The Arena is part of the multi-award winning short film trilogy Time and Tide.

Greta Scacchi stars in this story of a gladiator fighting for his life, while his mother watches on, unable to protect him. While trying to distract herself from the danger he is in, she is reminded of happier times when he was a child under her care, free from responsibility. Greta’s performance creates an air of intimacy, drawing attention to the emotion that she shows in the moment, while she narrates the story in such a way that brings the past to life.

Dreamlike sequences of a child, played by Dan Newman, intercut the central performance, with the connection between the boy on the beach and the gladiator in the narrative coming together at the very end.

Film Stills

Behind the Scenes

Filmed during Covid19 restrictions, the closed and limited nature of the set with a minimal crew helped to produce the concentrated atmosphere necessary to create the film. Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, West Wittering beach is an idyllic sandy beach located at the entrance to Chichester Harbour, chosen for this film as a place that could easily bring to mind childhood memories of the seaside – in fact I spent time there as a child, a memory of which inspired the piece. Cast and crew enjoyed their time on the beach working outside as a break from lockdown.

As Greta has played parts in French and Italian films – aside from learning German for one role – we filmed an additional version of the film in Italian, separate to the English version. The poem was translated, and had a different feel in performance.

Cast and Crew

Mother: Greta Scacchi
Son: Dan Newman

Director/Cinematographer: Justin Spray
Writer: Lucy Nordberg
Original Music: Sophie Cotton
Casting Director: Irene Cotton, CDG
Camera: Justin Spray & Marc Green
Editor: Jonny Simpson-Lee
Sound Design/Dialogue Editor: Pete Gill
Producers: Lucy Nordberg & Marc Green
Assistant Producer: Justin Hillier
Translator for Italian version: Gloria Accalai
With special thanks to: Lynne Senior and the West Wittering Estate

The Last Lighthouse Keeper is part of the multi-award winning short film trilogy Time and Tide.

This part of the trilogy film tells duties the story of one of the most legendary maritime figures, following the occupation of the keeper from the invention of the lighthouse – when a guardian was needed to tend the light – to eventual redundancy, with all the adventures that came between.

Character actor John Locke embodies the dual nature of the role to show a man in a working profession, carrying out everyday tasks, while also producing a performance that brings an epic quality to express the folklore and legends of the sea. After going about his work, John’s performance leads us further and further into the myth, before he settles back once again to become an ordinary man.

Behind the Scenes

The atmospheric location is a former lightship – a lighthouse at sea. Built in 1963, Lightvessel 21 (LV21) is now based on the River Thames at Gravesend and has become one of Kent’s prime platforms for cultural activities, as an arts space and performance facility. The owners, Päivi Seppälä and Gary Weston, were both on hand to welcome the film team and help them make the most of the location.

Cast and crew were on board for the duration of the filming – in fact, for a few hours at high tide, the ship was afloat so it was impossible to go ashore. The film crew enjoyed the chance to become a ship’s crew, below decks on a stormy day that helped create the atmosphere of a beleaguered lighthouse, while still anchored on the banks of the Thames.

In addition to the standard film, a version was also captured with a 360 camera, which allows the audience to feel as if they are sitting inside the lightship while watching John’s performance.

Cast and Crew

Lighthouse Keeper: John Locke

Writer: Lucy Nordberg
Director: Marc Green
Casting Director: Peter Mantle
Composite/Colourist: Jonny Simpson-Lee
Sound/Design/Mix: Pete Gill
DIT/Production Assistant: Adam Stox
Assistant Producer: Justin Hillier
With special thanks to: The crew of the LV21 Lightship, Gary Weston & Päivi Seppälä

Homecoming is part of the multi-award winning short trilogy Time and Tide.

Samuel West plays an actor returning to the theatre, as he tells the story of Odysseus, who found that even after the Trojan war and an epic journey home across the sea, his trials were far from over. After the theatre lay dormant during coronavirus restrictions, the actor walks through the working areas backstage, using Odysseus’ journey to express the frustration at the deserted theatre and the struggles faced in life as we try to start again after a crisis. As he remembers the audience that once filled the empty seats, an epic reveal across the auditorium coincides with a change in perspective that gives him hope for the future.

The film is also about the central character’s homecoming to his world as an actor and the theatres that lay dormant for so long during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. It shows the change in perception that has occurred through this time of crisis, and the process by which we find the motivation to start again.

Samuel West was ideal casting as besides his extensive experience in stage and screen, he set up the poetry-reading initiative – Pandemic Poems – just ahead of the official UK Coronavirus lock-down in 2020. The initiative sought to give a time for reflection and hope in times of uncertainty.

