It has been quite a journey growing up in the farming area of Devon near Exeter in England to living and working in the film business in Los Angeles. When I was 10 years old my Mum gave me a book for my Birthday called The Disney Films by Leonard Maltin. It planted the seeds. I would pour over the black and white photos and I asked her if we could go to Disney World. She said you had to be rich and at that time there were no cheap flights with package Holidays to Miami. Little did I know that less than 20 years later I would be working at Disney Feature Animation and would be able to take six guests for free to Disneyland.
I studied graphic design and publicity at Art School in Liverpool after which I went to London and worked for a short while as an Art Director in Advertising. I wasn’t finding it satisfying so when I heard that Disney were in London looking for artists I jumped at the chance. Of course I wasn’t qualified at that time in that area so I went off and bought a book by Preston Blair and taught myself the basics. I returned to Disney and this time they gave me a test, an inbetween test where you do the drawing in between the animator’s keys. I was accepted to be given evening classes for a few months and at the end of that I was hired. It was a huge moment and started my path as an Animator at that time which eventually led me to Directing LIve Action.
indieactivity: Detail the day-to-day process of your recent film projects and who are your closest collaborators?
Richard Bazley (RB): In Film it is a collaborative process and you need a team. If I do a painting it is just me, some paints and a canvas. If I want to make a film I need many skilled individuals to work with the make one. As I worked in advertising I have always been strong on ‘ideas’, in fact I consider myself an ‘ideas man’. Coming from an animation background I am also very visual. I can write a little but I do not consider myself a fully fledged screenwriter. I was lucky enough years ago to discover a hugely talented screenwriter called Neil Bason. He was able to take my basic ideas, shape them and formulate them into extremely strong stories. The idea and script is key. It is like the foundation of a building, it has to be strong and hold up otherwise it will all tumble.
Who was on your team on your films ‘Censure’ and’ Confines’ and how did you all connect?
Richard Bazley (RB): Next you need a great Cinematographer and I was fortunate enough a while back to come across the work of John E Fry. Although most of his work had been corporate I could see how strong an eye he had and he was really able to spread his wings on both ‘Censure’ and ‘Confines’ which despite being low budget are very cinematic. Music is also a huge element of a film which many people forget. A friend of mine and Music Producer Adrian Chivers gave me a CD of his music with Noise In Your Eye, of which the core team is him and Daniel Pennie. In turn they work with a whole ensemble of artists including Nick Mason of Pink Floyd who’s playing you will hear on the score to ‘Censure’.
The Screenwriter Neil Bason I connected through networking. It is far far harder than you think to find a good screenwriter let alone an excellent one. I feel blessed the day I met him as I do all of our team! John E Fry and I met through a Producer and a Feature project I was to Direct. Unfortunately the film didn’t happen but we found we got on well and the dynamic of the Director/Cinematographer is of utmost importance. We gelled, as I think you will see from the results of our films. John in turn introduced me to Jay Cox, a multi-talented artist who came on board ‘Confines’ and took on a number of roles from Editing, helping with lighting, along with shooting some B-roll and getting behind the scenes footage. Adrian Chivers I had known as a friend first and foremost as he lives right here in the same Village. It was just a question of getting the right project going and when ‘Censure’ was born he was foremost in my mind. He jumped at the chance.
Then there are the Actors. I had seen an audition (by Connor Wullfric) for another Feature I was to Direct in Ireland. Again that didn’t happen but like all these things something good came out of it. His performance stuck in my mind, so when Neil was writing ‘Censure’ I knew exactly who I wanted to play the lead. Pretty much all the characters are all offscreen in that film so I needed actors with strong vocal performances and they don’t come any better than the great Tom Conti! I had wanted him to play the lead in a Feature of mine but whilst waiting for that made thai film. I asked him if he would be interested despite it being a micro budget. He gladly agreed and I will forever be grateful to him. There is a scene where the step sister is berating our protagonist in the bathroom who is in the bath.
The Official Trailer for Confines
I had seen Scottish Actress Vivien Taylor’s showreel and was blown away. It was a no-brainer casting her in ‘Censure’. I liked her work so much we flew her down for our next film ‘Confines’. I also needed a Step Mother and Vivien suggested another Scottish actress Elaine M Ellis whose work I had also seen. For incidental characters some of the local villagers were happy to jump in.
I even had a hugely experienced Producer/Musician in his own right play the dying Father, the extremely versatile Neville Farmer! When you make a film it is all hands on deck! After ‘Censure’ came out I was contacted by a great actor called Luke F Dejahang. He was blown away by the films and wanted to work with us. Even better, he had some money to put in to help make it! His performance is stunning and in some ways reminds me of the onscreen presence of Richard Burton.
As Director, your work is critical in the filmmaking process! What were your main tasks on your films ‘Censure’ and ’Confines’?
