Experiencing Interruptions?

Bloodbridge

This short film was inspired by, and features the song 'Bloodbridge' by Edinburgh based duo, Graveyard Tapes. It focuses on a hermit, a social recluse, and we join him on a journey through the darkest depths of his mind.
Shot entirely on 8 and 16mm, it is an experimental project originally inspired by an interest in mythology, psychoanalysis, lucid dream research & dream interpretation.
The film was shot on location in London, and features a burlesque dancer, bagua-inspired martial artists and a fire performer. It was one of the last films in the UK to use Fuji 16mm film stock.

  • Matty Ross
    Director
  • Matty Ross
    Producer
  • Mitch Long
    Director of Photography/Super 8
  • Pete Simmons
    16mm
  • Markus A. Ljungberg
    Lighting
  • Robert Troitino
    Production Assistant
  • Tom Evans
    Camera/Lighting Assistant
  • John Minton
    Editor
  • Matty Ross
    Editor
  • Kate Lomax - Mystery Flame
    Key Cast
  • Belle Eve - Burlesque Performer
    Key Cast
  • Stuart McInnes - Leader of the Goons
    Key Cast
  • Kel Lagaj - Killer Goon
    Key Cast
  • Robert Troitino - Peeping Goon
    Key Cast
  • Sokol Xhetani - Silent Goon
    Key Cast
  • Euan McMeeken
    Graveyard Tapes
  • Matthew Collings
    Graveyard Tapes
  • Jools Slater
    Non-Song Related Score
  • Brian Green
    Non-Song Related Score
  • Damien Hansen-Devaux
    Non-Song Related Score
  • Matty Ross
    Non-Song Related Score
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 55 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2013
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    8mm, 16mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9/4:3
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • The London Short Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    January 19, 2014
  • Timecode:NOLA Independent Film Festival
    New Orleans
    United States
    October 1, 2013
    Best Super 8 Film
Director Biography - Matty Ross

I am Matty Ross, I'm a Scottish Director/filmmaker, currently based in North London. My career started when I won a Channel 4 competition to make a couple of documentaries about creative people living and working in Edinburgh.

One of the short films ‘BBoys, BGirls, Just B’ - about the inspiring BBoy Nico Major, was released to positive reviews, and was accepted into the New York International Independent Film Festival. I sold my camera and scraped up enough money to go over to New York. It was a life-changing experience. I decided on the Brooklyn Bridge that this wasn’t bad for a young lad from a small town in Scotland, so I decided there and then to become a full-time filmmaker.

I spent a year with Scottish band 'The Kays Lavelle' documenting the making of their first record. The film took almost a year to film and edit, and premiered at The Filmhouse, Edinburgh. Shortly after I was nominated for Channel 4's New Talent Award, where my films received high praise from C4 and Time Out Magazine. Myself and another Scottish nominee - Charles Henri Belleville, were asked to make a short documentary on each other for 4Talent. We became very close friends, and he persuaded me to come to London to work with him.

As well as continuing to direct and edit my own work, I started to collaborate with Charlie on some of his projects. I ended up editing music videos, documentaries, and trailers for bands and artists such as Faithless, The Bronx, Razorlight, Roots Manuva/ShyFX, Breakage, and Wiley.

Having seen my editing of live performances, Warner Music took me on as a freelance editor and I made videos for Hugh Laurie, Lianne La Havas and Fenech-Soler. I also edited a video for Vanity Fair that went global around that time.

I worked with Charlie, Tom Hardy, Charlotte Riley, and PNUT on an independent feature film, which we did just with the five of us. To work with all those guys and Tom, whom I believe to be the best actor in the world, was a huge honour and learning experience for me. I've also edited a few projects for Tom as well as a montage of his work for his birthday, which he wanted to use as his showreel.

My own personal development as a filmmaker has been massively aided by John Minton. John is responsible for all of the film and video work, as well as the live visuals for the band Portishead. He has become a best friend and mentor to me, and I have been fortunate to work with him on many projects.

After suffering a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage in 2011, I had to take time out of filmmaking. After a long recovery, I decided to get back into things with an experimental short film called 'Bloodbridge.' I directed, produced, and co-edited the film, which was shot purely on Super8 and 16mm. It won Best Film at the Timecode:NOLA Independent Film Festival in New Orleans in October 2013, and screened at the BAFTA supported 'London Short Film Festival' in it’s Celluloid Traces Experimental programme.

Since then, I have had one of my docs shown at the Glastonbury Festival, the Royal College of Music, and I'm also working on an underwater music video for the Manchester band, Shield Patterns. The main focus at the moment is developing a short film about dementia, a project which I'm hoping to start shooting in 2016. Everything now is building toward furthering my career as a director and finding representation.

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Director Statement

The film was shot on location in and around London. A lot of time was spent in pre-production finding atmospheric locations that would reinforce the dreamlike and surreal nature of the project. Our masked man ventures forth from his dwellings in a derelict building onwards on a voyage of discovery. To what these places mean or represent is open to ones interpretation. The film features bagua-inspired martial artists and a fire-performer whom our masked man meets upon his adventure. The significance of these confrontations could well be determined by an analysis of not just what they mean to our main character, but also what they represent in each particular location.

In an attempt to create this world, I wanted to use super8 and 16mm to evoke a dreamlike environment – one which is at times, dark, cold and foreboding. I spent a long time researching appropriate settings and used a colour scheme which would emphasise both the frightening and fantastical nature of this person and his surroundings. It hopefully creates a rather strange and unsettling atmosphere, where one may start to question the way in which they themselves confront their own demons. A mysterious burlesque dancer introduces us to his world, and once the door is open it’s up to you what you bring back. – Matty Ross