INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER MARIE SCHULLER
Hello Marie and welcome. 'Flights of Fantasy' is the Summer 2023 collection. It is built around the ideas of fanciful and unexpected. A place of make-believe, imagination, dreaming. Its carefree, romantic, pioneering, encouraging people to reinvent where they go and who they are, to get out of their heads and into their hearts.
MARIE, PLEASE CAN YOU SHARE WITH US YOUR INSPIRATION BEHIND THE 'FLIGHTS OF FANTASY' FILM (CAN WE FOCUS ON SUNNY’S QUEST FOR THIS INTERVIEW?) SERIES AND HOW YOU FIRST CONCEIVED THE IDEAS THAT CAPTURE THE DIRECTION OF THE COLLECTION?
What really strikes me about OB as a brand is that they are real storytellers. I find this unique and inspiring. Their garments are not just about the items of clothing, but the story behind them, they have a transformative and escapist quality. They author a million storylines that run through each collection and is assured in the way they talks about their garments. And instinctively knows what personalities would wear what items, which prints would fit into which surroundings and which designs represent which emotions.
This is massively helpful to me as a filmmaker because it sets the scene and enables me to build a script around parameters that are true to the brand. It’s much more efficient going into a project with an honest conversation about what the clothes are about rather than the more traditional commercial approach that often puts restrictive concepts into place before I even join, with scripts that don’t draw on my style or strengths at all. OB in that way is unique and their trust and openness have been instrumental in our work together. It allows us all to be inspired, come up with wild stuff, push things, sometimes even push too far and then readjust, and finally arrive at a narrative that feels true to the collection.
We initially bounced a few ideas back and forth, including stranded mermaids and 80s detectives, wildly exploring the elements of OB’s escapist qualities, until finally settling on much more purist themes: The sense of freedom and richness of connecting with others and nature. The film might feature dramatic scenes and big visuals but if you strip it down it’s really about very simple human emotions that most of us can relate to. It’s about escapism and about simplicity. And it’s about the things that are true to OB, like the sun, the beach, water and purity, and things that are true to me as a filmmaker, like nostalgia and kitsch.
COULD YOU DISCUSS THE PROCESS OF SELECTING AND WORKING WITH THE MODELS, ACTORS, CREW AND COLLABORATORS FOR THE 'FLIGHTS OF FANTASY' SERIES, AND HOW THEIR UNIQUE TALENTS CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROJECT?
We all know that film is a massively collaborative process. It’s funny how bonding a 15-hour shoot day can be - you see the best and the worst of humanity all in one day. A bunch of strangers packed together in a hugely stressful and time sensitive situation that have to somehow all work in sync to get the best results. It’s a recipe for disaster but when it works it’s bloody brilliant.
I love working with people I know and trust and a lot of the team have been involved since our first OB project: Our producer Nancy Ryan and DoP Carlos Feher, and of course OB’s stylist Matt Luckcock (the most organised and patient person on set!). But this time we flew to Cape Town meaning a lot of the crew were locals that I hadn’t shot with before. We really lucked out with our art director James Mader. Simply put he’s just got great taste and the means to make things happen. He designed the giant wings for the project’s second film. He also instinctively understood the mood and feel of our storylines and OB’s aesthetic, so his contribution really elevated the films.
Casting is a massive factor and I always go through various degrees of panicking and second guessing when it comes to our films’ protagonists. I think one important aspect with casting is that photography and film are really two completely different entities. Some models work great on film but don’t come alive in the photos, or vice versa. For OB we do both, and it’s almost best to look at the two genres separately when it comes to casting.
Most of our performers were models not actors and their dedication and willingness to push themselves and just go for it was astounding. What the audience sees is 2 minutes of perfectly polished film material but behind that are two long days of pretend drowning in a pool, getting whipped in the face by three-meter waves for 20 takes in a row, screaming at each other in fake unscripted arguments, holding up 25 kilos of wooden wings while pretending to be at ease, falling onto the wet sand head first, playing football on a beach during a heat wave. All whilst having me shout nonsensical directions at them in a heavy German accent. It was full on, and they were all up for it, motivated and pushing themselves to get the absolute best results. I have massive respect for that.
