Many of my early films were comedies or collaborations with comedians.
Here is a selection:
Fall Apart: The Evangelista Story
(1995-2002, 5’20”, DV PAL)
Singer Pat Reid looks back on his band, the heroically ill-fated Evangelista.
“We were sexy, stylish, we had short sharp songs. We had a kind of manifesto, which was that we were against everything else that was around at the time – which probably accounts for our almost complete lack of success.”
Comedy Republic
(1998, 27’00”, Digi Beta)
A comedy sketch TV pilot produced by Rapid Productions, of which this sketch is a short extract.
The pilot starred (amongst many others) Robin Ince, Moira Govan and Neil Edmond. This sketch features Robin Ince and Marian Pashley.
ArtHol
(1997, 6’07”, Hi 8)
American performance artist Oriole Sphinkle describles her oeuvre.
Starring Robin Ince, Neil Edmond and Mickey Tippex. Music by Evangelista.
Modern Dilemmas
(1997, 2’12”, 16mm and Video 8)
A film about etiquette for the aspiring murderer, written and narrated by Al Murray, based on his pre-Pub Landlord character “Al Murray – Serial Killer”. The film stars Pat Reid and Alan Doyle, was edited by Alistair Kerr with specially-composed music by Paddy (James) McIvor.
The Big Heads
(1996, 5’45”, Video 8)
A man with a very large head searches for his ideal woman. A charming comedy love story set in London.
The film stars comedians Karola Gajda (who also built the masks) and Joe Finn, with music by Paddy McIvor and editing by Alistair Kerr.
An unseen visitor glimpses a deserted city in which the inhabitants are only visible as the trails their car headlights leave behind. It examines the abstract quality of citiscapes after dark.
It was an early – and not entirely successful – experiment in 3D modelling using C programming and produced through the Centre for Electronic Art (today the Landsowne Centre) at Middlesex University. It was laid out onto analogue tape a frame at a time.
Ripples
(1993, 2’49”, Super 8)
A film poem to the River Isis in Oxford and my first film.