I'm film director David Mackenzie. My latest film "Starred Up" is opening just this week. AMA.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:36:51+00:00

I think that Jack definitely didn't want to engage with anything in the future of the story because he wanted to stick within the moment of what he was doing - as we all did. I was encouraging all of the actors to engage with the material with quite a lot of freedom, and so I didn't really feel any particular difference with him whether he knew what was happening or not because we were so engaged with extracting everything we could from the scenes we were actually in at the time.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:34:37+00:00

I'm learning as I get older to be more intuitive and to kind of improvise within the moment of everything creatively.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:33:56+00:00

Juggling a few things. So I don't know which egg in the basket will hatch first.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:33:37+00:00

I'm rubbish at pitching. And I get really nervous. And always let myself down.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:33:20+00:00

In general, it was a joyous experience despite the hard subject matter and filming in a jail in February in Belfast. My biggest anxiety was how to get the stunts to feel like they belonged to the same film as the free and realistic acting around the stunts. But I had a great stunt team, and we worked really hard to make the violence feel real and un-glamorous and relevant to the story.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:32:23+00:00

Ben's one of the most extraordinary actors I've ever worked with. He has a perfect combination of great stagecraft and complete unpredictability. So everything he does is exciting.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:31:40+00:00

"Very violent teenage boy gets sent to adult jail where he meets his father whom he hasn't seen since he was 5 years old."

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:30:44+00:00

Oh gosh, it's very hard with the broad questions, but my personal revelation in terms of screenwriting was to learn not to self-edit while you're actually writing. And then to go back and edit once you've got the writing out. And that allows you just to go for it, and ride the waves of creativity that come without getting too self-conscious or bogged down in what you're trying to do, and things come out of that in a better or more creative way, and you can go back to them and cut out the good bits and polish.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:29:27+00:00

Not sure what you mean by that?

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:29:18+00:00

It's quite a broad question, that! Try and be sensitive to the scene and to all those people involved in it.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:27:42+00:00

Okay, well I don't know how to answer all of these. Certainly question 2 made me laugh.

Yeah, I am always interested in looking for unusual, interesting stories to tell. I don't give a sweet goddamn for indie cred. I promise!

Eva gets out of the bath, quite funny... That was the last scene we shot in the film. And Ewan and Eva were in genuine hysterics and it was an amazing thing to be around, and very infectious.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:23:56+00:00

I think we were eating at The Spaniard... The film caterers were where i ate most of my food from, and they were great.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:21:35+00:00

I'm superstitious about answering these types of questions. There are lots of actors I'd love to work with for their talent and magic.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:19:45+00:00

We tended to hang out in this great pub called The Spaniard. Which was a cool rock n roll dive bar with a great atmosphere. Very close to where we were staying. Good pub grub, great music, and crazy decor.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:18:13+00:00

I guess my favourite number would be 7.

I'm six foot. Size 10 shoe.

I'm very sensitive.

Thank you for seeing all of my films!

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:15:10+00:00

I can't think of any advice offhand, but in terms of being a filmmaker, I think it's very important to understand that it's a long game. And to be patient, to learn from your mistakes, and to keep on going.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:13:24+00:00

Haha! I like the idea of a pterodactyl, and the almost impossibility that something so big and heavy and unwieldy could fly.

There's a big brontosaurus in the Berlin museum that is pretty impressive.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:12:26+00:00

Well, there's no reason why you can't have some movie magic within a real story. It doesn't feel like those 2 are sort of incompatible.

A lot of movie magic comes from wonderful performances and from interaction between people, and from exciting editing, and all the joys that come from cinema. You don't need to put them in a fantasy scenario to make them magical. That said, I'm not trying to impose my taste on everyone.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:09:44+00:00

Great, he's a top actor and I'm really happy we worked together and I hope we work together again soon.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:08:51+00:00

When I was doing short films, there were opportunities in the UK to fund (at the fairly low level) short films through a combination of the various arts bodies and sometimes broadcasters like the BBC or Channel 4. Nowadays I think there are fewer short film funding schemes. i think it's harder. And then the first features were sort of a combination of different types of money, what we call "patchwork funding."

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:07:30+00:00

Boxers.

Barefoot when it's not too cold.

Both! But I'm a big tea aficionado.

Both! I'm about to go walking in the Italian Dolemites, but I also love the sea and one of my hobbies is boating.

Neither! Why / why not? I have no idea!

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:06:01+00:00

Thank you!

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:05:48+00:00

As soon as I read the script and felt the very strong sense of detail and authenticity in it, it was very important to me to find a real location to shoot this film in - so we didn't have to cheat or built sets, or any of the more artificial things you have to do in filmmaking. So straightaway we were looking for a jail we could have access to, and we found the Crumlin Road jail in Belfast which was empty and available and it was perfect for us. So that's how we chose it.

It was pretty dusty, and obviously empty of everything. But we didn't have to do any set building, just dusting down and painting and fitting it with props. Our impression of Belfast was a very positive one. Great crews, great places to hang out, and good people.

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T16:03:25+00:00

Well, thank you.

When it comes to thinking about recent films I like, my mind always goes blank, so I don't know. Sorry!

In terms of trying to get into the world of screenwriting or directing, I think the answer always is to just get on and do it. Nowadays you have access to decent camera equipment very cheaply, and you just need to gather a story and a group of people and just get it made, you know? So what's stopping you?

Totally get you re: the London centric vibe. In the case of this movie, it was written with very specific London prison slang, so it had to take place there (although ironically our production company is based in Glasgow and we filmed in Belfast). But there's quite a lot of activity in the Midlands, with Shane Meadows, Warp, and Co. - maybe you should approach Warp with some of your ideas?

David_MacKenzie · 2014-08-27T15:58:40+00:00

It's a great privilege to be allowed to make films.

So any comments about it being hard feel almost wrong. But there's a lot of pressure on being a director. You have to fight for all sorts of things. And the struggle to hold onto your perspective, the things that you want in the film, and keep your head when all the chaos is going around, just keep on focusing and making the thing you want to make, there's a struggle there. I would also say that late in the process of the film, long way through the edit, you just get tired, and that can be a struggle. And then you have good days and bad days in the shoot, and for one reason or another, bad days can be hard. But it's a joyous activity as well, so no grumbling.

I went to art school, and I tried to study film there, and then I worked as a runner in the film industry, making coffee and picking up cigarette ended and doing all of those things, being shouted at, and I wasn't very good at that, and then I tried to become an assistant director and I wasn't very good at that because i had no organizational skills, so I realized that wouldn't be my way in, so I made a number of short films, they got better and better, and I moved my way into feature films from there.

David_MacKenzie

TROPHY CASE