Award Winning Bristol Actor And Director Oliver Park
Posted on: 19 Apr 2016Bristol-based actor Oliver Park sat in the director’s chair for the first time last year his short horror film, Vicious. It's the story of a young woman who returns home one night to find her front door ajar. While it seems like a simple enough premise, Vicious is anything but. Ben Allen talks us through it...
The film is currently taking the internet by storm with around 80,000 views on YouTube and Vimeo, and Oliver hasn’t wasted any time in getting his next film off the ground. Thanks, in part, to a successful crowd-funding campaign earlier this year, Oliver was able to shoot his second short film Still a couple of weeks ago. I was lucky enough to be on-set for the shoot, and luckier still to watch a future master of the horror genre at work.
We arrived at the location at around 3:30pm, joined by Oliver and his production designer Dawn White. They instantly set about transforming a beautiful Clevedon cottage into the setting of Park’s latest terrifying tale. As the set was being dressed around me, more crew were slowly pulling up to the location. Camera crew, lighting technicians, sound recordists; everyone involved seemingly had one goal in mind – to make the best short horror film the world has ever seen. Judging by the multitude of awards Vicious has won, beating it will be no small feat.
Once the house had been transformed, Park began rehearsing with his leading (and only) actress while the rest of the crew set up for the first shot of the night. Oliver’s attention to even the smallest details of his actor’s costume, make-up and movement is nothing short of mind-boggling and it’s easy to see how he can pull such amazing performances out of his already-talented cast members. As the sun set, first Assistant Director Lisa Downs called for quiet on set and Oliver called ‘action.’ The enthusiasm and energy that went into that first shot set the pace for the rest of the night, and even at 6:30am as the final shot of the night was wrapped, no-one was waning. This really shows the respect and support that Oliver has earned from his supremely talented cast and crew.
You might think that after the worldwide success of Vicious, and an exhausting shoot on Still, Park might be taking a bit of time out, but that just isn’t his style. He’s already starting on the post-production of Still and his third and final short film (which he will shoot later this year) has just been given full financial backing. Once his third short is finished, Oliver plans on making feature-length versions of each film – he’s already been approached by a number of production companies wanting to fund these. Make no mistake about it, in the next few years the name Oliver Park will be synonymous with the horror genre, and he’ll be representing Bristol on the world stage.
You can watch Vicious below, and the trailer for Still will be released soon...
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Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
