Ben Charles Edwards is a British film director, screenwriter and photographer, whose love of vivid colours and enhanced postproduction have been likened to that of David LaChapelle. Wonderland caught up with the man himself to chat find about more about The Actress, his new short film, and his place as a judge on the Guardian's Short Film Festival Awards.
You previously worked in photography, specialising in incredibly vivid colour and enhanced post-production. Do you still take photos?
Not so much, I think I only bothered with photography because I couldn't afford a film camera. My photos had stories and characters, People mistook them as film stills, but this was before I was making film. Now my films look a little like my photography.
Why the change of direction into motion picture?
I think it was always going to happen, I studied the principles of photography before being asked to leave my college – but you know, the same principles apply across stills and film… Film just allowed me to play around with movement and light a little more and then later on stories also. After my first film The Town That Boars Me in 2008 – photography just seemed too restricting.
How did you begin to make your first short films?
I bought a pig nose for £8, stole 3 mini DV cassette tapes and begged a bunch of friends to help make a 15 minute long musical about a rape-y 'pig boy'. The pig attacks Kelly Osbourne, Zandra Rhodes and others for their high heel shoes. I was shocked by the response and coverage from a cheap ridiculous film. Though I love it, I guess I'm glad others do too.