An Interview with Multi-Award Winning UK Director Paloma Lommel
FF: Was there an inspirational moment or an idea that made you want to make your film?
PL: The idea to make a movie on this specific subject came a few years ago, after watching the award-winning documentary “Bowling for Columbine“. After watching it, I started a big research that went on for a couple of years. I wanted to be prepared to the maximum in order to tell the story truthfully. Surprisingly, I never thought I would be able to make this film as a graduation project for Film School. I knew it was a very ambitious story and in many ways challenging too but I felt ready at that point of my life to write the script and shoot the film as my graduation assignment for my Master's degree. After watching so many films based around the same theme, I wanted to be original with my storytelling and tell it from a different point of view than most films.
FF: Aside from normal production issues. Did you overcome any obstacles while completing the film?
PL: Not really, my crew was very supportive and everyone was very attentive and focused. It was a cheer pleasure to work with my cast as well, the only thing I could describe as an obstacle was the time pressure; from pre-production to post-production I spent everyday working and preparing this film as much as possible. On set we had limited access to some locations, in terms of time so the whole shoot was very fast paced and we were forced to shoot pick-ups prior to call time on the next shooting day sometimes. We were also shooting near Heathrow Airport, this caused mainly some problems for our sound recordist but we managed to clear the planes out in post production.
FF: Which camera(s) did you shoot your film with?
PL: We basically used the equipment from film school, that saved us some cost on our low-budget film. The film was shot on a Sony F3 with CookeS4 Lenses.
FF: Which role are you most comfortable with on set?
PL: I actually gained quite some experience in every role on set, mainly through film school but my favorite one is definitely directing. I like being in control of the creative vision and working with actors is the greatest enjoyment for me.
FF: Do you have a favorite film genre?
PL: I like a lot of different film genres, it really depends on the mood that I am in. But most of my favorites films are social dramas or science fiction. I am a huge Terrence Malick fan, I admire his work and how he is such an unconventional storyteller.
FF: What piece of advice would you give to filmmakers making their first film?
PL: The most important thing is to be a 101% organized, especially on your first film it's important to give pre-production enough time to avoid mistakes on set. Every first time filmmaker should use this time to have everything planned out in detail. It's important to have meetings, rehearsals, location recces and to make as much use of the time as possible. Be passionate and hard-working about your project, and nothing can stop your film! Also make sure everybody gets their coffee on set!
FF: Can you tell us what to expect from you in the near future?
PL: I am currently writing a new short film, and my third short film “Candy” is in post-production- a coming of age drama. I am also developing a feature film at the moment and I am involved in a few more projects that I will direct.
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Twitter @palomafilm