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How Richard Bullock made waves with his ambitious amphibious spot

 the Craft Next

Cannes Lions 2015


Is there anything more wonderfully comfortable than your own bed? Sure, hotels tend to have nicely turned out cots, a mate's couch can be surprisingly cosy and hammocks are remarkably encompassing, but sliding between the sheets in a bunk of your very own can't be bettered. It's with this in mind that Mother London brings us a lovely campaign for IKEA, focussing on two very different journeys.

Employing the dual talents of Knucklehead's Charlie Crane and Siri Bunford, the pair of 'There's No Bed Like Home' films look at the lives of two unique individuals for whom bed can be in a variety of different places. In 'Dr Rob's Journey' we follow the titular Dr Rob as he embarks and returns from a remote trip to Greenland, all the while narrated by his wife. For 'The Wonder Circus' Journey' the focus shifts to professional clown Mr. Fips as he returns home to his own bed after eight months on the road.

We loved the films and their inimitable characters, so chatted to both directors about their experiences shooting them.


How did you get involved in the project?

Siri: In the usual way. Script comes in, you go for a meeting, write a treatment…

Charlie: I kind of piggybacked it to be honest with you. The agency deck came in for Siri, but the timings were so tight and the brief so open it really wasn't possible for one director to make both films. Siri and I have split campaigns before and it's worked really well. This brief was particularly suited as the creatives wanted two films that had their own voice yet stayed true to the ethos of the beds campaign.

How were the subjects chosen? Were you aware of Dr Rob / Mr Fips beforehand?

Siri: After the first meeting I decided I wanted to make the film about a travelling circus - so I pitched them the idea and they liked it. It took a few weeks to find Jan Erik, because I wanted someone a bit off-the-wall, humble and likeable and a bit complex. I didn't want the film to be about a performance artist. There's nothing post-modern about Jan Erik. He's a clown, he really is a clown and I wanted to show what a clown's life was like.

Charlie: Mother had done a lot of research on various people who spent time away from home, some were logistically impossible due to timings and legal restrictions and others didn't quite feel right to me. Rob hit the sweet spot right in the middle, just unusual enough to make his story interesting yet his life away from home is surprisingly ordinary and mundane. The landscape and isolation really appealed to me too, being away from the world you know, divorced from technology and darkness with the only access a slightly precarious 2.5 hour flight from Iceland weather willing. Last year I made a short film in a small village in Kyrgyzstan and a few years ago made a photography book in North Korea, so I have a lot of personal love for a project like this that takes you out of your comfort zone.
 

What was the prep on the film? What was it the agency/IKEA wanted you to produce?

Charlie: The prep was pretty horrifying time wise, but I revel in that. There's nothing like thinking on your feet to build a good memento and camaraderie between everyone who's working on the job. It feeds through into every aspect of production which enables communication between director agency and client to become fluid and productive.

The brief was great. 'There's no bed like home' illustrates this by making an engaging story in a way that people can relate to. Can't beat that really can you?

Siri: I worked out how I wanted to shoot it, and what it would look like and most importantly what the tone of the film would be. It wasn't a film you could storyboard. When you shoot a film in a very spontaneous way, which is how we shot this, then you have to have a very clear vision of what you're trying to say and get out of people. You're stuffed if you don't.

Charlie, how long was the shoot? Any issues?

Charlie: Four days with a half day pick up down in Brighton on the way home. There are always issues on any shoot aren't there, but I suppose this was a bit different because of how far away from anywhere Constable Point is. The accommodation wasn't very 'advertising' - no internet, no TV, no flushing toilets... you get the picture. What some people might call character building, but it made for a great shared experience for everyone on a shoot that was all about collaboration. I think the camera froze at one point, when it dropped below minus twenty Celsius, but none of us lost any digits or limbs and despite seeing lots of polar bear footprints no-one got eaten.



Siri, how long were you with the circus?

Siri: 4 days, shooting for 3.

Is it difficult to give a light-hearted doc like this authenticity, as we're all so exposed to mockumentary comedies like 'The Office'? Were there any moments where you thought the 'characters' were too good to be true!

Siri: Even if you're shooting life as it happens, recording exactly what's going on in front of your eyes, the final film is still going to be the Director's interpretation. I knew Jan Erik was very mercurial and a difficult man to get to know. The problem we had with him was that he was inclined to 'show off'. He'd slip into 'clown mode' as this was the side of him he wanted to reveal. I wanted the other side. So when he was like this, being essentially inauthentic, I would stop filming him, go off and film Karl (who was always authentic) and then come back. And it worked because I think he realised in the end we wanted to see the real him.

