FROM THE FRONT ROW
// AN INTERVIEW WITH DARIUS SHU - “I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE MY FILM IN THE CINEMA” //
We had a chat with award winning cinematographer, Darius Shu, about his upcoming short film, ‘I Am Norman’, his new song, ‘A Peaceful Killing’ and his plans for next year.
Amy Miller
09/12/20
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How would you summarise ‘I Am Norman’?
“Without any spoilers, ‘I Am Norman’ is a film about a man who lives in a car in the woods and he calls upon this filmmaker one day to show the people a secret that he’s wanting to tell. The theme is gay conversion therapy and he is a survivor of the conversion therapy.”
How did you manage to create the film during lockdown?
“The film was made with a two man crew, myself and Arron (Blake), who is also the actor and we both directed the film. Under the Covid restrictions we put the whole shoot outdoors, so we shot in three different forests - we went to Bournemouth, Hainault Forest and High Barnet. We decided that was the only way we could actually do something without a big crew and just make something ourselves, using all the resources that we have.”
When did you realise that filmmaking was more than a hobby for you?
“Ever since I was 17 I always knew I wanted to be in the entertainment industry, but at that time not sure of the path. I love music and I love films so I started doing a degree in broadcasting, media and journalism and within that course we did some short films. I started doing video editing, filmmaking, directing, camera and I fell in love with the camera. I decided to pursue cinematography and somehow I just got a lot of adrenaline doing camera work because I got to shoot something that's beautiful, I think that sort of pushed me further to keep producing and shooting high quality work that's on par with industry standard Hollywood films.”
With your directorial debut short premiering at Tribeca last year, did you feel pressure to raise the bar with ‘I Am Norman’?
“Oh yes, definitely, because we got lots of positive five star reviews for ‘His Hands’ and that was a silent film. We had to find a way to push ourselves, to push the boundaries further with our second film. Critics expect a lot for this one and we're not sure what the responses will be."
Did you feel a large amount of responsibility to portray the story of gay conversion therapy correctly?
“Yes, Arron (Blake) wrote the script for the film and we’d been researching lots of real life experiences for about three weeks. We’d been researching the experiences of the survivors, the trauma and the effects on mental health. A lot of these people who are being rejected by families, get into a depression that sooner or later would lead to suicide. A lot of the process was in the post production of editing the film and that's where we made the story come to life."
Let’s talk about the soundtrack, where did the inspiration for ‘A Peaceful Killing’ come from?
“‘A Peaceful Killing’ is a song I wrote one midnight in August after the film shoot. I had in mind to capture what I was feeling this year when everything we had planned for 2020 came to a halt and how we were all just facing a dead wall. I'm sure many people felt the same way as I did. To put those emotions into poetic lyrics in a song, that there will be light and hope and how all this chaos in the world can be so painful yet confusing to an individual. Life can be beautiful but brutal at the same time. It’s also a song that speaks on fighting for your own rights, fighting from rejection, fighting for love, freedom and not letting others bring you down. I wrote all the lyrics in under half an hour and I gave it to Arron, and Arron loved the lyrics. We handed it over to Matthew Barton, he created the melody to the lyrics, which was quite genius actually, I don’t know how he did it, it fits so well and the melody was very similar to what I wanted.”
.png)
When did you decide to work with Matthew Barton for the soundtrack?
“We knew Matthew for the past three years and initially we were supposed to use his music, but then this idea came along and he was very happy to collaborate to create an original soundtrack for the film. He mentioned to me that this was one of his favourite projects this year. Everything came very naturally and it was his first time collaborating with someone else.”
Was it an emotional process for you to create something so raw?
“It was a very deep song and I think it was very personal. When he (Matthew) sent the first draft, I was over the moon with how beautiful it sounded, and there were not many changes as we loved it so much. We did get very emotional. The song fit the film perfectly and it’s another part of the narrative. Arron wrote the dialogue for the film and I wrote the lyrics, it combined very nicely and formed this whole narrative.”
How are you feeling about the soundtrack potentially being heard at film festivals all over the world next year?
“I’m very excited. When we showed it to some friends before we had it on Apple Music and Spotify, a lot of them were asking Siri what song it was and they couldn’t find it. I hope next year when we do get to festivals the song will get a bigger recognition and more exposure.”
Who is your biggest songwriting influence and why?
“Ever since I was young my biggest songwriting inspiration was Taylor Swift, I love how meaningful her lyrics are and she’s quite poetic as well. I love poetic lyrics where there are metaphors and lyrics that are very deep and there’s very much a story as well. A lot of ‘A Peaceful Killing’ was inspired by me listening to her latest album, 'Folklore'.”
Can you talk about the hardest part of songwriting, or did it just come so easy to you because it was so fast?
“This was a very lucky one, I’m not sure how it actually came (to me). The hardest part is the melody, lyrics are one part but to get something that's catchy and fits perfectly is the hardest part of songwriting.”
What advice would you offer to someone who wants to start writing songs?
“My advice would be to tie in experience to your songs so it feels more personal and is not just manufactured as something that you don’t want to do. It has to be personal and that will translate through the song, people will feel it emotionally.”
What’s next for you and will you be writing more music?
“I hope so, I’ve been waiting to do this for a very long time. I was very happy I got to do it this year despite the pandemic. Next, I’d love to write another song for film, collaborate with more singers and create a pop song, I think that would be something interesting to do. I’ve always been doing slow ballad songs so it would be nice to do something that’s pop or dance. We are planning to do a feature film next year so that’s in the pipeline, I’ve always wanted to see my film in the cinema.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
‘I Am Norman’, starring Arron Blake, will be available to watch in 2021 and the soundtrack, ‘A Peaceful Killing’ is out now!
---------
Portraits by Arron Blake