When a relationship becomes stagnant, navigating it can become a juggling act. That’s why communication is key. Communication, however, is not the strong suit of the relationship at the heart of director Nick Rutter’s latest short Skewered, which finds a stricken couple hiding perception-altering secrets from one another. It’s a situation that, in reality, never ends well but Rutter takes the emotional fallout of that inevitable reactionary moment to a whole new level in his delightfully farcical film. DN invited Rutter – who we first featured on DN back in 2013 – to join us for a conversation alongside his Lamplight Stories collaborator and Skewered co-writer and producer Ben Richardson about the extensive script work and pre-production planning that went into the tonal evolution of the film, the challenge of building their set from scratch in a freezing cold air base in north Norfolk, and the joy they found in casting actors who could nail every element of their ambitious vision.
Both of you and Noah Rutter are listed as the writers on Skewered. How much of what we see in the film came out of that collaboration during the writing stage?
Nick Rutter: Lots of the detail came through writing and collaboratively working with my brother and Ben. They both added lots of rich ideas, some that stayed and some that should’ve have made it but didn’t and some that we’ll keep for the next one. Yet another layer of detail and complexity was built through the production and the performances. And even the edit brought lots of new nuances to some of the ideas. Ultimately I feel like we lost more than we gained from idea to finished edit… I think if I’m being honest I disappoint myself for not going further with the idea and running with newer ideas that are better, for instance at one point I felt like we should set the film in a dystopian future where the vegetable police actually come and arrest Magnus. Or that after the delivery we’d have another series of deliveries that get worse and worse for Magnus. These are the ideas I should take seriously, I must learn to adapt and let go of the original idea if a better one arises, I do this to a degree yet need to push the more exciting and anarchic ideas. Trust the madness isn’t mad and shoot some more experimental expansions of the scene. Let’s just say time and money would help, yet that’s an excuse maybe.
I must learn to adapt and let go of the original idea if a better one arises, I do this to a degree yet need to push the more exciting and anarchic ideas.
Ben Richardson: Nick had been telling the true story behind Skewered as an anecdote for years, ever since Noah, got caught in the actual act that would inspire the film! It’d always cracked us up, so when he suggested to us that we should adapt the story into a comedy short, Noah and I were already sold. As a director, Nick’s visionary style is marked by a unique blend of narrative depth, aesthetic insight and dark humour so we were keen that the script should reflect this too. It came together quickly and evolved from a tale of incidental apostasy into something darker and, hopefully, more surprising.
What kind of tone were you looking to strike? In my mind, there’s a heightened nature to the comedy but it’s also satirical.
NR: I love satire and I love dramatic and polished comedy, and wanted to take the viewer on a journey through this ‘melodramatic’ story that’s totally mundane and pathetic on one hand, but passionately political on another hand and explore the inner workings of that between this broken relationship. That meat is a metaphor for sex for them. I also wanted to start with his story and end with her story so jump perspective through the film. On another note, it all just made me laugh. I made this to have some fun and really did, the idea still makes me laugh, more than the film. I’d really hoped to have more time filming Magnus eating the kebab and Fleur doing her meditations. Then create this kind of edit between them where they were making love through the wall.
BR: Theatre was a big, early influence; we wanted the film to work almost like a chamber play. With music being really important to us as filmmakers, we were keen to place added emphasis on the musical elements, the title song becoming a theatrical experience that would aim to provide an intense and immersive platform on which the characters’ final conflict could unravel. After refining the script, we worked with my dad, Chris, a masterful singer-songwriter as he composed the main song that then was expertly brought to life by the brilliant Carl Sander and Andréas Pfannenstill at Melt Music, working with virtuoso Swedish musicians Jakob Lindhagen and Daniel Migdal.
Nick’s visionary style is marked by a unique blend of narrative depth, aesthetic insight and dark humour so we were keen that the script should reflect this too.
And similarly, on a cinematic basis, how did you construct the visual language of Skewered?
NR: For the style, I had a mood board with a kind of neon, green and pink tone. It was important to me we’d be in a basement flat in a side street just off a main city road. Actually, I’m my head it was set in Brighton, yet I changed to Croydon as it was more plausible that she’d have been going into central London to see a show. So I had a strong idea of the damp, cocoon-styled flat, yet lived in to share that the couple were artistic and grounded in a long term set-up. I also think I just enjoy the visual part of the styling and so most of the furniture is mine or stuff I sourced. The set needs to look good under lighting, so it looks good on the camera and that inspires everyone on set when they see how it looks. So thinking about the colour, texture and light is an early part of the process for me.
The song is such a great touch and the sound of the kebab being eaten is hilarious. How much of the music and sound design was prepped during pre-production?
NR: Sound and sound design was considered early on, we discussed what sound we’d have for the intense kebab stare and at first we tried heartbeats but found the low gut sounds were more haunting in the end. Funnily the final song was always the final song, it was something that just felt right from the start and always worked for me. Music can change a scene or meaning to a scene and I wanted to explore how musicals can sometimes really grab us by surprise and show us a hidden, deeper emotional side to a scene. I’m a massive fan of music in theatre like Girl from the North Country and I wanted to see if I could make this story become epic somehow and be genuinely sad. Really make the comedy serious for a moment. I’m not saying I achieved that. But it was the reason why I did it.