Richard Bazley (RB): It is the Director’s job to ensure his vision gets on the screen. You need to choose your team carefully and make sure you choose the best. I am very much a ‘creative’ and need to focus on that. I am happy to delegate where I can. I also have a background in storyboarding on Features and TV series. In fact I storyboarded the whole of the TV Pilot ‘Lost Treasure Hunt’ for which we received two Emmy Nominations. Both Hitchcock and Ridley Scott storyboarded their films. I am very much from that school.
The Official Trailer for Censure
What is your experience working on this story, screenplay, production, premiere, and marketing?
Richard Bazley (RB): The first three I have answered so will talk about the premiere and marketing. As we are talking short films, they don’t tend to have a massive premiere or marketing budget but there are many things you can do to get your films out there. As soon as the film is cut together I put on one of my other hats including marketing and it is where my advertising background helps hugely.
The first thing is to get your film out there and into Film Festivals and the best vehicle for that nowadays is FilmFreeway. Years ago I made a film before everything was digital and had to make up Umatic tapes at huge cost. You then had all the costs of packaging and postage. Now once a file has uploaded you can enter into as many Film Festivals as you like at the click of a mouse! Our films Censure and Confines have won over 60 awards
Our films have screened at The Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, The Producers Club in New York and Espace Miramar to name a few. We have also had local screenings including a Q&A with the team at The Parade Cinema Marlborough and The Pound Art Center Corsham.
Censure/Confines Double-Bill Q&A Footage. The Parade Cinema Marlborough. BBC Points West
I would do a lot of the marketing and as well as many written articles I was delighted to be interviewed by the BBC at the Parade Cinema Screening
Interview on BBC Points West with Director Richard Bazley
Describe your work as an animator and Director of Animation (Hand Drawn Classical 2D, non-traditional/digital) versus Directing Live Action?
Richard Bazley (RB): The great thing about coming from an animation background is that there are so many transferable skills to Directing Live Action. It is no coincidence that many Ex-Disney Animators are Live Action Directors. Tim Burton being the most well known , then there is of course Brad Bird and Rob Minkoff. What people don’t realise is that as an animator I was effectively an Actor but with a pencil. Drawing is only a part of it. At Disney we had a variety of classes from Acting/Improv to lectures about Story and screenwriting.
One of my favourites was by Chris Vogler who wrote ‘The Hero’s Journey’. He was also heavily involved in ‘Story’ on ‘The Lion King’. I also did a lot of storyboarding. For animated TV Series the boards tend to be very extensive because the boards would be sent overseas and the instructions would need to be detailed for the animators to follow. For my Live Action films I don’t have to do as many panels and at times will even just rely on a shotlist as the Cinematographer John E Fry and I have a strong understanding.
Tarantino by the way will turn up at a shoot with no boards or a shot list as he knows his team so well and just verbally tells them what he wants. Clint Eastwood also works with no storyboards. However films that have complex visual effects often need more extensive boards like animated films as there are so many elements at play.
Pound Arts Recording. Double-Bill CENSURE and CONFINES + Q&A
What about these independent films did you struggle with?
Richard Bazley (RB): I think the most common factor would be finance. How do we make it for the money? If on a micro budget you just cut your cloth accordingly. Despite our small budgets we were able to make high quality films. I also had so much experience from so many films both Features and Series that I was able to make decisions quickly. One aspect which is hard on a budget is you have no control over the weather.
I once had a film shoot fall through due to an extreme snowfall. On a big budget you have film insurance and more but even then there can be setbacks that can impact the budget. We did have some snowfall during the shoot of ‘Confines’. I was terrified it would delay our shoot but it turned out it was enough to look fabulous but not bad enough to prevent filming.
What would your role be if you had been in cinema collaborating with D. W. Griffith & Charlie Chaplin (silent film), Orson Welles & Alfred Hitchcock (film noir), John Huston (Visual Artist) or John Ford?
Richard Bazley (RB): All of the above are huge influences on my work and will discuss that rather than what I may have done collaborating. When at Disney we would study all the great artists from early cinema including Chaplin. Animators are very focused on physical performance and as the early films were silent the visual aspects were very much played up.
What Directors aren’t influenced by Orson Well’s ‘Citizen Kane’. It has shown the test of time, which many modern Hollywood Films won’t as the money men are very much focused on creating franchises forgetting that someone has to create the first “Star Wars’! I love this quote by Wells
“I wished to make a motion picture which was not a narrative of action so much as an examination of character. For this, I desired a man of many sides and many aspects. It was my idea to show that six or more people could have as many widely divergent opinions concerning the nature of a single personality…There have been many motion pictures and novels rigorously obeying the formula of the “success story”. I wished to do something quite different. I wished to make a picture which might be called a “failure story”.
The industry has come a long way from Disney (traditional cell animation) and Star Wars. Today it’s still driven by technology (software and hardware), take us through a short history of the industry progress from your view.
Richard Bazley (RB): No matter how many technical innovations that are made it all comes back to one thing, “Story”. There are still too many big Hollywood Blockbusters that follow a formula and are dressed up in hugely expensive VFX. When sound was introduced some artists survived, others didn’t. They had to adapt.
