ‘someone should make a film about this’ so that’s what I did”
Liam speaks warmly about his experiences as a young film maker in Cork City. “Its an excellent place to start out and get experience. A sort of shallow end to Dublin’s deep end and Paris’ shark invested waters.”
Hearing that Liam is also a singer songwriter I am curious to know how his process of writing music differs from his process of writing films. “With music I find it more of a ‘start to finish’ kind of process.” he elaborates “With film, because it takes so much longer to write, you have to structure it more. Perhaps as I develop more in both fields I will start to use ideas from one in the other, but I find them quite different at the moment.”
It truly is inspiring to listen to such an artist talk about their creative vision. I recognise this same sense of innovation and creativity in Fintan Kearney, a West Cork bred filmmaker, who has recently re-located to London. There is an excitement in the air of the wild, rural location that is the setting of one of Finatns short films “The Sniper” Mist shrouds the mountains around us as the production crew work against time, casting an occasional glance at the sky which is fading from light faster than everyone would like.
“Making a film takes many people, and its all about collaboration, so you need to talk and talk over things you have already talked about and talk some more. Keep the ideas flowing and take everything everyone says on board.
For Fintan, his interest in the visual arts, like a lot of filmakers, began with photography. “On the weekends I would take my dads old Pentax 35mm camera and just start walking across the fields around my home in West Cork. But I was frustrated with the lack of control I had over the pictures I took. I couldn’t shape the landscape for the particular story I wanted to tell that day. And it was then, that I decided that films would allow me to create the world I wanted to create. And it was a path I wanted to take.” Since then Fintan has been constantly inspired by the work of others in his field. “There have been so many film makers and teachers and just people with stories or advice that have inspired me. With film makers it changes every few months. I tend to get infatuated with a film maker, study them and their films, then someone else will come along. I’m quite fickle that way. But I will always be in awe of Terrence Mallick, I am very excited about his next film The Tree of Life. Stanely Kubrick, Orson Welles, David Lean, the Coens are a huge influence and Akira Kurosawa. I adore the work of cinematographers Roger Deakins and Jack Cardiff.”
But film-making, like any art form, Fintan explains to me, is not without its challenges and obstacles and Fintan has had to deal with them all. From struggling to get funding for his various projects to losing all the contacts he had built up in Ireland and having to start from scratch in the competitive film scene of London. But as Kearney assures me: “It is the love for the craft and the possibilities and doors it opens that keep me driven, focused and compelled to keep making films”.
All images taken on a Nikon D60.
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