Today sees the release on DVD and Blu-ray of the third chapter in the Jack Trilogy – Jack Falls, a film we’ve been following for some time and we had the chance to sit down with writer/director Paul Tanter to talk about the film, the pressures and pleasures of a first time directing gig and the future for Jack and for Paul.
We reviewed the film here and there’s plenty of Jack to catch up on here.
To begin – how did you get started in the industry – how did you get Jack Said published and then made into a film?
I got started when Jack Says was in pre-production. The producers had an early draft of the script they wanted working on and Rita Ramnani, who had been attached to play Erin from the start, suggested me. We had been friends since university and she knew I was trying to get a break in writing. She put me in contact with Simon Phillips and we talked about where we could take the story. I did some rewrites and the result was the Jack Says film. As we were shooting Jack Says, we worked on a back story for Jack, as his character has amnesia in the film, and this could give Simon something extra to add when playing Jack.
The more we talked about it, the more we realised that there was potential for a prequel story we could release alongside the film – so I wrote the Jack Said graphic novel and we released in with the film. Getting it published was probably easier than usual as we had a film to market it alongside. When the book and film came out and were received well, we knew that we wanted to make the Jack Said film next, so I worked on fleshing the story out into a feature-length screenplay. When people could see we had the first film and the graphic novel behind us, it meant we had some momentum to press on to the next.
You’ve taken on directing duties for the final chapter – what made you want to step behind the camera?
I think it’s the control aspect and wanting to be able to shape what I’d written. I was fortunate to be on set for the filming of the first two in order to offer my input, work with the actors and so forth, and I was involved with all of the Jack Said post-production. The natural progression seemed to be to move on to direct and I was fortunate that the producers agreed to take a chance and let me set behind the camera with my co-director Alexander Williams.
How was the transition from writer to director?
Well, like I said, I’d already been very closely involved with the shooting of the previous two, but this one meant everything that I hadn’t needed to take responsibility for – working on the storyboards, inputting on the design of the sets and costumes, casting the roles, working on never ending shot lists – and that was before we’d even shot a frame! Then there’s being responsible for everything that ends up in the can. Before I was offering suggestions and opinions, now it was making the decisions – and you do feel the pressure. But it was great; to be able to see it through from beginning to end and to do exactly what you want with it – there’s a great freedom there and it’s a privilege.
Now that you’re more in control how does the film differs from its predecessors?
Apart from being more involved with the production decisions and working with the actors, the main difference is the look – high contrast black and white with touches of colour. This is definitely the most noir-ish one we’ve done.
Tell us about the choice of high contrast black and white – as this a deliberate attempt to recreate the look of the comic book.
I’m massively proud of the first two, but we always want to get bigger, better and try new things. We tipped our hat to the style of the graphic novels in the flashback scenes in the other films and for this one really wanted to go back to the roots of the graphic novels. So for this one we went for full, high-contrast black and white, with some splashes of colour. It’s a risky move when you don’t have Sin City’s budget, but I’m proud to say I think we achieved the style and tone of the books with Jack Falls.
This was Olivia Hallinan’s first feature film and her role requires a lot from her – how was it working with her?
Working with Olivia is a dream. We cast her of the basis of an audition at the end of a very long day. We’d seen about 50 actresses and she came in a revitalised the room – as she left we were grinning and nodding to each other. It was only afterwards that we researched her and found about all the TV shows! None of us had really watched Lark Rise to Candleford or Sugar Rush and now I’m finding we are probably the only people in the country who hadn’t – as every single person I meet knows who she is from either of those shows! She’s a fantastically talented actress and keen to do whatever is demanded of her. Whether it was throwing herself across concrete, jumping through floorboards or having a gunfight, she got stuck in and was revelling as an Avengers-type heroine! She’s laughing with you up until you call action and is then instantly blowing you away with the performance. After a fairly intense scene with Tamer Hassan, I remember he came up to us afterwards saying “my god, she’s good, isn’t she?” Alan Ford and Dexter Fletcher were similarly charmed and taken with her. We were very fortunate to have her and I think this film is going to be the first of many for her.
You’ve got some big names from British film here, do you find that established figures from the British film industry are supportive of independent films like the Jack Trilogy?
Very much so. I think actors are keen to strike a balance with the big studio films they are always on demand for and smaller independent films. If you’re able to offer them something they like and are excited about doing something with, they’re amazingly keen to accommodate you. Tamer flew back from shooting in the US just for us to play the Boss, Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher were keen to support us as they like the way their roles were written and excited about doing something with the roles. Alan Ford is a legend of British films and the entire crew was buzzing when he was on set. Adam Deacon is a great actor and increasingly in demand; not only was he great in the role but accommodated us when we ran over and came back for an extra day for us. Neil Maskell is a familiar face in British films and left us spellbound with his performance – and came back to voice his character Sid in our accompanying animation Jack Falls: Sid’s Story. We even managed to bag cameos from Martin Kemp, Hellraiser’s Doug Bradley and Zach Galligan from Gremlins, whom came over to Amsterdam to do a scene for us! I think everyone was very interested in the way we were shooting and being involved with a British film noir.
You’re part of what has been termed a creative collection, with many films in production, what’s the feeling among the community with regards to future of the British film industry?
I can’t speak for everyone as a whole, but as far as we’re concerned, we’ll keep on making films and progressing, learning, trying new things and pushing ourselves as hard as possible. The plan is to keep on delivering entertaining, quality films. We’re independent so are at a disadvantage against the studios with their backing, but we’ll continue to strive to do the best possible. There is now a linked collective of us who work together on various projects, which is great as there’s a good network of support for others on their projects.
Now that the Jack Trilogy is done what’s next for you?
I’m working on a couple of things at the moment. There’s another Jack film in the pipeline, and I’m developing a comedy script. I’m also working on a graphic novel prequel for a war film and on a real life-based story of a credit card fraudster. But for the next couple of weeks it’s all about promoting Jack Falls and the trilogy box set of Jack Says, Jack said and Jack Falls!
HeyUGuys thanks Paul for his time, if you’re suitably inspired you can pick up the film, or the box set here.
