My influence in film is honestly down to three British men. Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Leigh, and David Thewlis. Now I do have my influences with cinematography but that is for another blog. Today is just for these three.
First up, Alfred Hitchcock. the horror guy from Leytonstone. The first film I saw was Psycho (1960). I was in eighth grade and in English we did a unit based on the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. The basics were you chose an era from the song and did a report on one of the things Billy sang about in that particular era. Well I chose the 1960's and focused on Psycho. I was fourteen. I can remember leaving my light on whilst watching the film. After that, showering was never the same but my love for horror grew. Did you know the trailer for Psycho is like six minutes long and its Alfred taking viewers around the set giving you the storyline? Hella creepy but brilliant at the same time. Years later, I remember my mom having my sister and I watch The Birds (1963). This film was just three years after the film with the murderous shower. The Birds is the reason I flinch at anything flying around or near me. Thank you, mom. Then in my undergrad at Wilmington University, I watched Vertigo (1958) in my Aesthetics of Film class. I was hooked but again its Hitchcock its not that hard to get hooked. He is my go to guy for horror amongst present day horror filmmakers but Hitchcock will be my number one.
Next up, Mike Leigh. The short and stout Englishman from Salford. Mike is actually my favourite director. The very first Mike Leigh film I saw was back in 2011 at the age of seventeen. His 1993 masterpiece Naked. Now, this film is a tough pill to swallow. However, the way Mike works is just incredible. He has no script and his actors improvise everything. Now Mike works closely with his actors as they build their character arch and story but there is no dialogue written just actions. That fascinates me so much but I also love to write so I will add my own spin to the "Mike Leigh method". Naked (1993) is in fact my favourite film of all time. Again, it is a hard pill to swallow because it follows this dude from Manchester who assaulted a woman then flees to London to avoid a beating. He rambles his way through the streets of London and is just one hell of a nasty guy. It is the way the film was shot (35mm film) and the use of bleach bypass to get the raw grit look. I have viewed other films Mike has done such as Life is Sweet (1990), The Short and Curlies (1988), and Vera Drake (2004) to name a few, but my heart and soul lies with Naked (1993).
Lastly and certainly not least, David Thewlis. The tall one from Blackpool. It is literally no secret that David is my favourite actor. If I am honest, I could write a whole blog about why he is my favourite actor and maybe one day I will. Today however, I am just talking about film influences. David is a writer-director-actor. He has written three films and directed two of those three. Hello Hello Hello (1995) a short film David wrote and directed that bizarrely has a camel in it. It's on Youtube if you are ever curious. Then there's Cheeky (2003) a feature film that not only David wrote and directed, my dude pulled a Sylvester Stallone and starred in the film. This one was a straight to video film that is actually hard to get your hands on. Then theres Sunday Roast (2014) which David wrote based on a event in his life as an actor preparing for a role where the director sent him to a morgue to help get over his fear of death and or dead bodies. That role was for Naked (1993) and that director? You guessed it, Mike Leigh. David only wrote and starred in Sunday Roast but he was the mortician and actor Craig Roberts was the budding young actor sent to the morgue. Now, you may think the first film I have ever seen David in is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) . Whilst that did in fact put name to face, the first film I "saw" David in was James and the Giant Peach (1996) at the age of five. My favourite character you ask? Earthworm. I think five year old me knew something. Over the years, David has done various film and tv shows and a few things on the stage. He also wrote two novels "The Late Hector Kipling" (2007) set in the modern art world and "Shooting Martha" (2021) set in the film world. If anything, David influences me in writing. His style is dark and satire. Again not everyones cup of tea.
These three amazing men are who I look up too whilst on my own filmmaking journey and I couldn't thank them enough.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Thank you for reading.
Until next time x
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