Samuel stated: “The Playhouse, the palace of fantasy, is paradoxically often the best place for us to hear the truth nowadays. During the pandemic, every empty theatre seems to say to me ‘Here’s what you could have won.’ At a time when my addiction to the live had no fix through plays, gigs or football, it was so good to get onto the stage of the Theatre Royal, Brighton (which I know and love well) for a very personal Homecoming. I’m very grateful to Moving Pictures Theatre for the chance.”

Homecoming is also part of the From Home project first presented at Brighton Digital Festival, which explores the wider meaning of home. Material for other aspects of the project include videos collected from all over the world – from professional short films through to thoughts spoken to camera phone – and presented in an immersive VR environment. Read more about From Home here.

Behind the Scenes

One of the oldest theatres in the country, The Theatre Royal in Brighton opened in 1806. Homecoming offered the obvious opportunity to use not only the stage, but also the areas behind the scenes and under the stage that are less often seen by the audience.

Filmed entirely during lockdown, the production faced challenges but also offered an opportunity to reopen the stage for performance. The theatre’s general manager, John Baldock, and technical manager, Tom Hitchins, were present during filming. Two of the film’s production assistants, Isabella McCarthy Sommerville and Rosana Arbini, both work at the Theatre Royal – as well as being actors – and were pleased to have this opportunity to return to the stage during its closure, albeit in a different role. The theatre team’s knowledge of the venue helped the film crew get the most out of this atmospheric space.

Cast and Crew

The Actor: Samuel West

Director/Editor: Jonathan Stow
Writer: Lucy Nordberg
Original Music: Sophie Cotton
Producers: Marc Green and Lucy Nordberg
Casting Director: Irene Cotton, CDG
1st Assistant Director: Ari Rissotti
Director of Photography: Mike O’Connor
Colourist: Mark Mulcaster
1st Assistant Camera: Ondrej Rybar
2nd Assistant Camera: Oliver Barwell
Steadicam Operator: James Burgess
Sound Recordist/Dialogue Editor: Pete Gill
Sound Designer: Sophie Cotton
Hair & Make Up: Sian Duke
Sound/Design/Mix: Pete Gill
Hair & Make Up: Sian Duke
Assistant Producer: Justin Hillier
Production Assistants: Isabella McCarthy Sommerville, Rosanna Bini, Luke Cowie
Props: Hobgoblin Music
Special thanks to: John Baldock, Tom Hitchins and The Ambassador Group of the Theatre Royal, Brighton

Completed as two versions – both in traditional film and 360 VR – this short film set in Brighton’s historic Preston Manor is a literal reflection on the passing of time. The lady of a country house, over a hundred years ago, looks into her table mirror and prepares for the day, talking about the practical, everyday help the mirror gives to show how we look to others in the world. The film is also a warning that the image in the mirror can also just reflect and reinforce the distorted image we have of ourselves – and how the reflection, like us, will one day disappear.

I wrote and co-produced the film as part of my ongoing practise to use dramatic verse in modern work.

The traditional film version was shown as part of Latest Visions presents: International Women’s Day, broadcast on TV stations Northern Visions (Belfast), Latest TV (Brighton), Sheffield Live, and KMTV (Kent), Freeview 7 and Virgin Channel 159.

The 360 version screened as part of a Brighton Digital Festival event I held with Marc Green, co-producer, where we investigated the use of the 360 filming.

Why two versions?

Producing a 360 version alongside a traditional version was an ideal way to test the possibilities of 360 film. The two versions stand alone, but show different techniques to tell the same story. This test helped inform plans for longer form work – you can read more about the further development of these ideas for When All the Crowds Have Gone.

New film-making techniques are often thought of as futuristic, but classic stories also offer interesting possibilities. The 360 version of the Mirror immerses the viewer in a historic location – a period drama can be powerful when the viewer can fully enter that historic world.

The Mirror

You can watch The Mirror below

The Mirror – 360

The 360 version of The Mirror is also available. This is best experienced in a VR headset, but if you are watching on your phone, you can move it around to see all areas of the scene. On a computer, use your mouse to click and drag the image to change your view.

Stills

360 Stills

Cast and Crew

Lady of the House: Isabella McCarthy Sommerville
Lady’s Maid: Rosanna Bini

Director: Marc Green
Writer: Lucy Nordberg
Cinematographer: Justin Spray
Editor: Alexx Paul Sherman
Sound/Design/Mix: Pete Gill
Production Design: Paula Wrightson
Cinematography & Camera for 360 version: Michael Danks
Editor for 360 version: Johnny Simpson-Lee
With special thanks to: all at Preston Manor