Interviewing filmmaker Richard Bazley
1.- How was your childhood?
I had a very idyllic upbringing in the English Countryside in Devon. Back then we didn't have computers or the internet so I would often pass the time sketching in the woods and fields.
However at the age of 9 I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis (although in a neck gland and not my chest). Years ago that would have been a death sentence. After two operations and a year on drugs and weekly injections I was cleared. It meant however I missed a lot of school but again I filled that void with drawing. The whole experience I believe was to shape my life, turning a negative into a positive.
2.-How were your beginnings as a filmmaker?
At the age of 10 my Mum gave me a book called “The Disney Films” by Leonard Maltin. I poured over the artwork and photos, most of which was in black and white. It had some stills of Disney World in Florida. I asked my Mum if we could go there but she said you had to be rich to be able to afford to go there. Years later when I became an animator at Disney I had a free pass for 6 for Disneyland and a large discount of rides and merchandise and took my parents there. If I had been told as a boy about that I would never have believed it! I was later to meet Leonard Maltin in Hollywood at a screening of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (My first film) and talked with him afterwards as he was presenting it. I recounted the story which he enjoyed and signed something for me.
I was also a huge fan of Ray Harryhausen. Every year the most exciting part of Christmas was watching “Jason and the Argonauts”. There were no videos or DVDs so you had to wait to see the film and England it was shown every Christmas. I also remember going off and making a model out of DAS (a fast drying art clay) of the Minotaur from “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad”. I made an armature first and if I knew how, I would have made some stop motion of it!
All these things hugely influenced me as a boy and my direction into filmmaking I believe, first as an animator, then as a Director in Live Action.
3.- With which actors or actresses did you like working?
I have worked with many well known and unknown Actors and Actresses. I was lucky enough to get Hugh Laurie to do the voice in my first short “The Journal of Edwin Carp”. Thai was before his massive break in the US in “House” but he was already a big name in the UK. He liked the storyboard so much he did the voice for “scale” for which I am eternally grateful. I didn't meet him face to face though as I was based in LA back then, so booked a recording studio in Hollywood and another in Soho London and recorded him via an ISDN link.
It was a privilege to meet Hal Holbrook who did the voice of Amphitryon, just one of the characters for which I was a “Lead Animator” on Disney's “Hercules”. His vocal performance was wonderful and a dream to animate to.
It was also marvellous to meet David Hyde Pierce on the Warner Bros. film“Osmosis Jones”. I was the Lead Animator on a character called Drix. It was a pill/robotic type character and the Directors went with the interesting and unstereotypical choice of David Hyde Pierce which I think worked very well.
To get Tom Conti to play the Father in my recent Live Action film “Censure” was a dream come true! When I asked him I knew it was a long shot as this was a micro budget film. I had talked to him years ago about a larger budget film of mine but that one is yet to happen. I almost didn't ask him. Another lesser known actor passed on the role and I thought I might as well just ask and he said yes! It just goes to show it never hurts to ask and never hold back!
4.-Do you have any funny anecdotes that happened in your movies?
Whilst working on “Hercules” at Disney my Parents came to visit me. When Dad was in my office he was looking at some of my drawings and said “ My God! That's me!” As a boy I often did caricatures of Dad. As artists we all draw on our life's experiences and they come out in our art in a subconscious way. I looked at the drawing of “Amphitryon” and could see a total likeness to my Father and something I would have done without thinking about it! My Dad passed away many years ago but I cannot help feeling proud to have immortalised him in a Disney film!
5.- After working at Disney you went to Warner Bros. How was it working at Warner Bros.?
Many years ago I pitched a ten point outline along with designs for my interpretation of Ted Hughe's classic book “The Iron Man '' to Don Bluth. He turned it down and I put the pitch on my shelf. Many years later when I was at Disney I got a call from Warner Bros. Brad Bird was doing a version of the same book and wanted me to come over to meet. I went over and he pitched some boards to me and convinced me to leave Disney to work on his film. It was a huge thing for me to do but I just felt I had to and never had any regrets. It was a boom time in Classical Animation. It was the last time I felt that I got the opportunity to work on a great Animated Film. “Toy Story” had just come out and had changed the whole landscape. We didn't know it at the time but the writing was on the wall and it was to be a slow death of great 2D animation in Hollywood. I had already got the itch to Direct by now and was looking at dipping my toes into the waters of Live Action.
6.- You were nominated for the Emmy Awards. How does it feel to be nominated?
It is an incredible feeling! I had started storyboarding as a freelancer on a TV Pilot called “Lost Treasure Hunt” and was the brainchild of a Hollywood Producer Matt Davis. It is a long story but as time went by he asked me to Direct it. We needed a studio to take the production to and we went for the highly talented team at Ghostbot in San Francisco. Roque Ballesteros was my Co-Director and a superb artist as they all are at that studio. I spent at least 4 years on it as money would come in chunks so production was spread out. So one day it was a huge surprise when Matt called me and said it looked like we had a couple nominations at the Emmys I almost fell off my chair! It certainly made all the effort worth it.
