LBB Film Club: Running through Life
‘Running through Life’ is DadBod Films director Craig Bingham’s most personal project to date. It’s been an intense year for all of us, and many of our relationships with our families have changed because of the various ways the pandemic has affected us. Lockdown chats with his parents made an impact on Craig, who was heartbroken by something his mum told him in one conversation. Realising the sacrifices that she made for the family while Craig and his brothers were growing up in the Yorkshire countryside became the backbone of the short film.
A combination of old photographs, interviews with his mum and new 16mm footage came together to form a deeply personal film that’s universally relatable to anyone with a relationship with their parents. LBB’s Alex Reeves chatted to Craig about how the film was made and what it means to him.
LBB> When did you realise you wanted to make a 'lockdown film'? A lot of directors seemed to take the plunge back in March or April.
Craig> I never felt the need to make a “lockdown” film. I think a lot of us put pressure on ourselves to stay productive during lockdown, but early on I was very mindful of not trying to force anything for the sake of staying busy. This project came organically. It felt close and very personal to me.
LBB> What was the big realisation that triggered the idea for the film?
Craig> The film idea came from a phone conversation during lockdown with my mum about growing up on the farm as kids. She loves talking about life when we were children. I've heard the stories a thousand times bless her, but then she began to talk about her first horse and the special connection she had with it. She then spoke about how she had to distance herself from horses when having children as she knew she wouldn’t have time for them. “You were enough”, she said. It broke my heart, to be honest. It really made me reflect on everything she gave us growing up as children, I felt the need to give something back, which I guess is the starting point for this whole project.
LBB> How did you decide what you wanted to say with it?
Craig> I think with a short stylised doc like this, there’s something exciting about not knowing what you're going to create, I was more interested in the experiment. After laying out my mum's life through a timeline of photographs, I could see key changing points within her life. It touched me, made me reflect a lot about family and what impact it has upon your life. I wanted to make a film that affected other people the way the process had me.
LBB> And how did you then translate that into a structure of shots to use and words to overlay?
Craig> Unbeknownst to my mum I began to record our phone conversations during lockdown. I'm sure she wouldn’t have noticed but each call tapped into a different part of her life and from then I was able to structure the film with the recorded narrative first, inserting the photos second, leaving the blanks for the film to be shot last.
LBB> What was the interview process with your mum like? It must have been strange to speak to her knowing it was for a creative project, not just a chat?
Craig> It was a strange experience treating my mum as a subject for sure. Some of the stories she told me felt like she was talking about a different person, we forget what life our parents led before we showed up. She would talk whilst prepping dinner, I could hear her peeling the potatoes in the background, we would talk for hours about when she met my dad, how we were as children, Grandma and Grandad and her relationship with horses. The project brought me and Mum even closer no doubt, I found myself being more open with her too, although she may know too much now!
LBB> What was the shooting process like?
Craig> This was my first time shooting on film which was scary and exciting. 16mm felt like the right format for the project, I wanted it to feel honest and nostalgic. A cinematographer I had wanted to work with for a while was Adric Watson. I sealed the deal in a pub one night over a pint of Guinness. On such a low budget, we had no toys or tracking vehicles. It had to be a down and dirty approach. Me, Adric and Peter (BTS) slept in a shed my dad built at the bottom of the yard. We called it the Covid shed. Special times indeed.
LBB> What were the biggest challenges?
Craig> I think the biggest challenge was making sure we shot what we needed. We had three rolls of film which made for a very disciplined way of working. We would wait for the sweet spot of the sun to drop before we turned over. There were some magic moments which passed so quickly.
LBB> What will you remember most?
Craig> I'll remember my mum's little face, bless her, when she watched the finished film. We had a little screening in the kitchen, it felt special, I think my dad cried more than my mum.
LBB> What do you hope people take away from the film?
Craig> I hope people take away what I took away from it. It brings an element of comfort, it allows you to reflect. It’s a film made to relate no matter what background.