The key again and again was good storytelling. There are great silent films though, that stand the test of time as well as Black and White classics. Black and White is sometimes a choice by modern Directors such as ‘Roma’ Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. But it enhanced the film, it wasn’t a gimmick. The same way we shot ‘Censure’, it works with the story and if you watch it you will see why.
For a while when traditional 2D hand drawn animation died in Hollywood I did animate in CGI for a while, including on a Harry Potter film. It bever quite did it for me though as there were too many processes in between what I did and the screen to feel personal. As a Director though I would certainly consider some CGI if it suited the story. What is interesting though is how often some of the top Directors are choosing physical effects on set rather than CGI. Ridley Scott in fact preferred using physical effects in his Epic Napoleon using real (but safe) explosives rather than digital although I am sure there would have been fixes digitally.
The famous scene in ‘Alien’ where the alien burst from John Hurt’s chest, the blood and gusts were real, from a sheep. No one was told as he wanted to get real and repulsive reactions. “Acting is Reacting”, as they say and if it had been done digitally he was convinced he wouldn’t have gotten the same performances from the actors.
The challenge now is with the advent of AI. Many of the CGI artists that replaced the 2D hand drawn animators will soon find themselves replaced by this tool. By what degree we don’t know yet. What was interesting in the early days was that the better animators in CG came from a traditional background. At the moment I can spot AI a mile off but I am sure there will come a point when it will be hard to tell. My feeling is it will never have ‘soul’, not in my lifetime!
Do you have a production company – what was the motivation for its formation?
Richard Bazley (RB): Some years ago I did form a Production Company called GBK Hybrid with Gary Kurtz (Producer ’Star Wars’, ‘Dark Crystal’).
I had one idea which became ‘The Chimeran’, a project which is still kicking around in Hollywood. It is a sort of cross between ‘Planet of the Apes’ and ‘District 9’. We did get close to a deal with Michael Bay’s company and it is still kicking around in Hollywood. Sadly Gary Kurtz passed away a few years back. Not only was he a business partner but a dear friend and mentor. I learnt a huge amount from Gary and many believed he was the reason the first two Star Wars films were so good. He had a spirituality about him that certainly transcended into the films.
The reason to form a company was the freedom to make the kind of films that I wanted to make as opposed to being a “Gun for hire”. It is a very hard path to follow and not without its set back but when things happen it is priceless.
When Gary passed I focused once again on Bazley Films. This time I focused on much smaller films and easier to get made. Baby steps. Get a few small ones made then go bigger, that’s the plan, and so far so good.
What was the first project out of the gate?
Richard Bazley (RB): Although I had Directed plenty of Animated projects including the Double Emmy Nominated ‘Lost Treasure Hunt’ I was still a newbie in Live Action so I needed a way in. I started small with a promotional film which I pitched to Bath Tourism. Amazingly they went for it and I was able to “Cut my teeth” on ‘Centurion Resurrection’. At this time I still had Gary Kurtz with his support and words of wisdom.
Centurion V14 Film H264 1
Where do you think your strengths lie as a Filmmaker?
Richard Bazley (RB): As I used to be a Disney Animator I am still very visual as a Director. My films lean more towards the influences of Ridley Scott or Guillermo del Toro rather than say Ken Loach or Mike Leigh although I love them all! And as an Ex Actor with a pencil I am very interested in performance. I directed some of the Live Action auditions at Disney for the actors that did the live action reference shoots as well as attending the voice recording sessions.
Do you think your work can sell a project? How much media attention do you think Filmmakers need?
Richard Bazley (RB): The first thing I found out before making my shorts is that shorts don’t necessarily make money. So why do them? Well they are a calling card or a step towards making a Feature. You are honing your skills as a filmmaker. If you promote your films properly they will get seen by industry professionals at the Film Festivals. We have also just signed two distribution deals, one with Renderyard who have already got our films up on Fawesome TV. We will be announcing more shortly.
Watch Censure and or Confines in Fawesome TV
What else have you got in the works?
Richard Bazley (RB): Following our hugely successful run at the Film Festivals we have a new film in the works called ‘Bambola’. This time it is a Feature. It will be Starring Vivien Taylor who was in our last two films.
Originally it was to be a short but when Neil Bason delivered the script to me I knew it wouldn’t take much to extend a little to make a Feature and one we could make on a budget! We have some investors interested already and one is a huge name and will announce when ready. Vivien will be going to Cannes on the 13th to 18th and will be happy to meet any more Producer/Investors that would like to get involved.
The Bambola Crowdfunding is LIVE!
When reluctant journalist Andy is tasked with interviewing a local eccentric woman who lives her life as a living doll, he expects an afternoon of teacups, cake, and boredom. However, something in Maggie’s old house is off, something behind her makeup is troubling, and the growing darkness in her eyes is terrifying. Can he unravel the mystery before he, too, becomes a part of Maggie’s collection?
Bambola Crowdfunder video with Director Richard Bazley
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