Director: Dominic Burns
Cast: Bianca Bree, Andrew Shim, Jazz Lintott, Sean Brosnan, Peter Barrat, Maya Grant, Simon Phillips and Jean Claude Van Damme
Earlier this week, THN endured blistering wind, a plastic cheese panini and a 4 hour coach trip to the Shire. But there were no hairy toed ring bearers to great us, in the darkest fields of Derby, we found something even better: The warm, lingering bear hugs of UFO director, Dominic Burns. Not content with his conveyor belt of feature films, JACK FALLS, HOW TO STOP BEING A LOSER and AIRBORNE (that last one is still in post-production, by the way) Dominic has jumped head first into his latest project, UFO with his old favourites Andrew Shim, Peter Barrat, Simon Phillips and Jazz Lintott holding firmly onto his belt buckle.
In the official synopsis, UFO tells the story of five friends who encounter a mass power outage in their town. Their world shuts down, with no explanation, and tensions begin to rise. Two nights later, suspicious vessels begin to hover above their neighbourhood, and all are left wondering if they are under attack. What began as a power cut becomes a desperate scramble for the survival of the fittest. Of course, story of the week has been Jean Claude Van Damme, whom Dominic has magically secured for a cameo. But don’t be fooled, UFO is by no means a Van-Damme-thank-you-mam action picture. It boasts a strong British cast, all of whom have arrived hours before their call time, such is their dedication to the movie. As I interview each member of the UFO team, one theme resonates: WE LOVE DOMINIC BURNS. With his loyalty to familiar faces like THIS IS ENGLAND’S Andrew Shim, and willingness to take a chance on fresh faced drama graduates like leading lady Maya Grant, Burns has created a family of his own. The Brit Pack. As Burns himself says, “We have no business doing what we’re doing, blowing up a barn in the middle of Derby, flying Van Damme over to appear in our movie, but we do it, and we’ll keep on doing it.”
Inspired by Gareth Edward’s story-led Sci-Fi film, MONSTERS, Burns became fixed on how he could develop an independent ‘alien’ movie whilst maintaining a sincere, believable narrative. Somewhere between Friday night and Saturday morning in a Derby farmhouse, Burns spoke over the rounds of fictional gunfire to reveal his thinking behind UFO;
“In tone and feel, we’ll be like MONSTERS, in the story, it’s quite similar to INDEPENDENCE DAY. I really dug Super 8, and we’ll be using a lot of Anamorphic lenses, loads of lens flare. The STAR TREK that JJ Abrams made was definitely an inspiration for it.”
To add just another ambitious brick to his Jenga, Burns is planning a running steadycam shot of an epic fight scene. According to THE REAL HUSTLE star Jazz Lintott, who will play the character of Vincent, the shot will involve over 200 extras, and a full on riot. Imagine A TOUCH OF EVIL’S intro, set in Derby, minus the Charlton Heston with a peppering of chaos.
With the last looted JD Sports bag still skimming the streets of Tottenham, the basis for the story could not be more relevant. As described by cast member Sean Brosnan (yes, that would be the progeny of Pierce), UFO explores human behaviour as society begins to break down. Five friends find themselves helpless when an invasion begins, but according to Brosnan, it is their diverse human reactions that form the focal point of the story:
“You take out the UFO and look at how people are turning on each other, looking at how fragile we all are. The only difference [between us and recent rioters] is they were looting status symbols and we are looting food. But it’s that same high tension and that fine line of what we are all capable of.”
Despite gruelling night shoots, a modest budget and an overstretched production team, there wasn’t a hint of tension on the UFO set. Sitting in the green room with the cast and crew, it feels like we’re getting ready to sit down to Christmas dinner. At the head of the table, it’s Dominic Burns, handing out a little piece of his project to everyone like warm festive dishes. UFO doesn’t belong to him, it’s the work of the Brit Pack, and we cannot wait to see what these guys are cooking. Scroll down for more images of our time on the UFO set:
Playing favourites? Left to right: UFO Producer/actor Simon Phillips, Jazz Lintott, Sean Brosnan
Andrew Shim, all tucked in
Director and his cast Left to right: Peter Barrat, Andrew Shim, Maya Grant, Dominic Burns, Jazz Lintott and Bianca Bree
Close encounters of the blurred kind
