Don't know about you but I'm over this week already and it's only Monday afternoon. There are several reasons for this, which we all know, but I'm not going to mention here because, frankly, I don't want to write about it (and I expect no-one wants to read about it either). Taking the less than sunny mood and weather of the nation into account; it seems a rather good idea to share something a bit light or at least distracting.
I know I ought not to express preference for these films of mine I've been sharing but the simple truth is: Lawnmower is the favourite of my short films.
Like my earlier film, Tea, the idea came from a much repeated (and likely mutated tale) from family lore that has always fascinated me. It's a joke really, a family joke that I'm not even sure was based on truth but there was always something about the punchline that unsettled me, so I thought I'd write a film about what might have made the joke come about. I think, possibly, that being someone with an extremely active imagination, I'm aware that imagination can occasionally veer into darker territory. This film is a light-hearted look at how easy the transition from healthy imagination to over-thinking can be and how it can really be a form of self-sabotage.
Again, I had a brilliant designer work on the poster. Sam Stephen's micro-detailing of the grass hits exactly the right note for a film about obsessing over details.
We filmed over two sunny August days in Colchester, in a house which was lent to me by two wonderful friends who also lent me their children who star in a brief scene. The fantastic cast: Sian Pohill-Thomas, Shelley Davenport, Jessica Preston and Chris Hughes were backed up by fantastic crew of Ricky J Payne assisted by Garnon Davies. We also did one night filming in London, in my home for the Christmas scene which we filmed in mid-July when it was absolutely boiling and everyone was wearing wooly jumpers! A big shout out to Richard Foster-King, Ivanna Mazza-Coates and Sam Stephens for joining the rest of the cast for that rather sweaty shoot and to my cat Coco, who makes a brief cameo appearance.
Once again I got lucky with an incredible musician putting together a perfect soundtrack. I sent the composer Tom Whitelaw an almighty list of music that I thought would fit each segment and somehow he managed to compose a whole bunch of tracks which both work together and individually as absolute bangers too!
I hope you enjoy the film. It's a quick watch at only 8 minutes 39 seconds but I hope it'll provide a bit of a lift from what is a bit of a bleak, blustery Monday.