Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books and Video Games

Breaking out of the British horror film Shepherd is Russell Owen's compelling directorial debut. We interviewed him and discussed his love for folklore and how he put it on the big screen...

The horror movie "Shepherd" was praised for its gloomy Gothic atmosphere and gloomy omens. The film was recently screened at the BFI London Film Festival in 2021, where it was warmly welcomed and considered it an absolutely old-fashioned horror experience. It gave up the gore and instead supported the atmosphere and disturbing hints.

British actor Tom Hughes plays Eric Black, the shepherd of the same name, who seeks solitude on a remote, windy island. Stored by Kate Dickie's insidious pilot Fisher, Eric finds himself engrossed in the ghost of a nearby lighthouse. More important is the reason for his self-isolation: he is escaping from the tragedy that has ruined his life recently, and this movie has effectively inspired our sympathy for the protagonist's mentality.

This film marks the directorial debut of the talented young filmmaker Russell Owen, who brings a love of folklore and ghost legends to the project. Irving likes the faded color palette and all kinds of mysterious and creepy images, starting from the inside of the dilapidated cabin where Eric is located.

We sat down with Russell to discuss the production of this film and how the power of the ocean is embedded in its structure.

The debut of the film on Ethereum and its screening at the London Film Festival is a remarkable achievement. How does that make you feel?

Yes, especially since it is a British movie. I can't imagine a better launchpad. At the premiere of Curzon Soho, this is a cinema very close to me, and it is incredible. I made a zombie movie before, and at the last minute I changed to another director. I said, if you help me be a shepherd next time, I will do it for free. They kept their promise and they did it! Shepherd is the first work I directed. I wrote it myself, but I wrote it 16 years ago. It is a huge privilege to be able to take it off the shelf and reprocess it. Participating in the BFI London Film Festival means a lot to me.

I really like ghost stories like MR James and Walter de la Mare. I am always happy to see these principles being brought to the big screen. Is there any touchstone or influence in the production of this film, whether it is literature or film?

Yes. Not only a movie, it is also a ghost story. I have always been a fan of ghost stories. When someone tells a ghost story, one's imagination goes crazy. I like horror movies. Something like The Shining is more psychological than neurotic. I set this movie in something that has slightly augmented reality. There were horrible nods from Hammer everywhere. For me, this movie is about a man who has fallen into madness due to paranoia and depression. The best way to illustrate this is to put the character in a horror movie. This is where the two things conflict.

Do you have any favorite stories of this type?

Strangely, when we filmed, we collaborated with Kate Dickey, and she starred in Robert Eggers’ first movie, The Witch. I told her that I was going to make a movie about the tragedy of Smalls Lighthouse in Wales, "The Shepherd." Two people went crazy in the lighthouse, and one went crazy because the storm couldn't reach them. Shepherd originated from that story, isolation and island, although I removed a person and replaced them with a dog and a sheep. The lighthouse still exists, but it serves a different purpose.

Then I heard that Robert Eggers was basically making that story! He made a very real adaptation of that story, and mine was about the seemingly ideal jobs in the newspaper. "A person on the island needs to take care of the sheep-stay away from all of this." I never thought that these sound like ideal jobs; they sound like horror movies in production. That's why it started with the advertisement he saw in the newspaper under his teacup. The original lighthouse story resonated a lot for me. Isolation is something that I find particularly creepy. Ironically, we then finished shooting and entered a locked state. This is pure coincidence.

When you make a movie like this, is it a challenge to play panic and images on the front foot? How do you decide how much you want to show to the audience?

Normally, you don't need a monologue, because all information can be conveyed through a simple appearance. But you don't necessarily know what the actor will give you. You want to make sure they have the freedom to work in this space and tell stories they understand. There are a lot of dialogues and expositions in the original, but I can delete them all. Deleting things from the movie will make it even more creepy, because you are deleting information, and this is where people need to feel safe and secure. If you can set the tone and atmosphere correctly, it will be even more creepy.

If you remove the language tool he relies on, does it have to make huge demands on your protagonist Tom Hughes? How did you work with him to coax the show?

When we cast the cast, our casting director, Gemma Sykes, put the correct potion together to assemble the actors correctly. She concealed to Tom, because I don't know who has this ability. Before you start to turn the camera, Tom will not give up too much. He will read it through, but he doesn't have to rehearse. All I can do is tell him what I want and give him as much information as possible.

All pre-production and post-production depend on me as a storyteller. But between "action" and "editing", it's all Tom. I have determined everything he needs to use, and then he becomes a storyteller. He appears in almost every frame of the movie. He is not only the leader; he is the movie. This was a huge responsibility, but from day one, he kept it in mind. After taking one or two shots, he kept turning to me and asked if I really didn't want the other one. I kept telling him, "That's it." He really understood, and he was really easy to get along with.

