5 Questions with Jess Anderson
Directed by Jess Anderson, “are you ready to die?” is a playful fashion film / narrative music video about a bored housewife’s nighttime adventures. We asked Anderson how the project came to be, fleshing out character backstories, and a recent film she’s loved…
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I am very new to filmmaking, I have only been doing it for about a year and this is my second and longest film. I first became interested in film after attending local fashion film festivals where the breadth of narrative blew me away.
2) What was the inspiration for this project, the first element that came to you, and how did you go about building up from there?
This project is my final project that I had to complete for university, and after first becoming interested in fashion film I wanted to create a film that blurred the lines between a music video and a fashion film, I was very inspired by Nadia Lee Cohens music video for Kali Uchis track with tyler the creator. After first becoming inspired I then went about trying to find the perfect track and building a narrative based off certain lyrics.
3) On the film’s description on your Vimeo page, you give a lot of backstory about your characters and their lives. Most of this information is not featured in the film. That’s an interesting idea - what was your intent there? Did you consider putting in some of those details, or will this world be expanded with future pieces?
While I was developing the story line, in my mind I was imagining what each character would be like and through this started to build back stories, I never wanted this information to be featured in the film as I wanted people to build their own perceptions and if interested people can look into what mine were.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
One of my absolute fave films is Edward Scissorhands, I love the production design and the styling and the weird quirky storyline.
5) What’s next for you?
I am considering partaking in a post graduate course that will enable me to push myself further, I want to continue making bigger and better films.
Contact Info:
Website: https://www.veldy.co.uk/
IG: @jesskand