WERE THERE ANY SPECIFIC CULTURAL OR HISTORICAL REFERENCES THAT INSPIRED THE COLLECTION PIECES AND COLOUR CHOICES IN THE FILMS?
I use a lot of what people would call ‘vintage references’, especially for styling, hair and make-up, composition, and lighting. I also love nostalgia and kitsch in my work which is also quite a retro stylistic method I guess - I love the theatrical way actors performed in the 50s and 60s, the sense of drama. It’s considered old-fashioned by now but there’s a real charm in the naivety of things that haven’t stood the test of time: old graphics that were the fad of the moment but nowadays seem completely outdated, long zooms, the naive at best and harmful at worst representation to femininity and masculinity, a madly dramatic and closely-synced soundtrack, working with stereotypes and stereotypical themes, glossy slick hair… all these things continuously find their way back into my work. But the key is to take those cultural references and twist them or modernise them. Only then will it become a unique visual language that feels relevant today rather than a cheap copy of the past. I love cinema from the 60s and 70s, but if I tried to take my references too literally, I’d only fail. I just can’t compete with the Godards or the Hitchcocks, no one can. That time has passed, and they’ve done it perfectly. People always think it’s easiest to copy but if you copy too closely, you’ll merely create a cheesy period drama. Believe me, I tried. It’s much easier to create your own thing with those references, because then you move away from direct comparisons with the best of the best. And you end up with something original.
Plein Soleil and its modern reinterpretation The Talented Mr Ripley have been a reference since our last OB collaboration. Once I saw the Flights of Fantasy prints, Slim Aarons became a big reference as well. There’s a sense of effortless luxury, unapologetic dedication to summer, leisure and party, vibrancy and freedom in those prints and their colours, it just felt very Slim A.
HOW DID THE CHOICE OF PRINTS OR MATERIALS, SUCH AS LINEN, CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL MOOD AND TONE OF THE FILMS, PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF EVOKING A SENSE OF SUMMER, INDULGENCE AND FREEDOM?
If you think about fashion film as a genre that starts with the clothes itself and then builds the concept around the clothes, then this means that the garments, and of course its prints and materials, are the catalyst for almost all creative choices taken during the shoot. In a way that happened here too. We start with nothing but the collection name and pictures of the clothes. ‘Flights of Fantasy’ is like a mini brief in itself, it immediately awakens certain images in your head. Then you get those fantastical prints, the colour ways, the tailoring, the textures, the fits - all that feeds back into your decision making and slowly you start building a universe: What character would wear this print? What kind of man would choose this linen tailoring? What would this man look like? How would he wear his hair? And where would he live? What would he be interested in, what would his aspirations and dreams are? The more we build a character around the clothes, the more a story comes together. And before you know it you have a fully-fledged personality in your head who lives in a villa by the sea and dreams about building a flying machine. As absurd as it sounds but somehow you can directly backtrack this construct to the collection itself and all its finer design details.
LOOKING BACK ON THE COMPLETED 'FLIGHTS OF FANTASY' FILMS, IS THERE A PARTICULAR OUTFIT OR PIECE THAT YOU FEEL BEST ENCAPSULATES THE SPIRIT OF THE SERIES, AND IF SO, WHY?
It would have to be the original Flights of Fantasy print that runs through the shirts, swimwear and even the inflatables. It’s the most striking and characterful print of the collection and sort of sums up the whole paradisal and fantastical flair of the films. It was the catalyst in choosing the eccentric villa and pool where we shot. And it inspired the whole Slim Aarons aesthetic.
My personal favourite however is the more abstract blue and white print that the second film’s hero wears whilst floating inside the pool. The colours and shapes of the outfit blended in so perfectly, he almost became one with the water.
WE’RE GOING TO END ON QUICK-FIRE ROUND, FIVE ONE-WORD ANSWERS:
Pool or an ocean?
OCEAN!
Hotel or villa?
depends on the villa, but VILLA
Hot or cold?
HOT of course you fool
Party or dinner?
I still have a few years of PARTY left in me
Adrenaline or meditation?
ADRENALINE although most probably in desperate need for meditation
