Hades Bridge - Directors Vision
My vision as the author and director of ‘Hades Bridge’ is inspired by my origins as a New Zealander which gives me the distinct, oblique angle of an outsider to contemporary British society. The dystopian world of Hades Bridge is at its heart an allegory about power and the psychological and sexual manipulation of power. It is a gated community without gates, where the locals willingly buy into both the security the self appointed ‘Sheriff’ offers and the freedom to pursue their secret desires - In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. The Americana is symbolic of the fantasy of unbridled power which is integrally linked to the character of the Sheriff and his control and manipulation of the psyche of Hades Bridge.
The ultimate challenge to this highly constructed world is working class drifter, Tommy, who has nothing left to lose. He is an anti hero who is willing to risk everything for a chance of love and redemption, turning his own guilt, grief and sense of loss into his strength. At the centre of it all is the intriguing, enigmatic Hana Wilding. She moves ambiguously between the two men, playing one off against the other as she decides which, if either, she can trust.
Hades Bridge builds on my past films (Berlin award winning, ‘Relativity’;’ Point Annihilation’; and ‘ Deep Freeze’) where I have explored themes of love, sex, power, death and desire as well as the interplay between fantasy and reality. I believe this is important and fertile terrain for me to explore as a female director.
Tone and visual atmosphere
I am very influenced by the visual look and atmosphere of film noir, in particular the exploration of shadowy, morally and sexually ambiguous worlds. The look of ‘noir’ suggests a world that is off kilter, adrift from ‘normal’ moral values, as is the dystopian world of Hades Bridge. Strong contrasts of light and dark form a key visual motif in the film as I want to use Tommy being 'caught' in blinding flashes of light to emphasize his psychological headspace. It will intensify a sense of anxiety - Tommy being caught in a nightmare, ‘mind –fuck’ state from which he'd like to wake up, but can't.
The film will have a very intense, immediate feel, using found locations as much as possible. I have already experimented with a ‘trailer’ shot at the Tinsley American Car Show, shooting fast, almost documentary style, yet achieving a very strong visual atmosphere and experimenting with different image and colour textures. Hades Bridge is a sensual world of claustrophobic spaces and atmospheres, stark shadows, mirrors and oblique camera angles. Even exteriors like the flatland landscape and car show will have a strange, intense hyper real feel to them, saturating certain colours. The visual atmosphere will work to unsettle you and make you question the world you are in. It will play with the boundaries between nightmare and ‘reality’ in Tommy’s dark night of the soul.
I have collaborated with Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic (who recently re-branded the iconic coca cola bottle) to give the Americana elements a strange, off beat and unsettling visual quality.
Sound design/ Music
I envisage creating the soundscape of the film to reflect and enrich the visual themes with sound heightened or unnaturally treated to add to the dystopian feel. The theme of ‘Covers’ plays between ‘the real thing’ and its re-interpretation – it will always be a different, more oblique, take on a familiar song. I’m keen to work with new northern musical talent including rising star, singer/song writer, Mark Stoney. We have already collaborated on the soundtrack for the “atmospheric trailer” shot at Tinsley to convey the feel of the Hades world.
In Sheffield I have worked alongside an experienced and creative team of producers, Colin Pons of FearFactory / SON and consultant Grant Keir over a number of projects. They have creatively engaged with my vision of Hades Bridge through all stages of developing the project.
Producer Contacts
Colin Pons - FearFactory PLC / SON colin@fearfactoryfilms.co.uk
Grant Keir – grantkeir@aol.com