7.- What do you like best? Being a cartoon animator or filmmaker?
I wouldn't say I like one more than the other but what I would say is what is right for me now. At the time being a Disney Animator was the best thing I could imagine but times change and ambitions change. It's a bit like climbing a mountain. You focus everything on that, all your energy and will. You get to the top of that mountain then see a larger one in the distance and want to climb that! I never like to settle on what I have done and always like to look forward! I feel better qualified as a Director now as I have all my life's experiences that I can draw upon. It makes for a better film. I know a very successful Director who had early success yet he just seems to repeat himself. They are commercial films yet I find they lack depth. But I will leave it at that as I always like to focus on the positive and never leave negative reviews on films as I know how hard it is to get these films made.
With the death of Classical 2D Films in Hollywood many artists have been reinventing themselves. Some moved to CGI, others storyboarding. I had already had a go at Directing and knew that was the direction I wanted to go. Like anything it's best to start with baby steps. At first I Directed “The Journal of Edwin Carp”, then a few commercials (large budgets) including one for Sky and another for Go Compare. Then a couple Episodes of the adult comedy “Full English” and the Emmy Nominated TV pilot “Lost Treasure Hunt”. Then it was time to make my own films, the multi awards winning “Censure” and “Confines”. I have several Features/TV Series in the works including “The Chimeran” developed with top Hollywood Producer Gary Kurtz (Star Wars, The Dark Crystal).
I talk in depth in an interview here on youtube about my transition to Directing Live Action https://youtu.be/SyPn3AihBZo
8 - How did your multi-award winning film “Censure” come about?
During the pandemic I was trying to think of ways to make a film despite the restrictions. Getting films made is a challenge to say the least. You have to have several on the go, (a bit like spinning plates) and eventually with perseverance one might happen. So when two films that looked promising fell through at the same time I had a rethink. Most films require a lot of crew, cast and most money! Now there are a lot of low budget films out there but most of them look it. How could I get a film out there with minimal interference and maximum creativity? All films take hard work to make no matter what the budget is, so the material has to be worth it. I had an idea during lockdown that had a minimum cast so it would be easier to make with all the restrictions. As we came out of lockdown I realised it was just a darn good idea and should be made regardless. So how else could I keep costs down. Local talent and locations would help.
Months before I had been about to Direct a film and had seen the most amazing audition. The actor by chance and to my amazement lived less than an hour away from me. His name was Connor Wulfric (AKA Connor William) It was important I found a strong leading actor due to the amount of screen time they had. I also knew a great Cinematographer called John E Fry. We had been ready to make a film months earlier that had been delayed. The relationship between a Director and DOP is key and we had already planned one film and got a sense of how we could work together. John also had a team he worked with and could bring in including Assistant Director and Production Manager Angela Hughes. I am very much a creative with lots and lots of ideas but need a strong organiser! So that was now sorted!
The script writer didn't have to be local. It was a "no brainer" as I had been working on several projects with a fabulous writer called Neil Bason based in Cornwall. I had a raw idea but it needed fleshing out. As it was a short film I didn't want to restrict the writer so said take whatever time it takes to make it work in terms of length. We didn't have multiple investors, or Executives breathing down our necks. We could make the film any way we please. As soon as you get into bigger budgets that doesn't happen. Neil is a long term collaborator and I am so lucky to have him. His sense of story is second to none and we have many more film projects in the works.
I have mentioned some of the well known talent I have worked with but one of the exciting things now in smaller budget films is to discover new talent! I had seen an amazing audition for a feature I am set to Direct in Ireland. Connor Wulfric is one of those great new talents.
With Connor we would Zoom and discuss his approach. The character "Aaron" was to have a stutter so it was important to find reference. One I mentioned was Gareth Gates who was on the X-Factor. He would stutter terribly but when he sang it was smooth as anything. It also felt the more agitated he got the more he would freeze on a word. Connor did a video test to see how this would play. Tom Conti had said to me some time ago to give actors freedom. As an Ex-Disney Animator ( I acted but with a pencil) I totally agreed with this. I think Connor was surprised by this but as we had established the direction beforehand I didn't need to give a lot of innocuous directions. If it was wrong of course I would say but I don't believe in saying "You should do it like this or like that", I am more likely to say "How would your character react?" That way an actor can think about it and do it again and it comes from them, that way a far more authentic piece of acting rather than something mechanical. When I was a Lead Animator at Disney I was amazed how the most experienced Directors would give me the most freedom. They knew what they were doing and gave my best performances under those conditions.
