What is your background, how did you get into filmmaking?

I did media production at University and really enjoyed playing around with cameras and editing suites.  After uni I got a job at a post production company and then became an editor.  I spent a few years there as an editor and then went freelance in 2001.  Editing is my bread and butter work - I do a lot of factual television stuff and do enjoy being in the edit suite, but I never lost the desire to make my own films so I decided to have a go.  Speechless was my first attempt.  I think coming from an editing background is really useful as I instinctively know how a scene can be put together when I am thinking about filming it.  Still have an awful lot to learn though!

Where did the idea to make speechless come from?

I wanted something simple and achievable on a small budget and limited time frame.  The idea was sparked from a pub conversation about text messaging and how it has ruined the art of conversation.  How sometimes we can spend a day bouncing texts around when it would be an awful lot simpler and more efficient to just call the person.  It kind of developed in my head from there.  I thought it would be good to never hear the guy speak, and how it could be interesting with the text coming up on the screen like subtitles.  It was also very useful as I could tweak around the words well after shooting the film!

Is it at all autobiographical?

Absolutely not!  All a figment of my silly imagination!

What was your production process (what did you shoot on, how big was your crew and how long was the shoot)?

From coming up with the idea it was pretty quick -  a few weeks.  Finding Anthony (the actor) was the most important step and took a bit of searching.  Kept getting cvs of actors who were tall, dark and far too handsome!  Shot on a Sony Z1 which I hired.  The crew was just 5 - me, the DOP/camera op, sound recordist, and the two actors.  Briefly roped in a couple of friends to be Kailey and her snogger.  Everyone kind of mucked in and helped out.  It was great!  It should have been a days shoot but it poured with rain for the latter half of the first day meaning we had to do another day.   I spent a while hunting the internet for some music by unsigned artists who were very happy to let me use their stuff without having to pay huge amounts of money to publishers.  From there I edited myself on a laptop at home and persuaded a friend to do a nice colour grade for me.   Thats about it.  All told cost me around £350 - there was no funding.

Do you have any advice for wannabe filmmakers?

Not sure I’m knowledgeable enough to give advice… just do it, I guess.  Make sure the idea is strong first, try to avoid clichés and things that have been done many times before.  I think a lot of films might look great, but just aren’t original enough. And set a date for filming early on so you have something to work towards.  And be careful with music. I think a lot of good shorts are ruined by cheap and tacky sounding soundtracks.

What are you currently working on?

Am just about to shoot another mini short - a 2 min film for the Virgin Media Shorts competition. I’m also working on a script for another short called ‘people watching’ that I’m hoping to get some funding for… we’ll have to wait and see!

You can see more of James’ work at his website: www.sticklerfilms.co.uk