As featured in Unfolded Magazine Issue 04
We speak to director Lee Sales about his debut feature film,
Turnout, a slick and stylish story, set in Hoxton, centering on the
lives of George (George Russo) and Sophie (Ophelia Lovibond) as
they prepare to go on holiday. The deposit is paid and with
two weeks left to pay the balance, flat broke George uses Sophie's
half of the balance to fund an ill judged drug deal with
inescapably disastrous results. Let the fireworks
begin...
George Russo and Francis Pope co-wrote the script with Lee Sales
and it "started out as a 20 minute short script, which was opened
up,expanded, and went through many variations" to what is now, a
very accessible feature film that will appeal to a wide audience.
With the storyline being mainly fiction, some of the plot is
rooted in real life, with Sales noting that "some of the characters
are amalgamations of people we know in Hoxton. We filmed in a lot
of locations that they would have hung out in. We just wanted to
make a film that was 'real' and one where people could relate to,
kept it quite intimate". Asked what the message behind the film is,
Sales said it is "ultimately about the relationship and all the
love, trust and deceit it encounters".
As a directorial debut, Sales has done a splendid job, with clever
camera work, interesting scenes and interspersed moments of humour
keeping you entertained. We asked what led him to directing: "I
have always been interested in films, but it was not something I
originally envisioned I could do. I grew up in the first video
generation, with fond memories as a child of a video van, where
twice a week we would rent out films to watch." The more
in-depth interest infilms, Sales says, formed "around 18",
when he "started to watch serious films and went on to study them
in depth, reading many books on film theory and technique". Not
just theory we hasten to add, but "listening to interviews and
reading articles from major film-makers and those who he was
interested in at the time - Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese,
Robert Altman and so on". Sales was particularly into the "70s
American films such as Nashville, Badlands, Meanstreets".
Over the years, doing small music videos and shorts, gave Sales the
experience and skills for directing. Sales notes that aside from
directing, "writing scripts and writing with people (George and
Francis) is now a passion that I have found, bouncing ideas
together, obviously helps, as writing alone can be a lonely
existence at times". What was the experience of filming a feature
like?: "With Turnout, it was all about timing. It was the
right ime, from getting the script read and approved; to funding it
with the help of family and friends; to filming it last summer, all
taking place within a memorable three months for George, Frani and
me".
We asked Sales about how he found directing the two main leads and
developing their chemistry? "The chemistry was amazing between
them, we had a couple of rehearsals and with George having a major
part in the script, he knew the character inside out. Ophelia
came on to the project a month before we started shooting and I
guess the project appealed to her, with the 60's styling - very
Bridgette Bardo, it all fitted well together. Overall, with
all the cast and crew it was a happy shoot, no real dramas, we all
got on very well".
Of the cast, Sales drew in friends and acquaintances as extras
which when combined give the all British cast a believable air: the
boy on his BMX bicycle in the estate (Jake Walker) who starred in a
Sales music video, to photographer friend Jeremy Walker, who both
photographed stills for the film and starred in a mini scene on the
tube, as a despondent George travels on a journey back to Hoxton,
that takes in local sights and landscapes.
Speaking of the music, it reflects the style of the film as the
scenes move back and forth, with Sales noting "we involved a number
of emerging artists such as Andreya Triana, Twin Sister and Holly
Miranda" which "help it deviate from a typical urban soundtrack" a
smart choice as ultimately its not a East End gangster film.
George, as a drug dealer, is not a character you would feel
endangered by, quite the opposite, as you somehow feel sympathetic
or sorry for his plight and jobless outlook on life. The Turnaround
comes as on reflection, having lost everything, he tries to correct
his wrongs and get a job.
The characters are almost in two different worlds, George is in
Hoxton, running around with his mates "shot mostly hand held,
confined spaces with a lot of lines cutting through them" whereas
Ophelia's character hangs out in the city, trendy bars, modern
architecture, so was "shot with a lot more space and smooth camera
work, utilising tracks and dollies". The film also has a great
warmth, with the colour-grading spot on, "Visually, when I met our
DP, James Friend and operator, Danny Bishop, we didn't want to make
a typical dull, grey, British film. We wanted it to be
colourful and stylised, so looked at Fishtank, Kids, Nil by Mouth
and films shot by Christopher Doyle for Wong-Kar Wai as visual
references. The thing with Nil by Mouth is that you become immersed
in that world, as its shot with long lenses and you feel a part of
the scene".
The storyline follows a predictable path, however there is an
ambiguous ending with chiaroscuro lighting, as George walks from
light to dark: "We didn't want everything tied up and perfect. Life
goes on and people have their own interpretations. We left it open,
depending on whether you are a romantic I guess".
Sales has delivered a great first film, which we expect will have
something of a cult following. Of future plans, Sales expects that
"following the release of Turnout, it will get very hectic", but
looks forward to the interviews, reviews and talks concerning the
film. Other than that, he is "working on several new scripts at the
moment, all very different, but will be doing several workshops
over the next few months".
Turnout is out now at cinemas and available on DVD, on demand and
download from September 26
www.turnoutthefilm.com
Interview by Nardip Singh