On Sunday I went to Westbourne Studios to support my friend Marq English. His comedy feature Return To Ravenswood was showing as part of the Portobello Film Festival. I had seen it before, when it was shown at the Sutton Film Festival (which I have to say is a very fine film festival), but as Westbourne Studios is near me I decided to pop down.

Return To Ravenswood is a low budget feature about a cultural clash between the Rural Community and Hippies. Ravenswood was once the site of an UFO abduction and according to an new age cleric, they are returning.

The film is made in the same vein as This Is Spinal Tap, Best In Show and For Your Consideration, that there was no script, just an outline and the actors had to improvise all there scenes. This style of filmmaking is a bit like a tight rope act without a net. Cast the film wrong and the film won’t work. You are totally relying on the actors to produce the goods. I have seen other improvised films which were a mess, but Marq’s film always had an end in sight, the return of the space aliens, which kept the narrative moving forward.

Marq did an excellent job of casting. Each actor inhabited their characters really well. The stand outs where Heather Tracy as Gwen Goodie, the monarchal leader of her household and her village, and Adrian Palmer as George Goodie, her put upon husband. There lead the resistance against the invasion of their village by the space age hippies. Their scenes are the most memorable and they are the ones who drive the film along.

I like the way that Marq works with the same actors over and over again. His own reparatory company. Marq is an actor’s director, which I guess is why they come back to work with him again and again. There were a few of them there at the screening, showing their support. I enjoyed watching the film again and hope Marq all the best with it.

You can learn more about Return to Ravenswood or Marq’a other productions at www.mevproductions.co.uk.

When I was at Westbourne Studios, Marq let slip that I was on a list of cameramen he wants to work with on his next project - a science fiction series for the internet. It’s always nice to be on somebody’s list and I told Marq that I would be honored to work on it. I haven’t done science fiction before, even though it is a genre I myself would love to do. No news when that will be happening, hopefully not in November.

Just a footnote. While I was at Westbourne Studios, I caught sight of a man who I have heard a lot of. I not going to say his name, because the man gets enough publicity from other sites. Let’s just say that the man is an exploiter of other people in this industry. If you ever meet me, ask me about this blog entry and you can hear my full rant about this guy. It’s more entertaining in person.