We attach great importance to folklore and myths related to water. You also have the central sign of the lighthouse. When telling this story, did you find the idea of ​​coastal landscapes appealing?

I grew up in Llandudno, North Wales, which is a small peninsula. I grew up surrounded by the sea and sheep. This is definitely my blood, so it will naturally appear on the screen. When you walk the dog on the beach for several years, you begin to develop the story. I will see a standing stone, it will trigger something, or I will see a shipwreck or something like that. I will start to tell myself stories and imagine small scenes. All of these are the trigger points to build the scene, and then you put them all in one story.

The ocean has some basic and mysterious things. The location of your movie is very compelling. Where did you take it?

It is the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. Drive north for a few hours to Glasgow, then to Oban, and then take the ferry. It is also a fairly isolated part of the island. Getting the staff and the camera cart there is a huge challenge. But the scenery is amazing and very Scottish. The further you go west, the more Icelandic you are. Some of them are almost like lunar landscapes. It has a complete story in itself.

When I went to reconnaissance for the first time, it was covered with snow. Unbelievable, but this is like the planet Hoth. The next day, everything melted. And the waterfall is crazy. It's like being on another planet. I traveled from South Wales to North Wales, then to the Lake District, and then through most of the west coast of Scotland. I drove Moore in a counterclockwise direction, and then just turned around and saw Benmore Manor from the other side of the lake. I thought it was the mainland. This was the most complicated place to shoot, but Benmore Manor actually didn't shoot so much. People usually go to Skye, Glencoe or Fort William. Filming on the Isle of Mull is an honor.

Is the hut a real building on the island or did you build it?

Huts and lighthouses are things I have been thinking about for years. I showed some pictures to our production designer Chris Richmond. He was amazing, and it was already established on the scene before I realized it. This is a challenge because it is one of the most windy regions in Europe. They build on a huge scaffolding and then embed it in the landscape. You can see that something is wrong with it; think about it if we had an ordinary house, it would tell a slightly different story. The lighthouse is a model. We built the lighthouse gate, but the rest is a seven-foot model.

In addition to the technical aspects, you have a story that zeroes out the ambiguous nature of the role of Tom Hughes. Is it a challenge to require viewers to invest in a character whose loyalty is still uncertain?

Yes, it can go any way. You must adjust the information you provide like breadcrumbs. This is a challenge, but telling such a story is also a pleasure. You don't want to say too much or too little. The performance will contain information, which is also a matter of judging what happened in the flashback scene. That decision-making process is the interesting part for me.

The concept of the central phantom is interesting. Are there stylistic touch points?

That is a reference to drowning. I want it to look like she is underwater. There was a bigger backstory, and I took it out because I didn’t want to reveal too much information. In all the old journals, there are various ghosts haunting the island. One of them was a shipwreck, and Eric locked it.

Hundreds of years ago, shipwrecks would close the lighthouse and use lights to pull the ship into the rocks. Once the ship crashed on the rocks, they would plunder the wreckage. The image of the shipwreck came from this. This is an amazing costume by our designer Georgiana. Later, we decided that the shipwreck should reveal some information about Eric. This story changed several times before we determined the ending we used.

Now that your movie has been released, I would like to ask if you think we are currently in the purple zone of horror movies?

Yes, people have become more open to different forms of terror. I follow terrorist organizations out of pure interest. Some people like traditional slasher, some people like such movies. I keep seeing the appearance of Ari Aster movies and sparking heated debates. For me, he is an absolute master. The same is true for Robert Eggers. They are changing genres. They opened up a new path and provided opportunities for filmmakers like me.

If someone made an Inception movie before Christopher Nolan, people would say, "I don't understand." But he opened the debate very beautifully. With people like Ari Aster following, it opens the door to unfamiliar concepts, as long as they are executed well. This opened up the audience's mind. They don't just look forward to the last girl and the traditional horror structure. They now look forward to leaving questions and debates. This is really exciting. You now see a new type of horror emerge.

Will you keep this genre in the next movie?

I am studying the follow-up work of Shepherd. This is not a sequel, but in the same field, I hope I can start next year. I have written several articles. As I said, I like ghost stories. Shepherd spent 16 years, during which time I wrote 12 more scripts. Now that Shepherd is about to appear on the big screen, I can make the next one. This will keep me busy for a while.

Thank you very much Russell Owen for taking the time to accept this interview.

Shepherd was released in the UK on November 26.

Submitted as follows: exclusive reports, interviews, movies, Sean Wilson Tagged with: 2021 BFI London Film Festival, Russell Irving, Shepherd

© 2009-2021 Shining Myth Co., Ltd. all rights reserved. It is strictly forbidden to copy, modify, distribute or republish the content without permission. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks/copyrights of their respective rights holders. Read our terms of use and privacy policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.