Matthew Hope

How did you meet Ray Bullock Jr.?

Ray was in my short film In The Field and was one of the first people I contacted about The Vanguard.


What inspired you to make The Vanguard?

Frustration with my career. I thought I could write my way into directing and when this didn't happen I just decided to make my own film.


The colour palette is interesting - what's that all about?

In terms of the look of the film, my DoP David Byrne and I worked out a colour scheme, the first half would have this warm tobacco look and the second half would have a cold blue look. We wanted the film to look vibrant, hoping it would pop out of the screen. Same thing with the types of lenses we used; first half had a lot wide angle lenses, giving a sense of scope, and the second half we used a lot of long lenses in order to give it a claustrophobic feel. Filming outdoors - something I learnt from my short - immediately makes everything look cinematic, and we filmed whatever the weather. I like the rain sequence in the film, but it wasn't planned.


What was the budget for the film and how did you get funding?

Unfortunately I can't get into specifics about the budget, but it was raised through family and friends.


Am I right to presume [Executive Producer] John is a relation?

John is my dad.


Do you have another project in the pipeline?

I'd like to do a revenge film next.