Radoslaw Sienski

Radoslaw Sienski was born in Gdansk, Poland in 1987.

After completing high school, he decided to move to England to pursue his passion - filmmaking. He signed up for a Video Production course at Bucks New University in 2007 (which is a University that I am considering applying for towards the end of this year) and graduated in 2010. He has recently completed a horror/comedy feature as an editor/vfx artist/colourist and did an editing course at the National Film & TV School in January 2011.

One of his short films, 'A Question of Time', which was his first dissertation project at Bucks New University, won multiple awards:

Winner - Best Short Film at the 2nd annual Soul 4 Reel Film Festival 2011
- Winner - Campus MovieFest 365, London 2011
- SFFA Film Festival - Official Selection 2010
- Exposures Film Festival - Official Selection 2010
- 5th annual international LUMS film festival - FiLUMS - Official Selection 2011
- Nomination - Best Thriller at The National Student Film Festival, London 2011
- 36. Polish Film Festival Gdynia - Young Cinema Competition - Official Selection 2011

The film is split into two parts and is about a man coming into possession of a pocket watch after his father dies. Little does the man know, the watch has special powers. After his son gets run over, the man discovers, in his grief, that he can turn back time using the watch. He experiments by holding his watch up against Big Ben and turning the hands. As he does so, the hands on Big Ben spin too. I learnt that Radoslaw Sienksi didn't use special effects to do this shot. he asked permission for the employees in Big Ben to turn the hand of the clock for him when the protagonist turned the hands on his watch. It apparently took a lot of shots to get it just right and if you are paying really close attention, you can see the tree in the right hand side of the shot jump about slightly where the different shots have been edited together. He then runs home and turns the watch back to the time where his son got run over but he cannot change what already happened. The scene then cuts to the man 25 years in the future where he is still mourning those he has lost. He beats the watch against the table trying to break it and the audience see the Latin inscription on the back of the watch. However, it doesn't break and the man, frustrated, winds it back and we see a child, presumably the protagonist, holding the watch and a black screen with the translation of the engraving is shown - we cannot change what has already happened.

I found an interview with Radoslaw Sienski on step2collabo.tv which I've copied here:

Whats the background to the film? How did you come up with the story?

The film was my dissertation project for university. It was shot over 6 days and edited within one month but the pre-production took about 2 months. I was always keen on making a film with a story that broadens the viewer’s imagination and by that I mean creating something that has an underlying symbolic layer. I was always fascinated by the issues of passing time, inevitability and fate and it is these concepts that the film is based around.

How many cast members/crew did you use?

I wrote, directed, shot and edited film by myself but I was occasionally receiving help from my friends with sound recording on set as well as with general on-set duties.

What has been the greatest outcome from your film?

The film was finished quite recently but it was shortlisted for screening at the Exposures Film Festival in Manchester in November. I also used it as part of my application for the National Film & TV School in England and I got in. Also thanks to this film I got my first editing job on a feature.

Anything learned from the shoot itself? Did something possibly not turn out the way you expected?

As it always happens with film production, not everything goes according to plan, in fact it never fully does. I learned to be open to possible alternative solutions but most importantly to think creatively. Every problem has a solution that works, don’t be afraid to alter your film slightly when you meet obstacles on your way, it’s always better to leave a few doors open rather than follow the narrowest path. You can achieve the same impact in many different ways.

There were many things that didn’t turn out the way I expected, but I think I managed to find satisfying solutions that work the same or even better in the finished film. It’s more clear in my previous short film ‘Memories’ where I had to re-write the story three days before the shoot which surprisingly made the film much better and so far it still remains my most successful film.

Briefly tell us about your style of filmmaking?

I don’t like straight-forward topics that’s why quite often in my films the reality blends with dreams, fantasies or other symbolical elements. I put an emphasis on the technical side of projects but I realise the value and importance of a good story. Without a good script there is no film, but without a good quality production a good story can’t be really convincing or appealing.

Whats next for you?

At the moment I’m working as an editor/vfx artist/colourist on a horror/comedy feature starring Keith Chegwin. It’s a low budget production but having just graduated from uni it’s a big step for me and a good chance to further develop my editing skills. Next year I’m starting an editing course at the National Film & TV School.

Any advise to budding filmmakers?

Send your films wherever you can, let other people see it and judge it, get some exposure. Don’t be afraid of critical comments – every comment is valuable for a filmmaker! How else you can make a progress? If you working on something very hard and you put your heart in it, by the end of the production process you lose your objectivity and fresh eyes. In most cases by the time you finished your film, you will hate it, but that’s the point where you should show it to people rather than hide it, at this stage your opinion doesn’t matter anymore, it’s up to a viewer to decide whether it’s good or not. That’s the only way to learn and ultimately get some exposure and your dream film job. No one becomes a director overnight.

It's good for me to read about University graduates creating award winning films as it is fuelling me to push myself to the limit to achieve the best I can and hopefully follow in Sienski's footsteps.

Here is Sienski' previous film, Memories: