Film School Week: The Woodland Nightmares of Bo Ningen

One question wannabe music video directors will be asking themselves is: how the blazes do you get in touch with the bands? For Bo Ningen director Guy Wigmore, the answer wasn't entirely straightforward.

"My girlfriend has been friends with the band for a long time and took me to see them in the summer", he explains. "Something went wrong at the gig and they trashed the stage. I loved them and immediately wanted to do something with them. Immediacy however isn't my strong point and by the time I'd approached the band they had just two weeks left in the country and only one afternoon free!"

The new Bo Ningen video follows a trail through a snowy forest, intercut with ghostly images of the group. It also recalls the Blair Witch Project in its sense of woodland claustophoboia. For Wigmore, it's all open to interpretation.

"The story's up to you," he points out. "It's a dark song and made me think of a lonely journey. When walking home at night, my mind always sees shapes and shadows shifting in the darkness. I wanted to capture that and then adapt it to match the violent shift 2/3 of the way through the song."

Guy is part of an arts and music production company called Washmedia which he runs with his business partner Steve ("We try and provide something different and something accessible.") However, when asked his advice for young film makers, he suggests that it's best to start simple.

"Find a band, pick a song and shoot. If you've a strong idea and a certain amount of technical skill then there's nothing stopping you. The secret to doing a successful shoot is planning, a good crew, willing subjects and hard work!"



Like many of the music video makers we're talking to this week, Wigmore finds it impossible to choose his favourite promo video (that isn't his own, of course!)

"It's too hard to pick one, but the videos that had the the greatest effect on me growing up were Chris Cunningham's videos for the Aphex Twin and Hype Williams' early stuff for people like Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes.



www.washmedia.co.uk