Written & directed JOE MCGOWAN
When sweet and affectionate noises between a loving couple get really weird, real quick.
ABOUT THE FILM
Couple Noises caught our attention at our Short Film Open Mic event. It won Best Micro Film at the Los Angeles Comedy Films & Screenplay Festival, came in 3rd place at the Lit Laughs International Comedy Film Festival, was a finalist at the Pigeon Laughs International Short Comedy Festival, and an Official Selection at Funny Life Film Festival. It was also featured on BBC Upload.
ABOUT THE FILMmaker
London born and Essex raised, Joe McGowan is a writer, director and editor with over 10 years of experience working in video production for both online and broadcast. His love for comedy has steered his career: making commercials, directing stand up comedy specials and letting loose with his own unique, bizarre yet relatable comedy shorts. His first film ‘Nigel’ was shortlisted for the Youtube Play exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York back in 2010, and since then he has racked up views and pulled in a number of awards across the film festival circuit.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH JOE
Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?
When I moved to sixth form and saw there was a Media course where you could learn to make films, my sixteen year old mind was blown. “This sounds so much fun” I thought to myself, and couldn’t pick the course quicker. Since then I fell deeply in love with filmmaking and storytelling. I studied Video and Animation Production at Confetti Institute for Creative Technology, and have gone on to have a 10+ years crack as a director and editor, and haven’t looked back.
As much as I adore filmmaking, the thing that’s brought me the most joy is making people laugh. Over the years I’ve dabbled in making comedy shorts for myself and have made commercials with a comedic twist, but a year ago I quit my full time role at a production company to niche down as a comedy writer, director and editor…and look at me now ma! I tend to lean towards making things silly, absurd but also endearing.
Tell us about the genesis of Couple Noises? Where did the idea come from and why did you choose to pursue this film to make?
Everyone has inside jokes. Friends, family and especially couples and from my own experiences in relationships and observing others, sometimes a joke can be as simple as two people making sounds at each other. If anyone witnessed the daft noises me and my girlfriend make at each other they’d be very concerned. The thing I wanted to explore was what if those cute sweet nothings went a little too far.
For the last few years I’ve been enrolled on the comedy writting course ‘Think Funny’, run by the incredible Brian Luff and Georgina Sowerby. One of the sessions was all about escalation sketches, and how a situation that progressively gets worse or more bizarre for characters can lead to hilarious results. I took what I learned from the session and merged it with my idea, and that became Couple Noises.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Couple Noises and how did you overcome them?
Overcoming imposter syndrome. I remember thinking on the day before we started filming ‘Is this funny?’ ‘Are people going to get it?’ I had to remind myself that I had amassed a really talented cast and crew who were giving up their time to help make the film and we had an absolute blast. This film was really an exercise in finding the tone on the day. The initial dialogue and props were scripted, but the noises and performances that Chloe Zeitoinain and Julian Lloyd Patten gave were mostly them just playing and improvising. When I asked them to go bigger and weirder they jolly well went for it. Without their willingness to be as bonkers as possible, the film would fall flat, and I am so grateful for them and the crew in being invested in what I was trying to accomplish. I’d always wanted to make a film that relied heavily on improv and look forward to doing more of it in the future.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.
I was a bit hesitant to just put the film online. There’s so much content out there and I didn’t want Couple Noises to get lost in the shuffle. I had another short that was doing well on the film festival circuit, so I entered Couple Noises for a few festivals here and there. It even made an apparence at Kino’s Short Film Open Mic earlier this year. The audiences response to the film has been nothing short of heart warming. The amount of people who have come up to me and said they do the same thing with their other half and it resonated with them is really lovely and gratifying to hear. It also means I’m not that mad either, which is a bonus.
The craziest thing that’s happened this year is seeing Couple Noises on the BBC’s main Instagram channel and BBC Comedy Facebook page. BBC Upload was looking for comedy sketches, poetry and other creative submissions and I thought why not, so I sent them Couple Noises. A few weeks later, the film had gained over 200k views and I appeared on BBC Essex Radio to talk about the film. For something I made at my mum’s house on a shoestring budget, I was blown away by the run my little film was having. I’d highly recommend anyone that has made a comedy short (or sketch that could translate well to radio) to send your work to BBC Upload. It’s free, and it feels good to say your comedy work got featured by the BBC.
listen to joe’s interview on BBC
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
Go out and make it, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
I sat on the initial idea for Couple Noises for a few years before pulling the trigger and I’m so glad I did. You won’t grow as a filmmaker if you aren’t making stuff you enjoy. Every shoot is an opportunity to learn something new about your own process and what works versus what doesn’t work. Also, other people want to help make films too. I met my DOP Maximillian Newcombe through the filmmakers networking website Shooting People. I loved his work and he’s a fellow Essex boy, so I reached out to him and we hit it off immediately. When I asked if he wanted to shoot Couple Noises he jumped at the chance to work on a comedy project. We’ve worked together on a few professional (and paying) jobs since, and he’s now my go to DOP.
We’re all learning and growing in this industry constantly. Put your vision and yourself out there and see what happens.
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?
Money, money, money. I’ve had to re-think what project I want to make next due to my ideas being bigger than my wallet. I want my next project to be grander in every way possible, but it’s definitely going to be baby steps rather than taking that massive creative leap. One comedy sketch idea I have would require over 50 breakable prop bottles, and they are on average between £15-£20 each…I’ll come back to that at some point.
I’ve looked into funding options and find it all quite daunting, but it’s another step I need to take, and I know I’m not alone in wanting to know how to navigate through that world and get my next comedy project off the ground.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
Two comedy shorts that I saw this year that I’d highly recommend are:
‘The Foul’ directed by James Button. Disgusting, outrageous, a true piece of art. Going in blind is the best way to watch this short, so do yourself a favour and watch it on Youtube.
‘The Sharkey’ directed by Calum Weir. Three guys waiting for a bus in the Scotland highlands, and along comes a completely pissed menace that spouts nonsense. Neil Bratchpiece gives the best comedic performance I’ve seen in anything all year.
I also recently watched ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes on’ and it’s one of the most heartfelt and endearing films I’ve seen in a long time. Seeing what started as a short series of Youtube videos back in the early days of Youtube be made into a gorgeous A24 film is so lovely to see.