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Directors Statement
It started off with a simple “what if?” whilst watching a live ghost hunting show on late night TV.
What if the stone the over excited host had throw into the 
darkness was suddenly and violently thrown back? What if it hit her? What if there really was a malevolent spirit with them? What would happen? Would she be injured? Die? Would the live show suddenly go off air? And what would happen if they kept the cameras rolling? Hmm... Ghost hunting, a live TV broadcast and Death. There must be a film in there somewhere and so The legend of The 5ive was born.
What if I go down the pretentious route for this statement, expressing that I wanted to make an experimental film with no cuts in a scene, to make an ensemble piece working more like a theatre production than a film; shooting in long uncut takes letting the action play out in camera rather than relying on editing, to have no real visible background in the scenes, just the actors and me shooting their performance. To have no music in the film (to heighten tension and scares), to make a film based in a live TV Broadcast and not on one ‐ it later became the internet. To make a film based in heightened reality.
What if I don’t and just say that I set out to make a unique, entertaining, scary thrill ride of a film which happens to encompass numerous takes, although they are invisible (I highlight this fact as I am also the editor and it was hard work) a pure escapist film for the “paranormal generation”. A film that would haunt anybody who watched it and a film that had the all important “What if… this is real?”
What if I truly believe that escapism is something we all really respond to when done well. We, the audience, are there to be entertained, thrilled and scared and ‘The 5ive’ has surpassed my expectations on all these levels. If I have proved one thing then it’s that you can make a scary and thoroughly entertaining film, as long as you have a camera, great crew, great actors and an imagination.
One last thought… What if I’m lying? What if I actually got hold of real footage from a real show from that fateful night? What if what you are just about to watch (or have watched) is real? Hmm? Think about it!
James P Weatherall