Imagine that the camera is possessed with a psychosis similar to human schizophrenia; suppose that this disease subtly changes every single frame of film while leaving the narrative superficially intact. Then imagine that these symptoms came on as a result of the trauma of recording bizarre or horrific events, for instance those of the 1941 horror film Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Scenes from the Victor Fleming movie are restaged frame by frame with new performers occupying the body spaces of Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, etc..
‘Bush’s Episodes from the Life of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde preserves conventional narrative, reshooting scenes from the 1941 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but shreds the very presence of the actors themselves: in each successive frame one body is replaced by another and then another, creating a stuttering, flickering, ghostly presence that is all at once Jekyll and Hyde.’ Danny Birchall
‘We see the protagonist transformed in frame after frame, in Hyde, then Jekyll, then again in Hyde; in a most effective living transposition of the duplicity of the human soul, so that it makes this short film one of the best cinematic versions of the spirit of Stevenson’s tale.’ Hanako Miyata – eMotion magazine
CREDITS
(5.15 minutes, colour, 2001, super-16 original -35mm/DCP)
Starring – Ian Bourn, Liane Lang, Anna Sandreuter, Gary Stevens
Conceived, Directed and Edited by Paul Bush
Camera – Paul Bush
Sound Designer – Andy Cowton
Script by Paul Bush adapted from the films of the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
Produced by Paul Bush
Copyright Ancient Mariner Productions 2001
An Ancient Mariner Production made with financial support from the Arts Council of England, London Arts, LVFDA and the East London Film Fund (part funded by the European Regional Development Fund)
Adriano Asti Award – Filmvideo 2002 Montecatini Terme
Anyzone Award – Holland Animation Festival 2002
Jury Commendation – Siena International Short Film Festival 2002
British Animation Awards touring programme 2002 (UK)
Thresholds of the Frame touring programme 2002 (UK)
Urban Visionaries touring programme 2002 (UK)
UK/Canada Video Exchange touring 2003 (International)
Moviezone 2003-4 touring programme, Netherlands
Milan International Film Festival on tour 2004-5 (Italy)
