All Ross Howieson needs is 0.01% of Ridley Scott’s new film budget to finish his film inspired by Sir Ridley himself called ‘What Would Ridley Do?’
Rarely when you see the words Zero budget feature film do they actually mean it, this normally refers to films made for under a million pounds. Scottish director Ross Howieson,29, decided to make a feature film himself when he could barely afford the rent. What Would Ridley Do? was inspired by a YouTube video he saw of the great film maker Sir Ridley Scott. In this video he said, “if you want to do what I do, just go and do it, there is no excuse”
As a huge fan of Ridley Scott this is exactly what Ross did. He set about writing a film that he could actually make himself with what he had available. He knew three great actors in London that were crazy enough to give it ago, one of whom had a family cottage in the Highlands of Scotland. This was to be the back bone of the story. “Write what you know” is the advice everyone tells you, so that is exactly what Ross did. The film is about people trying to make a film. He came up with a story about two struggling writers who after a confusion about a commission end up in Scotland trying to make a film themselves. Being writers they have little knowledge of actual film making and comedy ensues. A local Scottish girl is there to help them around but they think she would be perfect for their film.
What Would Ridley Do? Was entirely shot on the directors own £500 Digital SLR with only two lenses, by himself with no other crew and then edited on his own laptop.
“it was real Guerilla film making, all shot on locations without permission and grabbing what we could before we got caught” Ross Howieson Director.
“We had no budget, we all paid for our train tickets to Scotland and then all chipped in £20 each for food for the week” Owen Whitelaw
“it was an amazing time, we filmed during the day then took turns making the meal at night for everyone, sleeping in our cottage location” Emma Lambie
“We were all learning so much doing it and it was great fun, all we hope now is that people see it” Fergus Johnston
What Would Ridley Do? was shot between London and Newtonmore in the highlands of Scotland. They filmed between everyone’s part time jobs in London then took a trip up north for 4 days. It was true DIY film making, a painters pole was used to gaffer tape a microphone to and when one of the actors wasn’t in the scene they would hold it. Luckily for the four days filming in Scotland this job was taken over by a good friend who helped us out.
The film’s soundtrack was provided beautifully by British band, 6 Day Riot and Australian composer Ben Solo that contacted the director after he saw the trailer online.
Not satisfied with writing and shooting the film himself Ross set about the arduous task of editing it. For the next 6 months he edited on his laptop. With festival deadlines approaching Ross had to abandon his baby and draw a line under the editing process and begin to submit it into festivals. Ross has done everything he can himself and is now trying to raise money to professionally finish the sound. With Ridley Scott’s next film Prometheus costing around $200 million Ross would love 0.01% of that right now to get What Would Ridley Do? seen by the public.
xx - posted on 23/05/2012 13:13:28
