Hayyan: First off, when did you know you wanted to be a filmmaker and was there a specific moment that flipped that switch for you?
Jack: Seeing Star Wars in 1978 at my local Gaiety Cinema in Bristol, the opening credits coming down the screen — I went every week on Saturday mornings — my mum worked there for a while so I got free tickets. That was inspirational, I was 8, it blew my mind.
Hayyan: Where did the inspiration come from for this specific project?
Jack: I love Greek heroic stories and reading Perseus again I realised telling his story present day with a non-binary actor would open up the possibility of creating a symbolic film that challenges hetero-normality, it was influenced by Maya Derek’s Meshes of the Afternoon.
Perseus, thrown into the sea as a child, uses a mirror to defeat the Medusa, fights the Kraken and saves Andromeda by showing it the Medusa’s head, but then dies when he accidentally sees it. There’s an element of hubris, and a surrealism in the juxtaposition of a mythical landscape in a seaside setting in Kent with pill boxes left over from the war.
Hayyan: You shot this on Super 8, what was it about that particular format that was right for this film?
Jack: I wanted to capture magical elements of a Greek myth, a fairy story, with heightened colours, the colours of Kodak Ektachrome, which I remember in photos from when I was a child. I liked the element of filming without seeing the outcome immediately, of working in analogue.
Hayyan: Did you run into any challenges whilst making Perseus?
What I hadn’t counted on was the amount of mud that was left from a retreating tide, I was immediately up to my knees in mud operating the camera. Then the tripod broke. Then the Nizo camera stopped shooting regular 25 frames per second and would only shoot at 54. So that’s why nearly every shot is in slow motion.
Hayyan: What did you take from this project that you think made you a better filmmaker?
Jack: I hadn’t shot a film before, so that was a learning process, figuring out the super 8 camera was tricky. I felt lucky to work with Katie and Rory as they were both great.
Hayyan: What do you love most about the filmmaking process?
Jack: Working with other people. I’m a writer, which is a lonely business, working in a crew is fun and fulfilling in a different way.
Hayyan: Finally, what can we expect to see from you next?
Jack: Since Perseus I’ve had two novels published — a sci-fi novel, 944 Hidalgo and a spy detective story, Jove; I directed a feature film with Rory in the starring role, Interview with an Android which can be watched on Amazon Prime, I’ve written a sequel to Jove, and I’ve started on a new film script.