Case Study: Penny Woolcock

Many directors talk nostalgically about childhoods spent playing with Super 8mm cameras. Penny Woolcock is not a case in point. Her interest in screen drama only developed in her mid-30s, but she's since gone on to earn wide acclaim with offbeat films like The Death Of Klinghoffer (2003, for Channel 4), The Principles Of Lust (2004) and Mischief Night (2006). Here she explains how a lucky break in television opened up a world of possibilities.

First interest in filmmaking...

"Early on it hadn't even occurred to me that filmmaking was a job to do. I didn't really know what directors did until I was way into my mid-30s. I was a painter for a while, although I wasn't very successful so I had to do other jobs where I had to make a living. I went through a period when I was a youth worker - working with deranged teenagers - and I did a play with a group of girls, but they got bored with that so I said to them we'd make a film.

Channel 4 had started not long before that, and that really seemed to open up the possibility of different kinds of people making film. I went to an evening class - a filmmakers' workshop - for one evening. That was the extent of my film school experience! Then I made this film, but I didn't even know you were supposed to get a commission - I just thought I'd make this film and somehow it would get on television. I had a bit of luck when someone from Channel 4 came to this workshop where I borrowed the equipment and asked to see the films that they had produced. He bought the film and showed it on television.

Then I applied for a job in Newcastle directing and editing something called Northern Newsreel, which was a half-hour magazine programme. That was fantastic because I had to direct and edit it myself, which meant that when I messed up and didn't get the right material I was also the one who had to reap the consequences editing it, so that really was the most fantastic training. That's how I learned the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. I then got a commission to do a film, a documentary, called When The Dog Bites. I think that was really my first film. It attracted a bit of attention. I got an RTS award for it and Paul Watson, who was head of Elstree at the time, saw it and asked me to come and work for him."

Moving into features...

"I did this film called Macbeth On the Estate [1997] for the BBC , which was a very unhappy experience. I adapted the Shakespeare play and shot it very much in a documentary style, which was initially very shocking. I felt very scrutinised and criticised. I remember the people at the BBC were absolutely horrified and said, 'This will never cut!' I was convinced that it would cut. It wasn't an easy experience because they had expected something much more formal. In those days it was still very much that you had to have the master shot and the reverse shot. Shooting something in a different way wasn't a pleasant experience for me, or for them, but people did like the play. It's even used in schools - and kids like it because it's like a gangster movie! Then [five years later] I had an idea to do The Death Of Klinghoffer and I just emailed the head of music and art at Channel 4, and asked her if she'd be interested in making a film based on this opera. She said, 'Aren't you that woman who makes films about criminals on housing estates?' [Tina Goes Shopping and Tina Takes A Break.] Much to my surprise, she called back and said that she was in a meeting that day where everyone was asking, 'What are we going to do about opera? It just doesn't work on television.' It was really good timing. You need two things if you're going to be a filmmaker: you need to persevere and be incredibly tenacious, and then you need a lucky break. Part of that luck is knowing people who are in sympathy with what you're trying to do and who have access to some money! When you've been around a while you build up relationships like that."

Dealing with technical issues...

"You have to be making films, that's the best way to learn the technical details. Film school is another way, of course, but there are no short cuts. I remember feeling completely out of my depth for a long time, particularly when I was making When The Dog Bites. I read somewhere about tracks and I insisted that I had to have a grip and tracks every day, even though I didn't actually know what they were! I remember when the grip pulled this railway track thing out of the back of the van I thought, 'Oh, so that's what it is.'

"I kept thinking I was going to be caught out so I read this very boring magazine called American Cinematographer - which is absolutely dire - for a few years, in order to try and learn something about lenses. I mean, you do need to know a certain amount yourself, otherwise you're too reliant on the technicians. You need to be able to say what you want but I'm still learning. I would say to people, don't be afraid of all that."

Dealing with technical issues...

"When you're working on feature films, it is a different approach from television because your screenplay is sent off to up to 20 people and you'll have lots of notes from all these people. You have to tread a very fine line between listening to those people who you think might be being helpful and make your film better, and at the same time not let your vision be drowned or diluted. With more money comes more interference."

Influences and aspirations...

"I remember watching Alan Clarke's work and thinking I hadn't seen anything like that before, but I don't know if I'm directly influenced by him. Maybe in an unconscious way. There's also a film called The Battle Of Algiers [1966] that I saw years ago and although consciously I wasn't aware that I was following in those footsteps - by using people who aren't actors in films and attempting to create an impression of something more authentic - I'm sure seeing that had a very big effect. There's a scene at the beginning of Klinghoffer which I'm sure must've been very strongly influenced by a scene in The Battle Of Algiers, although I didn't realise it at the time."

Stella Papamichael | Published 28 June 07