Screenplay: Oozing local talent
‘THE HOTTEST ticket in town’ declared the festival programme for Home Made in Shetland, a 90 minute long showcase of locally produced short film, writes Jordan Ogg.
Such an enthusiastic billing, I am afraid to say, had not failed to relieve certain feelings of mild dread at the prospect of what I expected to be a mainly grainy and shaky experience.
Thankfully these thoughts were levelled as the projector rolled out a collection that oozed talent in large measures of technical skill, comic ability and plain and simple fun.
The highlight was an unlikely superhero named Stallionhead, who stole the show in the third instalment of his fight against arch nemesis Pigface.
Produced by Maddrim Media, the special effects were remarkable in their homage to films like The Matrix. The sub-story of a horse-headed dad failing to come to terms with his son’s identity as a unicorn worked well as an additional allegory – albeit a whimsical one – on bigoted paternal attitudes to homosexuality.
Surreal comedy came to the fore in Crystal Math, the story of a young man afflicted by an addiction for complicated mathematics. Constructed as a fly-on-the-wall documentary, director Roseanne Watt rolled out a host of local celebrities cast as talking heads to carry off this amusing little film.
Similarly The Society, directed by Marjolein Robertson and Willem Cluness, employed the ‘mocumentary’ form to tell the tale of a coup d’état at the AGM of a society dedicated to woolly TV historian Adam Heart Davis.
Shot in the Gruting hall with a number of familiar faces from the west side, John Haswell was particularly brilliant as the incumbent society president.
The whimsy continued in films like In The Drink by Daniel Gear and Jono Sandilands. Shot in a Lerwick bar over the course of one night, it showed drinkers’ faces superimposed with the mouths of other people while they made wacky expressions. Set to a song by local rock act Poison Popcorn, the directors made deft use of computer effects in a film that would sit easily with anything on MTV.
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A serious moment came in another Maddrim film, Picture Perfect, directed by Levenwick’s Joe Christie.
It centred on a troubled young girl who falls into a dream state where she imagines a better life for herself. Christie’s home village looked beautiful in the frame and the gentle soundtrack by Icelandic band Sigur Ros complimented his touching film well.
Hopefully next year this event will finally be able to take place in Mareel. Such talent really deserves to be seen in better surroundings. The Garrison is okay, but it is just that. Sat at the back the sound was poor. And those seats get no better.
Bring it on.
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