More Than Sharing, Just Art: Bertie Gilbert. ARTICLE/INTERVIEW.
Bertie Gilbert, a well-known and very entertaining YouTuber
and 367, 668 subscribers will agree with me. Bertie started like most YouTubers
by making videos talking about his life, opinions and the rest but now what we
can expect from Bertie is more than being a YouTuber, now he is a filmmaker and
has been uploading short films for everyone to watch! I, as a screenwriter
& potential filmmaker, find Bertie’s projects very entertaining and even
inspiring, so I was very happy when he agreed to do an interview with me and I
got to ask him, why? How? And what more?
Why did you start making
short films?
Well, many reasons. One of them being because
film encapsulates almost every artistic medium. You've got storytelling, music,
colours, performance pieces etc. Film is such a great way to combine the
efforts of many to create something that shows all of those things to the
viewer at once! My dream is to direct features and I don't think that's every
going to change.
Why YouTube?
I never really think about platforms. I try to
focus on just whatever's being created. I release my films onto YouTube as well
as vimeo simply because those are places in which people share stuff in the
audio/visual realm. Of course, there are more people on YouTube, but Vimeo's
got the integrity and does a good job at filtering out vapid stuff. While Wes
Anderson projects his films onto cinema screens, I project mine onto Vimeo and
YouTube (and sometimes cinema screens too!).
Do you have a special kind
of process?
I guess when I come up with a film; it either
starts with a basic concept or the odd visuals. For example; Stray Dog stemmed
from the initial idea of 'time traveling back in time to get a girlfriend'
while The 56 Year Old Boy started with images of a man surrounded by books. I
guess it just sort of happens so in a way I don't have a specific process. The
films I'm writing now have both stemmed from images in my mind. The odd random
shot. When it comes to the process of creating the actual films, I'm sure
mine's not too different to a lot of other filmmakers. I write the first draft,
get some feedback, redraft and redraft until it's perfect and gather people to
get shooting! My favourite stage is the final edit. No, actually, that final
moment after you've just exported the final version. That's my favourite.
What are you inspirations?
I have too
many to count. The most obvious directorial ones are of course people like Wes
Anderson, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze. Those
are the ones that I feel you can tell by watching my stuff that they've
thoroughly inspired me. I feel those guys are real masters. I adore the way Wes
Anderson creates the most incredibly fabricated worlds inhabited by the most
natural characters mentally and emotionally. That's a technique I've tried to
implement. As for Gondry, I adore the way he incorporates one specific theme in
each film and almost builds upon that? That's another technique I've tried to
implement. Of course there are many directors who aren't as obvious
inspirations of mine. Scorsese is someone I'll always hold in my heart. A man
not afraid of trying different things and still innovating even at his age. As
for stuff that inspires me besides directors, I guess just about everything
does. I love art. Always try to go to galleries and stuff when I can. I'm
really into music (who isn't?). A lot of ideas stem from songs I listen to. The
old hammer horror films inspire me too, mostly down to the vibrant colours they
used. You can tell they went crazy with the new ability to incorporate colour.
Great stuff.
What project are you most
proud of and why?
At this point, the film I'm writing now. I'm
not gonna reveal much but I'm ext
What can we expect in the
future from you?
Films. Just, films I guess. I'm gonna try to
create a new short film at least every two months. To keep me productive and
just simply because I love it so much! I'm working on two more 15 minute films
and then the plan is to go longer. Half an hour and then eventually features!
Going to enter a few film festivals too which is exciting. Also, will be
showing my films in front of 500 people in Toronto in November. Basically, I
guess you can just expect me to keep going at it.
Tips to other filmmakers
or wanna be filmmakers?
This is a tough question. Obviously I don't
want to go for the formulaic cliché answer of 'just go out and do it' but in all
honesty, that really is all I can day. If you want to make films, we live in a
day and age where technology allows pretty much anyone to do what they want. So
just bloody well do it!
This interview, selfishly, is definitely one of my favorites Bertie just proves here how inspiring his and the passion he has within film and that's something I love to talk about, advertise and respect. So go check out Bertie on YouTube and have a short film binge, trust me you will not regret it! Won't be long before you go to the cinema and BERTIE GILBERT will be in the credits.
Twitter: @bertieglbrt
VF.
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