BACK TO PROJECTS
Otherwise known as just �VHS: Long Play� due to it being designed as a stand-alone short piece that wouldn�t require viewing the original � so part remake and part sequel it is, and it�s about half the length of the first one. The original was shown at a couple of film festivals � Bristol Bloodbath 2006 and then again during Borderlines 2007 (at the latter, it was clearly my film which put an age rating on the screening, as most of the other films weren�t as, shall we say, visually challenging).
I always felt that "VHS" was at its best during the more �violent� shots, the stuff of Ben bound to a chair with videotape, as fake blood oozed down his arms and legs, him sat inside a black plastic box in the middle of my garage during one of the hottest summers for a good while.
I also thought that I had scraped the surface of what I wanted to achieve with the core idea of "VHS", but hadn�t gone far enough. I wanted another stab at it and decided that this time it should be something a bit more experimental (which was handy due to the practicalities of making a short film for absolutely no money, with what you have at your disposal and importantly when you have it at your disposal). I wanted to lace the script with a variety of videotape related jargon in a more creative way, lines such as �vertical helical hell� probably being my favourite.
As the last DeadShed short film before this was "I Am Zombie Man 2" (which was shot in December 2006 and released online in February 2007), I was eager to get another one under my belt. I sought to make something short, sharp, visually interesting and with an original idea at the core � essentially my second look at format bandwagon jumping gone to hell.
Shoot wise it was designed to be fast, loose and free. A simple set up, one black plastic background (or even a TV showing static for some shots) for Ben to struggle against as I shot the various pieces quickly � the main aim to not be meticulous, but to just have a bit of fun. Having spent the vast majority of 2007 shooting more official fare (and documentaries to boot), I needed to have a bit of loose shooting time � similar to the summer of 2006 when I did the original "VHS" as well as the original I Am Zombie Man.
Ultimately "VHS: Long Play" is designed to be a quirky, odd-ball short � and quite possibly my way of excising my residual guilt over jumping onto the DVD bandwagon myself (my collection even made it onto the Total Film letters page in 2007).
