Kubrick by Candlelight
Woodbine cigarettes, toilets
and scratching arses and
that dichotomy of the film
industry in general, came
together to become Kubrick
by Candlelight. Once I had
figured out a Romeo and Juliet
love story between two young
lovers from different sides of
the camera tracks—one, a
local Irish kid who has a job
as an British Redcoat soldier
extra and one, an English
assistant director—I knew
how their story would interact
with the myth and legend of
Stanley's departure.
Because of my experience
on big-budget films, I really
wanted this short film to
be big—in scope and scale,
production value, and in
terms of the characters and
moments. Despite budgetary
constraints, I felt I knew the
tricks to make this look like a
proper feature film. I wanted it
to be unashamedly romantic,
charming and ultimately,
funny—in short, an old-
fashioned comedy romp with
horses, a big fight, a villain,
young lovers, all set against
the backdrop of 1970s Ire-
land and the traveling circus of
Kubrick's crew.
We shot at some stunning
locations in Tullamore, County
Offaly—the hometown of my
parents—amongst them the
beautiful Charleville Castle, as
well as many period locations
around town. We had '70s
costumes, English Redcoat
soldiers, '70s VW campers
from which the Barry Lyndon
crew would have operated,
horses and a young Irish
and British cast and crew. In
post-production, we added
the legendary Brian Cox
(Manhunter, Braveheart,
Churchill) to our cast as the
narrator and by the time
you'll have read this, we will
have had our premiere at
the prestigious Encounters
Film Festival in the U.K. The
aim is to get the film out to
the festival world and see if
anyone wants to help us make
a feature version of Kubrick
by Candlelight. Until then, I'm
happy to continue traveling
the world in pursuit of perfect
locations.
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