Director: Elyza Mells
Writer: Elyza Mells
Participants:– There are no actors in this documentary – I interview Mary Coles (my mum), Barry Nicholas (my Dad), Rob Mells (my husband), Dan Halamandres (best mate) and his partner, Winter and two close friends Paul Blackburn and Rachel Rooks
Synopsis: An intimate and honest discussion between people I’m close to and love about their thoughts and feelings connected to being in the first UK Lockdown, Summer 2020.
With The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival will be returning once again from 26th – 29th May, I got an opportunity to ask writer-director, Elyza Mells, a few questions about the film ‘Conversations in Lockdown’ which has been selected to play at the festival on Saturday 28th May at 11 am
Q. What can we expect from the film?
A. To quote someone who watched the documentary when I held my initial screening of it back in September (2021) “It’s like an education in humanity”. This comment totally blew my mind! I want people to be fully engaged in the experience and have a deeper understanding that even if we may have a difference of opinion to the next person, this shouldn’t create enemies, it shouldn’t necessarily divide us, but hopefully build on relationships and bring about a respect for each other’s points of views and feelings.
Q. How did the idea for the film come about?
A. It slowly evolved from my increasingly frustrated attitude toward the whole Facebook Wars – why not get these people talking about why they feel the way they do, why they believe the things they believe? Stop hiding behind your screen and have an actual conversation with someone.
The other starting point was that I felt pretty good being in lockdown; the whole experience was a very positive one for me, but I knew other people were struggling. I felt it was important to document the varying feelings of how lockdown was affecting the people I knew and loved.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. It is very slap dash in its style- filmed on a budget camera and phone. I was very impulsive and didn’t spend any time figuring out how to use the camera and sound properly, which was very naïve of me! I was impatient, I wanted to get going on it ASAP. Interestingly, during the first lockdown, there were no face masks or vaccinations to speak of, it was a very much ‘quick, let me get this down as things stand NOW, before things start changing!’
I’ve always loved documentary films and Werner Herzog is the king for me! I’ve always loved delving into other people’s lives (perhaps a little voyeuristic of me!) but I’m fascinated by what other people experience in their lives – even if only for an hour or so, getting an insight into how people live and that being real, nothing phoney, this is them, this is their life…I really wanted to present this aspect in an honest way through my film.
Q. Where there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
A. I came up with about 20 questions to ask each person during the interview, but these got less and less or adapted from time to time – some questions didn’t apply to everyone and other questions, once back in post-production, didn’t feel right with the flow of the piece! So filtered those 20 or so questions down to 13!
Q. What were your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. Getting those completely spontaneous responses and moments; the ones that caught me off guard…the funny conversations, and the very fragile and deeper responses. Being able to engage with the people I was interviewing in a way that I believe made them feel comfortable enough to be as honest as possible with me, and in turn the viewer, that was like gold!
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. Oh yes, the sound was a bit of a nightmare! It was filmed during the summer, pretty darn hot, and when I was interviewing mum, I was like, “oh yeah, let’s open the window, no problem” – it was a problem! Dan and Winter were living in Old Leigh at the time and that caused issues with the sound again…people walking past, kids screaming, cars hooting! The camera focus was a little odd from time to time as I hadn’t really learned how to use the camera so that was annoying, but you know, these are things I will definitely learn from…I was very impatient with the filming as I didn’t know how long lockdown/the pandemic was going to last, so I really wanted to crack on and get it filmed and out there ASAP – this meant sacrificing some of the style I guess, but the heart of the documentary comes across and that’s what matters most to me!
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. I want people to come away feeling like they’ve been challenged, not in an aggressive way, you know?! More like “Ohhhhh, ok, yep, I see that now” or “Oh I hadn’t thought of it like that” – that kind of thing.
I want you to come away knowing it is ok to think differently and to ask questions, keep asking questions! I hope I have threaded together these people’s conversations with love and respect and done their views and ideas justice.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. My next project will most likely be three short films based around letters my grandfather wrote to my grandma during the 2nd world war before they were courting, when they were courting and into their marriage.
I would also love to do a more film-like documentary based around nightmares – I suffer from nightmares pretty much constantly and would like to explore these, alongside other people who experience bad dreams, drawing on more of a poetic and fantastical style of filming and delivery.
Q. If someone is looking to direct their first film, what advice would you give them?
A. I did this completely DIY, had no help, no experience, just a hell of a lot of passion and hard work!
If you have an idea, don’t think too much nor too long on it, just go for it! I honestly think procrastination is a killer!
If you think too much, you’ll find excuses not to do it.
Don’t think too far ahead, get your idea, start making it happen one step at a time.
Set yourself little goals, block out your diary with what to do and when. With such big ideas for putting together something creative, it’s really encouraging when you can get one thing done!
If you love what you’re creating don’t let anyone hold you back, but most importantly don’t let yourself, your own hang ups, or whatever cause you to drop it…keep going because you never really know until you try.
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival runs from 26th – 29th
You can find out more about the end and purchase tickets on the website here: https://www.southendfilmfestival.com/
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
