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Production Notes by Gareth Preston

Download Higher-Quality MPEG Version (8mins approx, 38.4mb, - Windows Media Player) Download Standard-Quality WMV Version (8mins approx, 17.1mb, - Windows Media Player) Quite a few of our films have risen out of chance comments and this was one of them. A casual suggestion of mine made one night at Andrew’s house, one of several ideas that were being thrown about. However this was the one that caught hold and so a couple of months later we set out to record three Haberdashery shorts in one day, all around Leeds. The others were Andrew’s pause for thought and Jonathan’s filming reminiscences. I’d been watching the Friday 13th films with my sister and reappraising them. They are a low budget filmmaker’s dream, a simple format with plenty of room for improvisation. The repetitive mechanics of the plots are strangely part of the appeal for many fans. I was also inspired a little by Mark Kermode’s excellent film documentaries on subjects like “The Exorcist” and “Straw Dogs”. We filmed it in Leeds Park on a hot sunny Saturday. It was a rather improvised shoot. Our only props were a pair of overalls, a hockey mask, an arrow and a plastic machete. I had a rough script in my head and a copy of The Friday 13th companion. The gang walked along the tree-lined footpaths, picking out likely spots and then recording a scene. It was filmed roughly in sequential order and considering I was talking off the top of my head, relatively few retakes. Probably the hardest line to get right was the one that began with me rounding a tree and saying “Today we’re going pay tribute…” For those who made it however, this film will always be inextricably linked with Kevin’s freak accident. Ironically whilst filming the final shot, a POV shot through the wood, Kevin fell and broke his ankle. The rest of us were ahead of him packing up and as soon as we heard his shout we knew something bad had happened. Apparently his right foot had popped out of its socket and he had instinctively pushed it back in the first few seconds. Now he was unable to move and in considerable pain. Just to add to our woes, we were about as far from the car park as it was possible to be. Eventually after an hour or more we were able to find the park wardens and arranged for him to be transported back to the car park and then John drove him straight to hospital. As a result of this trivial film, poor Kevin was uncomfortably laid up for several months. It effectively put an end to our filmmaking for a while. The gap was covered by the release of the three films we shot that day, two of which, including this one were edited by Kevin. At lot of credit must go to him for the success of the film, thanks to his use of filters, video effects and music editing. John did some excellent work behind the camera on the day too. I’m very pleased with results but still I can’t look at it without feeling a twinge of guilt. Contact Us Latest News Links Film Reviews Site Credits Profiles Green Room