Victoria G Interviews Mervyn Marshall

Victoria G: What inspired you to become a director?

Mervyn Marshall: I love telling stories, and I find the emotional worlds that a film can be a really interesting way to explore certain ideas and feelings.

VG: Who are some directors that inspire you?

MM: Hm, I would probably say David Lynch, John Cassavetes, Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles - all for quite different reasons. Lynch for the unbound commitment to the power of certain images, Cassavetes for his emotional intensity. Bergman for the way his dialogue sounds. Welles for the way his presence is felt in all of his films.

VG: What is your favorite thing about directing?

MM: I sort of hate directing, it's my least favorite part of the filmmaking process. I like writing and editing. To me, that's where the film is made, you know?

VG: What was the first film you ever directed?

MM: I was a filmmaker kid, so I've been directing films since I was about 10.

VG: What is your favorite project you have ever done?

MM: Banshee has been the project I am most proud of, but I'm not sure I would say I enjoyed the experience, if I'm being honest. It was a very long and troubled road!

VG: What are some qualities you look for in a project?

MM: I get preoccupations and obsessions that I can't shake. For me a project is like working through something. I get an idea, if I can't get rid of it, then I need to make something out of it. Banshee was about creating something that was frightening out of a set of conditions.

VG: What can you share about your film, Banshee?

MM: The film is 12min short horror film, made up of about 200 photographs, of which we took about 2000 more. I love photographing the MourneMountains in Northern Ireland - where some of the film is shot. It is a landscape of extraordinary power and mystery. Taking a series of still images and turning them into something that was going to frighten audiences was an interesting challenge - but it gave me a lot of freedom and opportunity to experiment with different sounds and editing patterns. It was very creatively stimulating - though very tiring and often frustrating!

VG: What is Banshee about?

MM: BANSHEE is ultimately a film about grief and death - two completely universal experiences that are nonetheless explicitly bound up in the myths and stories we tell ourselves. The creative decision to make a film from still photographs has shaped the project into what it has become. I wanted to create a film that felt like it belonged in the tradition of folktales - retold and transformed over time. At its heart, this is a film about the way in which myths and legends filter into our psyche and affect the way we process trauma. Photography by its nature belongs to the past and has always had a romantic relationship with death dating back to its creation. Using it to tell a narrative story, I found there is something disturbing in the inherent lack of movement. The sense of dread is distilled and the line between what is living and what is dead becomes blurred.

VG: What do you hope people take away after watching Banshee?

MM: I hope they'll still be thinking about it a day, maybe 2, after they watched it.

VG: How would you describe yourself in three words?

MM: 'Good, not great.'

VG: What are your social media handles?

MM: You can find some of my photography @mervynmarshallphotography

VG: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

MM: I try not to think that far ahead.

VG: What are three qualities every director should have?

MM: 1. An understanding of the 'Other'. 2. Know when to listen. 3. A healthy credit rating.

VG: Do you have any advice for an aspiring director?

MM: Steal everything from everywhere.

VG: What's next for you?

MM: I am currently working on the edit to a new short, another ghost story. It explores some of the similar ideas as Banshee, just in a different way.

VG: RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS What's your favorite movie?

MM: Mulholland Drive (Lynch, 2001)

VG: What is something you can't live without?

MM: My pets.

VG: What is your biggest pet peeve?

MM: No idea.

VG: Do you have any hidden talents?

MM: I am pretty talentless, though I do a decent rendition of 'American Pie' at karaoke.

VG: Do you play any instruments?

MM: Not since I was a child.

VG: What is your favorite pastime?

MM: I have a compulsive need to watch a film - though I don't know if that counts as a past time, it's more of a habit or addiction. I do like photography as a hobby, I find the whole process therapeutic.

VG: Do you have any pets?

MM: 2 rabbits and 4 rats.

VG: What is your biggest fear?

MM: The fragility of life on our planet.

VG: What is your favorite film genre?

MM: I'm a horror guy, for sure. It's a comfort for me.