Killing Kultcha

For my first post as guest editor while Emma is indisposed (aw bless!) here’s something from David Maguire, plugging the film 5ylac made at Temple Works the other weekend.  I was around while they were shooting (mopping up from Light Night, sadly) and Robert recently sent me pictures of Ivor Tymchak in full regalia too . . . I am currently in the care of a very specialist psychiatric unit suffering from PTSD (Pretend Transvestite Stress Disorder.) Can’t wait to see the film though.

Does David mention he was happy clapperboard guy for the day?

Killing Kultcha

By David Maguire

Murder, Czech pornography, men in drag, fake blood – yep, the usual things you’d expect to find on a typical October Saturday in Leeds!

Temple Works in Holbeck was transformed into a film set for the day as Leeds-based production company 5YLAC created their latest dark offering – a short satirical twist on the Leeds phenomenon Bettakultcha.

At Bettakultcha parties, held a few times a year at Temple Works, people pay to watch others give PowerPoint presentations – on any topic under the sun. The only rule: you can’t go over five minutes, and you only get 15 seconds per slide.

Killing Amy, written and directed by 5YLAC’s head Robert St-John Smith, takes this concept one step further. The main character, Michael Thomas (played by Colchester-based actor Nick Gordon) gives his presentation on the best way to stalk – and kill – the perfect victim: in this case, Amy (played by Leeds actress Dalia Green). He explains his motives, his methods and selection process whilst sticking to the Bettakultcha guidelines.

For 12 hours, cast and crew found themselves ensconced in a cold, dark cellar at Temple Works to provide the ultimate killing ground for Michael’s presentation. To add authenticity to our murderer’s spiel, Dalia and a rent-a-crowd of friends were snapped and filmed a couple of weeks prior going round various pubs in Leeds and shopping in the city centre, to capture the genuine experience of Amy being stalked prior to selection. This was then incorporated into the presentation, projected onto a dirty, blood-splattered sheet.

To make Amy seem even more like a real person, Rob created an online presence for our victim, uploading and periodically updating a fake Facebook page with status updates and photos as her days began to count down.

Other challenges for the production company included obtaining licensing for footage from a Czech adult production company (researched just a little too extensively by Rob!), raiding public domain libraries for gruesome execution shots and even creating fake newspaper reports.

Most disturbingly of all however was a break from the script in the middle of the afternoon, to shoot cameos from Bettakultcha’s founders Richard Mitchie and Ivor Tymchak. Let’s just say that you probably won’t ever look at Ivor again in the same light when the film is screened at a future Bettakultcha event (Ivor + makeup + stockings + suspenders = more frightening than the actual film!).

The film is to be submitted for the Leeds 2011 Film Festival.

It has also already been nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Use of a Clapper Board in a Short Film. (Did I mention I was in charge of the Clapper Board during this shoot…..?)