Directors

Chris Cunningham




Chris Cunninghamm was born in Reading in 1970 and is recognized for his sinister creativity in directing. Initially prenound for his music videos Chris has also worked on commercials short film and photography and is the genius mind behind the short film “rubber johnny” originally a music video for Aphex Twin. Chris started his career building animatronic robot arms and sculpting caricatures for films such as Alien 3, Judge Dread and A.I although it wasn't long before Chris decided to peruse his own careers in directing. His initial directing started with music videos working with names such as Madonna and Bajork which result with Chris winning an MTV music video award for best breakthrough video and a nominee for a Grammy award for best short form music video. Chris also worked on television commercials with named brands such as PlayStation, Levis, Nissan and Orange.

2005 saw the release of one of Chris’s most famous work “Rubber Johnny”, described as “a Looney Tunes short for a generation raised on video nasties and rave music" the 6 minute short film shot in DV night vision see’s a servely disabled man being firstly interviewed before being left alone where he raves out to a soundtrack by Aphex Twins. The experimental piece was shot in Chris’s basement where it took over three years to make. The final long version edit was released in 2005.

Shane Meadows

Shane meadows first encounters with the world of film was in 1994 where he began working for a film and video company for free in exchange for lending of recording equipment. Shane put the borrowed equipment to use by filming short films with the help of family and friends but with no way to exhibited the work his friends set up a local event title at the time as “six of the best” where his work was exhibited along with other locals short films, today the same event is known as “Flip side” and is a recognized film festival held at Plymouth every year. Shane Meadows first short films where created in 1994 with the film “where’s the money Ronnie” giving Shane the recognition he needed to be bumped up the media ladder and have the ability and resources to make more films. A documentary based short film made in 1995 named “king of the gypsies” was based around Bartly Gorham; an infamous bare knuckle boxer in the gypsy society was Shane’s first work to be broadcasted on television, I feel the documentary shone light on to a world unknown or stereotyped and portrayed as a strong family based society that depend on one another and believe strongly in honour, love and family rather than the low life’s gypsies are portrayed as in other media. Whilst still directing short films Shane went on to make feature lengths in 1997 with “Twenty four seven”, one of the most popular feature lengths directed by Shane Meadows is the film”this is England”. From all of Shanes work it is clear that he uses common themes of crime, violence and common issues all surrounding working class families.

Shane meadows in my eyes is someone that portrays what film is all about, it isn’t about the extremely high budget, all star cast or box office figures it’s about being able to create something from nothing and using the resources you have to create exactly what you want. This idea is shown with the short film “the stairway” a 15 second short filmed with just an Iphone, Shane was also recorded in one interview saying that he filmed the entire feature length “Dead men’s shoes” with nothing more than a camera and tripod. In the same interview Shane claims that all his work is improvised meaning he doesn’t use scripts, a factor that is key when asking major distributers to fund a film, in his own words “my dream is to be able to create feature lengths without scripts”. I think Shane is a director the industry needs more of, not someone who moulds their ideas around the industry and limits their creativity to the distributors requirements, but someone who plans and shoots exactly what they want resulting with award winning films such as “This is England” and “Dead man’s shoes”. Shane Meadows is living proof that anyone with enough enthusiasm and love for film can make it in the world of media.