Jim Walker on making
Halt!
Halt!
 Peter Haesendonck
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Halt! received Four Stars at BIAFF 2023 |
I've been making films for nearly 20 years. I was always interested in cinema. Then I got a chance to do an A level in film studies and as part of that, I made a film and got bitten by the filmmaking bug. Over the 20 years I made dramas and comedies. I made a horror film. I made a Western. I made a zombie film. I made a gender identity film. Then I thought it was time I made a war film. I realised that with no budget you can't make a war film with tanks and things like that. It would look terrible. Plus the fact that in most amateur war films the soldiers are far too old. The frontline soldiers were very young. So I thought the only way to do this now is to make a Home Front war film.
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There are four actors. The film was made during the COVID time, so everybody had to do a test. At worst, there were seven people in this rather cramped cellar and thank goodness everybody passed because if any one person had failed, we'd have been stuffed. It was filmed partly on our field and partly in our cellar.
One of the problems I had was that there is a German prisoner of war in the story. Obviously, I wanted the German character to sound German. But because of Brexit, there weren't German drama students available. So I found a British lad, Jack Parker, who could act. I had written his part of the script around the rhythm of German and included a couple of words like Deutschland instead of Germany. I found a German lady who has lived here for 20 years and gave her the script and she recorded it in English with her genuine German accent. Then Jack used it as a guide. I was also very lucky with Peter Whitley who plays the Home Guard character. He does a lot of amateur dramatics.
One of the problems I had was that there is a German prisoner of war in the story. Obviously, I wanted the German character to sound German. But because of Brexit, there weren't German drama students available. So I found a British lad, Jack Parker, who could act. I had written his part of the script around the rhythm of German and included a couple of words like Deutschland instead of Germany. I found a German lady who has lived here for 20 years and gave her the script and she recorded it in English with her genuine German accent. Then Jack used it as a guide. I was also very lucky with Peter Whitley who plays the Home Guard character. He does a lot of amateur dramatics.
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The Second World War re-enactment group in Keighley lent me the rifle and uniform for the Home Guard character. The prisoner wore a black boiler suit with red patches. The outfit for the Land Army girl came from someone in Howarth who sells old costumes. The tractor fitter just needed a flat cap (everyone in Yorkshire has one of those) and a cotton boiler suit which belongs to me.
The three technical crew were a sound man, a cameraman and me directing.
The three technical crew were a sound man, a cameraman and me directing.
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We have a stone cellar under our house, which is unchanged since the 1940s. It has been there for about 200 years. It became the air raid shelter in the film.
The lighting in the cellar was tricky because in the story there is a power cut and they switch to paraffin lamps. We filmed with two paraffin lamps and obviously some additional lighting. But it all had to look like it was lit only by the paraffin lamps.
The lighting in the cellar was tricky because in the story there is a power cut and they switch to paraffin lamps. We filmed with two paraffin lamps and obviously some additional lighting. But it all had to look like it was lit only by the paraffin lamps.
To finish, I’ll tell you two things I have learned over the years.
First, all short films are too long including mine.
And secondly, don’t make your film until you are on the seventh draft of the script. I bounce my scripts off other people. I'm in a film club so I can give the script to other filmmakers. They come back with ideas but it's still my shout whether I adopt them or not. You get some good ideas and you also get to see the holes in the script. You miss them because you understand what's going on in the story and you assume everything is in the script.
First, all short films are too long including mine.
And secondly, don’t make your film until you are on the seventh draft of the script. I bounce my scripts off other people. I'm in a film club so I can give the script to other filmmakers. They come back with ideas but it's still my shout whether I adopt them or not. You get some good ideas and you also get to see the holes in the script. You miss them because you understand what's going on in the story and you assume everything is in the script.
Jim Walker, May 2023