As a documentary maker you obviously want to capture the moment without intruding on the action, but it must be difficult to be in the right place at the right time all of the time. Did you have to work with Rob in getting 'takes'? Is the trick in the editing afterwards?

Charlie: I didn't approach this as a documentary film maker in the traditional sense, it wasn't about following the action if that's what you mean? There was always a very clear story for me here and whilst that story is completely true it needed to be crafted to a certain extent to make it work. Can you do this, do that, come here at this time because the light will be good. No, don't change your top it messes with continuity. Repeat that but do it with your left hand. This was hilarious to Rob's colleagues that were ferrying us around. They thought we were mental.

I wanted to approach Rob's journey as I would any other piece of work and that is with a strong narrative in my head that has the ability to bend and be negotiated with as the filming progresses.

Siri: Jan Erik and Karl wouldn't have had the time or the inclination to do "takes" but they were incredibly open to letting us follow them around everywhere. In the end it worked out for both of us: I wanted the shooting style to be as rambunctious as the circus. I wanted that energy and authenticity. They didn't want any intrusions.

Speaking of rambunctiousness, did you ever get hit with an errant custard pie?

Siri: No. But Karl would squirt us with his water pistol.



Charlie, the footage from your film is very cinematic. Did it take a lot of prep or did the surroundings just lend themselves to that?

Charlie: Well, its pretty stunning out there that's for sure. The prep for making it look the way it does is far more cerebral than anything else. John Barr (the DOP) and I talked a lot about the look beforehand. Framing, camera choice, lens choice, aspect ratio, colours to include/not include, frame rates etc etc. Then it becomes about discipline - sticking to the aesthetic principles you've chosen and not wavering from them. For me, that will always produce a strong cohesive look in any film.

Your doc is a bit unusual in that it kinda has two focuses – the subject seen on screen and the unseen narrator whose words reflect but don't directly comment on what we're seeing. Was it a tough editing job to reconcile them? Was there ever the consideration to show the narrator (aside from the reveal at the end) or have more than one voice?

Charlie: We worked on picture first, creating the narrative we had in our minds from the very beginning, that's what it all had to pin on. If you can get a story that tells itself in pictures then any voiceover should be there to add depth, not tell you what you're seeing. So it started to evolve as a kind of love letter between the two of them and that is its strength.

The consideration with the voice was to go with what worked best and lent the most emotional narrative. I edit with my wife Eve Ashwell, she's an incredible editor with a great understanding of story nuance and detail, so we came to the voiceover edit together from a short interview with his wife while Rob was still away.

Ana was very shy, but what she did say was so heartfelt and true. At one point I thought about getting her into the sound studio to get a clearer read and pick up on some things she said that weren't quite on brief, but on consideration it felt unwise to re-construct such genuine emotion. A shy woman talking about missing someone who's sitting next to them is never going to fly. A natural and heartfelt line is worth a lot more than a perfectly constructed one.



Are you pleased with the end result? Is there a longer/shorter cut you would have preferred?

Siri: I don't do Director's cuts because I don't see the point of them so I really try to make the film I'm paid to shoot as good as it can be. Sometimes that's a struggle and occasionally a losing battle but in this case it was not. I'm really happy with the film. We had a great time making it.

Charlie: This is one of those rare examples where I wouldn't change a single thing. Everyone who worked on this gave their best. It took some effort getting to the final film but the process was completely inclusive so it really felt we were all working together to make the best film possible.

Were there any requirements from the agency/brand you had to hit? We're guessing the 'bed shot' at the end was a given. Both your and Siri's doc open with a shot of the subject travelling left to right across the screen too – deliberate or sheer coincidence?

Charlie: The opening shot is deliberate, we wanted the films to nod to one another and the first image and titles do that well. The agency were completely open regarding the branding and the client just wanted some form of Ikea bedding product in there. The only consideration for us all was that it shouldn't be ham fisted, it needed to feel integral to the film and I would like to think we achieved that.

Siri: Aside from the opening shot, the two films are completely different, because my work and Charlie's work is very different. I think the Creatives liked the fact they weren't getting two identikit films.

What's up next for you?

Siri: I'm shooting a Guinness spot for AMV.

Charlie: I'm pitching on some nice Ads, have a few festivals to visit with my short film and am working on some new personal work for the end of the year.