THE SHAME OF EDINBURGH
2012
ALEXANDER PEACOCK
RUNNING TIME: 21 MINS
A lonely immigrant from Eastern Europe goes on a night out to woo the girl he loves and finds himself taken on an unexpected journey.
BACKGROUND
The culmination of his previous experiments with contemplative narrative is found here in this Peacock's graduation film for the Edinburgh College of Art . The production was plagued with problems. The crew was replaced three times due to availability issues, actors were replaced for the same reason, the weather was bad and numerous scenes were shot that ended up on the cutting room floor. The film ended up significantly longer than any other in his class (with the exception of one by frequent collaborator Joachim Vesely). The film was applauded by the tutors and a shot was used to represent the school’s public screening at the local arthouse cinema.
DIRECTOR NOTES
I really enjoyed the process of making this. I tried as much as possible to shoot each scene in a single shot, which I found this to be a liberating experience. The movements of the actors within the frame became incredibly important to sustain the long duration of the shots. That lengthy scene on the steps of the Parthenon on Calton Hill is one of the highpoints in my work to date. I really controlled the costume choices in this picture, one of the most underrated parts of filmmaking. Looking back I think this style of movie would be better for someone who has the basics of narrative storytelling down as parts of the plot are needlessly vague and the leading character is probably too simple to care about. It’s the sort of film I would be able to handle much better now.
CAST
The Immigrant: Aydan Tair
The Girl from Work: Marli Siu
The Stranger: Evelyn Ryan
The Boyfriend: Murray Loup
A Friend: Patrick Bergamo
CREW
Director: Alexander Peacock
Music: Iain Anderson
Assistant Directors: Cem Ibrahim, Robert Richards
Sound Recordists: Oliver Benton, Joachim Vesely
