5 Questions with Nic fforde
The surreal satire on advertising stereotypes of the 1970’s, “Ralph Styles Ultra,” imagines what happens when a commercial ends and no one yells cut. We asked director Nic fforde how the project started, choosing to dive deep into absurdity, and what comes next for him…
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I grew up in London, UK. I got into skateboarding when I was about 12, which quickly converged with filmmaking. I've always loved films but I think my interest in making them came when my brother and I started filming each other skating. This soon led to making silly parody films together. I had a great teacher at school who would show us films like Scarface and The Long Good Friday. We would break them down and learned about things like editing and mise-en-scène at a relatively young age – it was like learning how magicians performed their tricks. Our final year project was to make an opening sequence to a thriller. I couldn't wait to get to my final year when I found out that's what we'd be doing.
2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?
For some reason I was watching old cigarette adverts on YouTube and stumbled across 1970s campaign for John Player Special. "Diamonds by Garrard, a limousine by Park Ward, the delicacy of porcelain by Meissen, and now, in cigarettes..." It was ridiculous and I loved it – the kitchness of it all, the soundtrack. It also felt relevant – the way the woman was transformed by the cigarettes given to her by a suave man in a dinner jacket. I thought, if this was made today, it would make great satire. I was in a depressing hotel with work when the idea to make a never–ending advert popped into my head. I shared the first draft with Giulia, who's a dear friend of mine. She became more and more involved as the project developed.
3) I love how far you took this. It's an idea that could have gotten old after a couple minutes, but I was riveted the whole time. Can you talk a bit about how it came to find its form and pacing, and whether it was a struggle to keep it watchable for so long. Can you remember any last minute changes you made that drastically improved the flow and/or watchability of the piece?
I hadn't really done much fiction writing but had some basic ideas about story structure and tried to create a narrative using the original advert as inspiration. The first question was what if these one–dimensional characters were real? What would they desire? The first draft was a lot darker in tone but it kept evolving as we pitched to potential sponsors. That process helped us find flaws and solutions and eventually led us to decide on the crowdfunding route, which also turned out to be a very useful tool for developing the project further. Giulia and I spent a lot of time talking about the way they should speak and their vocabulary. We also thought about the advertising agency that had concocted this world. Who were those people? Who were the cigarettes aimed at, and why? Some of that material didn't land as well as we had imagined, but our editor's experience was invaluable. John helped us cut a lot of the fat and streamline the story. We ended up ditching an entire scene just in time for our first festival submission deadline. There were one or two additional changes as we submitted to more festivals but it was John who taught me the saying, "films are never finished, only abandoned". Eventually you've just got to be done with it!
It's worth mentioning aesthetics too. Style and tone were as important to us as content because we were creating a very particular world, which had to feel authentic for the story to work. We tried our best to replicate the same conditions for filming as per the period. We did tests with our DoP Richard to find the right lens and filter combinations – the lens we used had actually shot 1970s commercials – and of course the design, costume, hair and make–up had to be accurate as well. I wanted to make the film feel like it could've been found in a TV archive somewhere, which is what the advert I first saw on YouTube felt like. That's why we knew there had to be music for the entire duration too – the world of the advert had to be consistent throughout. Our composer Chris Hill came up with the most brilliant theme for the advert. But because the dramatic context of the advert develops with each iteration, the music evolves with it too. So it feels familiar but not repetitive.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
Sexy Beast. I hadn't seen it for a while and watched it on the way back from a festival. I love how it's a gangster film built around the idea of the importance of the simple things in life – relaxation, good company, food, getting away from the city! Crime thrillers are probably my favourite films to watch and Ben Kingsley makes a great villain. It’s funny, really well made, the music is great and there are some excellent sequences that I just really enjoy and are so stylishly done. It pushes all my buttons.
5) What’s next for you?
I'm developing a mystery/sci-fi feature called A Model Wife, based on the main characters from Ralph Styles Ultra but set in the near–future. The advert format isn't quite sustainable for 90 minutes but I'm still drawing a lot of inspiration from that world. I want to build the characters into a story with more depth and more danger. I love evil villains who you can connect with – that's what I'm striving to create. An antagonist who does horrible things and makes life really hard for your main character, but is also someone you can sympathise with. A kind of devil's advocate who makes the story just a bit more emotionally complicated for the audience.
Contact Info:
Website: http://cinescope-anglais.co.uk
Instagram: @nic.ff
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicfforde