In The Mood.(2006)
London, June 1944. Nazi spy Eva receives details of the upcoming D-Day invasions. With her special radio-transmitting tap shoes on, she begins to pass the intelligence in Morse code to a German U-Boat. But as Eva taps out her message, the sound of Glenn Miller's 'In the Mood' wafts through an open window. Eva tries to fight it, but soon she's completely possessed by the sound of swing. Meanwhile on the submarine, the crucial intelligence is reduced to mere rhythm - but a rhythm so captivating that now even the two Nazi submariners find themselves dancing in the cramped space. When the music finally stops, Eva is exhausted but changed forever.
   
Dance On Film news editor Susanna Fosse talks to Writer/Producer Jonathan R Hall about the making of his film In The Mood.
  
 

Susanna Fosse:In The Mood is the story of a German spy posing as a dance teacher who receives advance details of the D-Day landings. How did the project come about?

Jonathan Hall: It’s one of those stories that I’ve moved from notebook to notebook since I was about sixteen. I finally got around to writing the script and from then on everything was a blur – everyone who read it seemed to like it (they got it and could see it and thought it was funny). Then I sent it to Kelly (our first choice) who agreed to do it and – guess what? - suddenly there was no problem with getting a crew together.

Susanna Fosse: The film has a wonderful nostalgic feel to it due to the art direction, costumes and use of original recordings from that era. How important was the use of music in the film?

Jonathan Hall: The track In the Mood was essential. It was swing and represented the arrival of the Americans in the UK. My parents remember it. As it turned out, though, there were two serious drawbacks: first, swing is not the easiest music to choreograph for tap, and second, publishing and recording rights have become THE big issue in us not being able to distribute the film. The owners have asked for an unreasonable amount of money, not caring that short films are non-profit enterprises! For my second short film (In the Mood was my first) we composed an original score!

  
 

Susanna Fosse: Kelly Brook, who plays the lead role of Eva, gives a very multi-dimensional performance (dancing/acting). What convinced you that she could hold the whole film together?

Jonathan Hall: I convinced myself. I had seen her hosting Celebrity Love Island and I thought she had the style (particularly a 40’s style) and the charm to pull it off. She was the first and only person we approached.

Susanna Fosse: There are numerous tap dancing sequences with Kelly. What was the process like working with choreographer Stewart Nicholls?

Jonathan Hall: Kelly worked phenomenally hard. Although she moves well and naturally, she had only really danced before as exercise. Suddenly she had to be a pro and to master the specific discipline of tap. She danced every step that you see on the film. Stewart was fantastic too – fresh from choreographing Wayne Sleep in a West End production set in WW2!

  
 

Susanna Fosse: Your director Hannah Robinson has done some excellent work with her films "Relax" and "Sheila” . Was this your first experience of working together?

 
Jonathan Hall: Hannah is a friend and we had worked together before informally workshopping each other’s ideas, but this was our first actual collaboration. She was everything you want a director to be – and more - as well as quite a bit of what you want a producer to be! She got the best out of everyone and made it a happy shoot with a wonderful result.

Susanna Fosse: The film was shot on film. Did you consider alternative shooting budgets or was film an absolute for this project?


Jonathan Hall: Actually it was shot on Super 16, but film was a prerequisite. Our D.O.P. Peter Bathurst was very keen to shoot on film, as was Hannah, but the clincher was that Kelly wanted to as well. To start with, Kelly didn’t know us from a bar of soap, so I think she probably felt that film (over DV) added a certain level of legitimacy. In the end we were all much happier to have shot on film.

  
 

Susanna Fosse: What are you working on next?


Jonathan Hall::Currently I’m working on BBC1’s Doctors, but I’ve also just co-written a feature with Hannah. This one is called Fireworks; a thirteen-year-old girl tries to deal with her grief by stealing her dad's ashes from her mum and hatching a plan with an eccentric uncle to launch them in a firework. But when the plan goes dangerously awry, who does a girl turn to?

 

  
   

This film is part of Dance Camera Action 2
and is being shown at 6:30pm on Thursday 3rd April 08