Andy Fowler & thirtytwo on Training Tumbleweed

Andy Fowler, ECD, Brothers & Sisters

It’s an unusual approach; where did the initial concept come from?

In 2015 we made the much-awarded Back of the Head for Pearl and Dean, with the end-line 'the unseen heroes of cinema.’ This year, off the same end-line, I set my whole creative department the brief of smashing the sequel out of the park.

We had some brilliantly imaginative ideas, because it’s such a rich theme, but as soon as I read Tumbleweed Trainer, there was only going to be one winner. It’s such a funny and absurd idea.

Were Pearl & Dean immediately sold on the idea, and are they very open to these sorts of creative campaigns?

Pearl & Dean is a fantastic client because they own the ad breaks in cinemas. How good is that? They are completely open to us pushing the boundaries creatively and having loads of fun. And yes they totally loved this idea when we presented it and were pretty gob-smacked when they saw the edit.

Why did you choose thirtytwo to direct the film and what did they bring to it?

We chose Will and Dylan (aka thirtytwo) to direct the film because of the depth of research and depth of feeling they immediately brought to the table from the very first meeting. It was like they’d been waiting for this project all their lives. Their idea was to set the film in the age of the classic Western to make the viewer believe the conceit and the character. And secondly to make it a behind-the-scenes-film.

I have to confess I didn’t know they made behind the scenes films back in the 1950s, until Will and Dylan showed us the reference below - watch from about two minutes in for the best bit.

And this was their angle on the script. A never-seen-before, behind-the-scenes film from a 1950s John Ford, classic Western, that someone found in a vault at Paramount Pictures and has finally seen the light of day for the first time. The story of this mysterious woman who was responsible for the perfect timing of the tumbleweed rolls in all the great Western duels. Such a beautiful idea.

 thirtytwo, aka Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern

Rather than be overtly comedic about the topic, you’ve created a serious faux-documentary; why did you make that choice?

The central conceit of this film is silly - and for us, the funniest way to approach a silly idea is with the utmost seriousness and sincerity. If it was presented in a more overtly comic way, with a knowing wink, or in a way that signposted the gag from the outset, we knew it wouldn’t be as strong. We never wanted it to be a parody. Instead we wanted to give the audience a false set of expectations as the film began.  

The faux documentary angle seemed like the obvious route - it had to be a period piece because the movie trope of tumbleweeds belongs to another era - initially we considered spaghetti westerns, but quickly decided that that era is overdone and we should go back to the source and situate this story in the world of the classic 50s Westerns of directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks. 

You’ve gone to a lot of effort to make the film look and feel authentically old; what was the hardest part(s) of that process? 

Authenticity was key. We never wanted it to stray into parody or pastiche so every detail was important. We’re huge film fans so from the moment we began to think about the project we knew this was a chance to have fun, play in a world we love and really focus on craft. 

Most of the challenges were budgetary; this had to be shot on film (both 16 and 35), it had to obey the visual rules of shooting circa 1958. That level of commitment to authenticity was applied to each and every step of production - for example we hired in vintage recording equipment (microphones from the 1940s and valve amps) to record the voiceover,  the score was recorded by a real orchestra, the 1950s set workers were allowed to smoke on screen… but we had an amazing team and it was a labour of love for everyone. 

How critical was the casting for the spot and where did you find the main cast? 

Casting was incredibly important to this job and was a real challenge because of its specificity. The role of the tumbleweed wrangler had to be just right and each member of the supporting cast had to have entirely convincing period looks so as not to break the spell of the archival documentary feel.  

We cast both in London and in Spain and saw lots of ladies for the lead role but pretty much knew it had to be Manuela the moment she walked into the casting. It was important that she had a kind of old world charisma and an air of mystery, and it was clear that Manuela had those qualities before we even saw her perform. The other roles were filled out brilliantly - we were really focussed even when it came to picking extras. Everyone had to have a believable 50s look.