What is the film about?

Working in a car park, tensions arise between a naïve, young cleaner and his old-timer talking brush in their differences of approach and attitude where ultimately, one cannot do their job without the other.

What influenced it?

Having made films about waiting rooms and bus stops, I’ve always had an interest in the mundane things of life. Photography was the main source of visual inspiration; I am a fan of Axel Hütte’s work, specifically his series on London. I came across a collection of photos by Phil Burrowes, a commercial photographer by trade, who was commissioned by National Car Parks to offer a different angle on what is often an over-looked part of the urban landscape. There was also a quirky, wee book in the art college library titled, ‘Boring Postcards’, which included everything from service stations to scaffolding-covered building facades, bringing much glee to me and raised eyebrows from my classmates.

A little background information...

I am drawn towards creating characters that emerge from seemingly uninteresting scenarios and I personally enjoy exploring relationships via narratives that carry a blend of humour and pathos. Seeing the janitors around the art college got me thinking about the cracking stories they must have about all the weird stuff they’ve seen come and go. However, it was from occasionally spotting a pair of litter-pickers in high-vis jackets with their brush-loaded wheelbarrows during my morning commute that got me thinking about basing the film on a cleaner. When researching for the film, I came across a report on the cleaning sector entitled ‘The First to be Blamed and the Last to be Thanked’. That really struck a chord and stuck with me.

How was the film made?

One of the most common questions I get asked about the film is whether I shot it in a car park or not which I always take as a huge compliment. I captured photos of the puppet on location for lighting reference/backgrounds and then recreated this back in the studio in front of a green screen. There was a lot of testing to get to grips with ‘sculpting’ light so it was a bit of a trial by fire, but thankfully I got the hang of it the more I did it. Nonetheless, I did end up spending a lot of time in the underground car park with the puppet. I mentioned to one of the guys who worked there that it must have been one of the weirdest things he had seen take place. He shot me down with a simple “Nope”.