Chasing Trains (2018)
Director: Donna Lipowitz
Chris Eden-Green has been producing films about steam trains since 2012, with fans regarding them as ‘ Top Gear for steam’. With friends Sam and Adam he drives from Kent to the Netherlands, then on to Germany, where they are challenged by the weather and unfamiliar timetables at Brocken Mountain, in the beautiful Harz National Park in Saxony, as they try to capture on film some magnificent steam trains – if only the damned weather would behave itself! This very affectionate documentary will charm anyone who has ever admired these magnificent machines, and those who seek to record them for posterity.
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival will be returning for its 11th year from 23rd May to 27th May. In preparation for the event I got an opportunity to ask director Donna Lipowitz a few questions about what we can expect from his new film Chasing Trains which has been selected to play at the festival.
Q. Chasing Trains has been selected to play at The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival. What can we expect from the documentary film?
I hope audiences will be entertained and engrossed in a world they never thought was ‘their kind of thing,’ or maybe not, It is a very niche subject matter.
Q. What inspired you to make the behind the scenes documentary?
Sam (in the film) is an old friend of mine from Documentary film school. We’ve swapped favours over the years on each other’s film projects. I’m not (aherm), wasn’t a train enthusiast; rather I’ve mostly made quirky films about people and animals. But on this occasion the lads needed an additional camera person for their new film with plans to film in Germany and asked if I could film some behind the scenes as well? “Sure” I said, “Do you mind if I do my own edit as well?” Which became Chasing Trains
Q. What were your inspirations for the look and style?
I gave myself complete creative freedom with this film, as I didn’t take it too seriously at first, so I played around with different filming styles. I just mostly tried to keep up and made it up as I went along.
Much of my influence from learning how to film trains for the Steam Locos in Profile team. The traditional angles for filming a steam train not as simple as you’d think, and add to that being left for hours in the rain lineside somewhere in the Netherlands wondering if I was filming the correct train/ if the train would ever arrive and will I die here by the train tracks from dehydration?
When editing I watched Fast & Furious films and The Italian Job. Back in the UK Sam helped me film the dramatised action sequence (that starts the film) in Kent with a series of dodgy almost falling off the car go-pros, & hand held shots from the back seat. Many safe but speedy maneuvers by expert driver Sam, followed by a few pints at the local afterwards (of course)
Q. Did you experience any issues or challenges?
I got left behind once on the platform after a long day of filming in Germany. It started to rain. Just as I was wondering how I was going to get back to the hotel Chris appeared and all was well. We were all overtired there was a brief lapse in communication.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments whilst making the documentary?
Drinking very excellent local dark beer (Köstritzer) and Herbal Liqueur Schnapps (Schierker Feuerstein) while backing up my footage downstairs at the place we were staying. I made friends with the hotel staff, so they let me hang out every evening to do my ‘admin’ on the couch in front of their fireplace.
Q. Did the film change at all from the original concept which you had planned?
Yes, see question 2. I didn’t go to Germany with the lads with the intention to make a documentary about them. It just kind of evolved as I went along.
Q. Did you learn anything new from the experience and did it change your perspective regarding what they are doing?
I was happy to go along with the lads to help them out, also since I have German family, I do speak some German, so that became useful since there was very little English spoken where we were.
I did learn that I had more in common with the lads than I first thought. Not that I’m now a full-blown Steam Train enthusiast, but more that their passion for doing what they do is the same as mine.
It doesn’t matter WHAT your enthusiasm is, it’s basically all the same. If you have an uncontrollable drive to do something, you’ll move hell and high water to do it, to get your ‘fix’ (so to speak)
And yes, I did start to learn the difference between the Steam Locos (and don’t film the Diesels (of course!) Most importantly, there is absolutely no point at all in filming a steam train going down a hill. *See the film for clarification.
Q. What do you hope people will get from watching the documentary?
I hope you will be entertained, informed, and a little heart warmed
Q. Do you have any new projects which you are working on?
I’ve started to study perfumery, which has stemmed from my extra sensory experiments of filming Documentaries with a Virtual Reality camera.
Q. If someone is looking to direct their own film, what advice would you give them?
I’ll quote myself from Q. 7. “If you have an uncontrollable drive to do something, you’ll move hell and high water to do it, to get your ‘fix’ (so to speak)”
If you want to make a film, just make it, with the camera you have, with people you know, in places and situations you’d like to be in, on a budget you can afford.
It’s pretty hard to make money from making Independent Films, so you have to enjoy it.
But whatever you do, don’t fuck up the sound. Educate yourself on good sound recording practices.
No amount of fancy sound editing software will save your poorly recorded sound. Trust me. It’s easier to get it right the first time.
You can can keep up to date with projects from Donna Lipowitz by following on Twitter
You can also fin out more about Chasing Trains on the website www.lipowitzfilms.com/chasingtrains and Facebook
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival runs from Thursday 23rd May to Monday 27th May. You can find out more about the event and purchase tickets on the website 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!