How challenging was it to find actors who you knew could handle both the comedy/drama and the musical requirements of the script?
BR: Casting was always going to be key; the early script drafts were fairly verbose so finding two lead actors who could portray the nuanced characters with authenticity and depth was vital. The help and experience of friend and Casting Director Chandra Ruegg allowed us to secure two great performers who beautifully captured the fading chemistry of the stricken relationship. Graham Dickson was recommended to us and his improvisation skills, alongside his subtle timing and endearingly bumbling delivery, were a perfect fit for browbeaten Magnus. Arguably Fleur would be a harder character to play, instantly unlikeable, we knew it was vital that she win the viewer’s favour through the careful reveal of her own vulnerability. The superb Hanako Footman made Fleur’s inner anguish relatable, bringing great pathos to the role.
The early script drafts were fairly verbose so finding two lead actors who could portray the nuanced characters with authenticity and depth was vital.
NR: When I watched Graham’s short film DFL it made me cry with laughter and I was sold. It was brilliant that he was available and I hadn’t realised he had never actually eaten a Donner Kebab before.
And likewise, how straightforward was it to assemble the crew needed to execute the vision you all had?
BR: We looked to assemble a local crew. Nick and I had set up Lamplight Stories the previous year, with a view to championing Norfolk talent so, with the help of Craig at Norfolk Screen, we were put in touch with Gareth Middleton who became the most able and resourceful production designer, assembling our basement apartment set, with Alex Richardson and Kelvin Reynolds, on an old air base in north Norfolk.
With a limited budget (the film was largely self-financed by Nick, with support from My Accomplice), being able to hustle was essential and a key player here was our dexterous Line Producer Kiya Gervis-Bennett. We were able to secure competitive rental deals with ProCam and Pixipixel through the contacts of our imagistic DOP, Edward Tucker, and producer Jamie Clark. Rental companies are always very supportive of independent filmmaking, so are always worth approaching. We then all worked hard to find free items to build the flat, with windows from skips and doors from Gumtree. The set was carefully planned out by Nick, working with Ed, to allow for lighting and logistics, with the legendary fridge incorporated into an exhaustive winter build. Construction took around a month, in a building with no heating or electricity, but the time would allow us to become more efficient on the two and a half day shoot, with a lot of the setups planned and executed in advance.
So, how long were you shooting for in total?
BR: With the team in place and the set construction near complete, we pulled a four day schedule together that would see the actors meet with Nick in London on day one, to lay down vocals. This would then be mixed to use as a sync track on set on day four, a half day before our afternoon get out. Shot in early December on the freezing air base, a large portion of the budget went on fan heaters!
From the sounds of it you clearly prepped heavily but filmmaking is never as smooth as you’d like. Do you have any anecdotes from your on set experience?
NR: Oh, the night before the shoot, lots of shit happened, besides breaking down with the actors in my car, not having a sound man until one in the morning, I went and bought myself a Donner Kebab for dinner as a kind of joke. I’d not had one for maybe fifteen years and I bloody loved it. Another thing was that I wanted to try and get sponsorship from a pro-meat company. It unfortunately was a no go!
I wanted to see if I could make this story become epic somehow and be genuinely sad. Really make the comedy serious for a moment.
BR: You never have enough time on set and I think, if it wasn’t for the willingness of the crew, some who took on multiple roles, it would’ve been a struggle to capture as much as we did. We had a really tight-knit group, with a mix of youth and experience that we’d definitely look to replicate again. We had our list of shots that were essential to grab, along with some more ‘luxury’ shots that, unfortunately, we couldn’t get all of the way through. Despite having a bespoke set that allowed us to shoot from various angles, like outside the flat, we needed to prioritise the shots that would tell the story first and foremost, making sure we had enough coverage for the edit.
How did you prep for the different feel of the final scene?
BR: For the last day of the shoot, we had a theatre space ready for the finale scene, which was shot last. Nick is very comfortable with loose or verité-style music videos, so we opted for dynamic, shoulder-held camera work. There was a debate about filling the theatre chairs with an audience or keeping it empty. Given the symbolism of the location, we chose an empty theatre with the flash of lights from the kebab house on the side which was gratefully welcomed by the production team who had begun wrangling audience members!
It’s cool to hear you both discuss all the ideas that went into creating Skewered because it all comes together so seamlessly, was the edit a fairly easy process?
BR: Having several dialogue-heavy scenes, we were mindful of maintaining the pace. In the edit suite with Nick and our brilliant editor Jake Armstrong, executive producer Barney Reisz offered some sage advice to ensure the film’s flow. The post-production took a little longer than initially planned, as we called in a few favours to aid with the soundscapes that played a crucial role in setting the tone, but we were ready by early March.
How are you feeling now with the film currently on its festival run? Are you looking to work together again in the near future?
BR: Overall we had an absolute blast and were thrilled with how it came out. The plan now is to work up another short before looking to develop some longer form ideas.