There was another artist who literally lived up the road from me whom I had wanted to work with for sometime. Music has alway been important to me, especially in Film. Imagine Jaws without the magnificent John Williams score. Or Elmer Bernstein's uplifting music in "The Great Escape''. A few years ago a good friend of mine and fabulous Composer, Musician Adrian Chivers gave me a copy of the latest CD for his and Daniel Pennie's band "Noise In Your Eye". Noise in Your Eye was originally formed in Box, Wiltshire in 2007 by long-term collaborators musician/producer Adrian Chivers & musician/artist Daniel Pennie. A duo of experimentally focused musicians, who bring together elements of jazz, modern composition, film-score, electronica, ambient and free improvisation. I pulled over to a lay-by to give the first track a listen. I was so enamoured I listened to the whole album. It was perfect music for the film and more importantly it gave me "goosebumps"! So when I formulated the idea I knew exactly whom to call for the score!
After going through numerous showreels I at last found one of interest. Scottish Actress Vivien Taylor had the "edge" I was looking for. There is one scene where Vivien delivers a terrific long lasting monologue. "Isn't she annoying?" she said and I said "Yes! Extremely! But do take that as a compliment!" Vivien can actually deliver a perfect English accent but for this character and due to the "colourful" language the Glaswegian worked a treat. So I felt her Mother should be Scottish too. Vivien suggested the wonderful Elaine Mackenzie Ellis. I knew of her but younger members of the crew knew her better in "Me Too" a CBeeBies children's TV show. I loved the menace Elaine brough to her character. As mentioned earlier, to get Tom Conti on this film was the icing on the cake!
For more details go to: https://rmbazley.wixsite.com/censure
9 - How did you follow up “Censure” and how did “Confines” come about?
2022 had been a particularly exciting year. Our film CENSURE had won over 40 awards and we had even gone to Cannes to collect one. 'Best Score', Noise In Your Eye (Adrian Chivers/Daniel Pennie). I get approached by a lot of actors, composers and more about various projects. One actor who contacted me though particularly piqued my interest. Luke F Dejahang had seen CENSURE and wanted to work with me. I checked out his imdb which was impressive but when I saw his reel it blew me away! He had been a child star acting in ‘Grange Hill' and then later in ‘The Bill', ‘Holby City' and ‘London's Burning'. All very good but here was someone who should be a big Movie Star in my opinion. I have worked with many Hollywood Stars and the only difference between them and the many other great actors out there was a "break"! Actors need a vehicle, a great film that propels them forward. I put my thinking cap on. I picked up the phone and called my long term collaborator, screenwriter Neil Bason and we started kicking around ideas. Luke felt like myself that you can't sit around waiting for things to happen. You have to make things happen!
Luke delivered one of the most extraordinary performances I have ever seen. A lot of it was delivered in the Blind House ( an old small Prison box) in sub-zero temperatures. The script was 18 pages and he knew every line back to front he could recite it all in one take! It wa san intense shoot and quite a relief to go off and do more filming at The Cheddar Gorge and at the aMazing Hedge Puzzle in Wales.
“Confines” is off to a great start on the Film Festival circuit and was delighted when Luke won “Best Actor” at Cannes 7th Art Awards.
For more details on Confines go to: https://rmbazley.wixsite.com/confines
10.- Do you like Spanish cinema?
I love Spanish Cinema! In fact one of the inspirations for “Censure” was Alfonso Cuaron's “Roma”. Many great Directors are filming in Black and White. It used to be considered too arthouse to be commercial but now filmmakers like Cuaron are making films like this it is deemed more accessible to a wider audience. Black and White suited the mood of “Censure” and also highlighted a sequence shot in colour.
I have always been a fan of Guillermo Del Toro. Interestingly I think I preferred his early films which were in Spanish with subtitles. Somehow a Director's work seems purer before the tentacles of Hollywood Execs reach the cutting room of the Director. Very interesting to see him make an animated stop motion film “Pinocchio” which was excellent and very much “his” version. The Classic Disney version is so spectacular that it is best not to imitate in any way which he didn't and my hats off to him for a great job done!
Of course there is a lot more to Spanish Cinema and look forward to delving into all the great films that have been made.
10.- Would you like to film in Spain?
I would love to film in Spain given the opportunity. Locations often influence the feel of films. If you look at the works of English Painter David Hockney, as soon as he moved to California his palette brighted and the colours became more intense due to the sunny weather. Spain has so much great History and Architecture too. So much better to film real locations than have to build them on a lot. I could do with a bit more sun too! Any Spanish Producers out there feel free to contact me!
For more details about Richard Bazley's work go to: www.bazley-films.com and “What makes a multi-award winning short?” at
Censure Trailer here: https://youtu.be/SyPn3AihBZo
Confines Trailer here: https://youtu.be/hxQj7gfBmAE
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