H2
See examples of Duncan's work:
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Can you tell us about a film you have shown at the Electric Palace or at our film festival?
Back in July I was selecting films for the weekly Electric Palace email bulletin and I smuggled in one of my own: 'You Used to Believe in God' (2020). It’s a split screen mash-up of scenes from two films starring Orson Welles, ‘The Third Man’ (1949) and ‘F is for Fake’ (1973) plus some footage from a documentary on single celled organisms. I’ve always been fascinated by the big wheel scene in the ‘The Third Man’ and this was the second time I interfered with it. To me it’s an eternal perfect scene. Whatever else happens in the world, Harry and Holly will still be going around on the carousel.
Do you remember a moment when your love for the moving image was sparked?
To be honest I’ve always been in love with the moving image for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I was a TV addict and I watched anything. I remember watching the test card and the short films they used for testing the colour on BBC 2, even though we only had a black and white TV.
Can you tell us about a film that you would have liked to have made?
‘Meshes of the Afternoon’ (1943) Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid.
What does filmmaking offer you as an artist?
For me the question is ‘What does art offer me as a filmmaker?’
Is there something you try to subvert, avoid or rebel against in your work?
Elitism.
How do you plan your work – with a script, storyboard or another method?
I don’t have a fixed method. I have started with a script or a storyboard, but I’ve also started with an idea, an image, a piece of music, some particular sequence, a prop…
Do you need to collaborate to make your work?
Sometimes, depends on the film. I did make a collective feature film which required each filmmaker involved to adapt a different chapter from Comte de Lautréamont’s ‘Les Chants de Maldoror'.
Has living in Hastings influenced your work?
Hastings has inspired me to make more films; there are some amazing filmmakers here, independent cinemas, venues to hold screenings and every kind of location for filming.
Is there a difference in producing films for a large screen or making work for online viewing?
The real difference is making films for a live audience or for a lone viewer. My work has always been made for a big screen and a convivial gathering.
Have developments in camera technology changed the way you work?
When I started making films as an independent no-budget maker the only formats we could afford were Super 8 film and VHS video which were despised by the professionals as amateur and ‘not broadcast quality’. Now anyone can make broadcast quality HD video on their phone. But I still love the scratchy flicker of Super 8 and the weird buzz of VHS.
Do live audiences in a cinema matter to you?
I make all my films for live audiences, in fact over the last thirty, half my work is actually live spoken word performance with projected images. Just showing a film can sometimes be an alienating cold experience but performing a live cinema performance gives you a direct visceral contact with the audience.
Can you tell us about an unusual event where you have screened your work or attended a film screening?
Since 1991 I’ve been a member of the Exploding Cinema, a collective who stage open access film events in pubs, clubs and other venues including an empty swimming pool, a circus tent, a church, a cemetery, disused factories, squats, boats, shops etc.
An event I remember fondly from a few year ago was a show we did in a squatted Blockbuster video store in Catford.
What continues to inspire you as a filmmaker or artist?
My eyes.