Can’t help but admire the confidence of creating a film where a horse stands around blocking the whole thing! London-based director and artist Ollie Magee’s “Nod. Wink. Horse” isn’t so much a film about a horse as it is the narrative that’s obscured behind it. And even though the project emerged from a very real sense of creative struggle, forcing the viewer to similarly wrestle with what he’s created makes for a truly unique and memorable result. As Magee explains further:
“This was once an entirely different film. One in which the central character was a horse. This film developed, and the horse became side-lined, an obvious burden on the story. I’ve always struggled with this aspect of film making. Pre-production. And as usual, I found myself frustrated with the process. A familiar moment of self-doubt. I realized that what was important to me was the wider context of the film, and my own emotional response to it. Hiding the film was taking this horse character and letting him win — giving him center stage in spite of the rest of the film. It was about taking out my frustration on the work itself and allowing those “self-destructive” habits to influence the film. The result is to deny myself and others of my own work. It’s quite an antagonistic film, not just to annoy the audience but hopefully to inspire some conversations about narrative, and the relationship between film maker and audience. I think audiences deserve more agency and input. In this case any interpretation is as valid as my own.”
Director: Ollie Magee
Production Assistants: David Crump, Ciara Kerr
Dermot Lynskey, John Summerson
Voice Actors: Dimitris Armenakis, Camille Gibut, John Summerson
Sound Mix: Mike Wyeld
Creative Commons Music:
Song: Yong Du Chunxiao
Artist: Yun Yun
This video was submitted by Ollie Magee and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!
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