GHOSTS MOVING FLOWERS AND PHYSICAL MEDIUMSHIP, 60min., UK
Directed by Karl Fallon
This Ghostcircle film by Director Karl Fallon, is a thought provoking documentary about Physical Phenomena never captured before on film. The documentary is captures moments in time about modern day Physical Mediumship with Physical medium Patrick McNamara in which he explains that by providing the necessary conditions with people in a “Psychic Circle”, it will allow spirit entities the opportunity to move flowers in people’s hands. These Psychic or Physical Circles were demonstrated repeatedly and held in independent and reputedly haunted locations around the UK and Ireland. The film explores and captures the phenomena as he discusses the process around the demonstrations. All attendees were unknown to the medium and his team before turning up to see what they would get. The individual independent Psychic Circle sitters actually see and feel amazing phenomenon, and then give witness statements about that they experienced. See the strange and flower moving by the spirit entities with the sitters.
https://www.instagram.com/karl_fallon/
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film?
I originally made a TV series called “Ghostcircle” 5 individual Series now, and I have been filming our group of psychic mediums doing some pretty unique and amazing things, so I wanted to showcase some of the best of it from many different episodes. I selected the clips I wanted and put a narrative around it which was done by Patrick McNamara. Patrick explains what is actually going on in the filming from a spiritual or psychic side. It’s quite a complicated, and difficult to process because we never know how it’s going to turn out when we roll the camera, so to speak. The phenomena that we get is related to the conditions that we film in, and it’s affect by such things as the environment and the peoples energy that they bring. The more positive and excited people are, the more we get, and with that excitement there seems to be more energy created. How that all works I don’t know, but you know things are going well because it just feel good and the phenomena starts to happen. Some people don’t believe it, but you can’t argue when a flower moves in their hand and they are gripping it tightly too. So, if they aren’t doing it themselves and you can see that, who or what is doing it? That’s my motivation.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The idea took shape about a year ago, and I have already been putting clips together from time to time during my editing as I had always wanted to make a showcase documentary, something with impact. I had already filmed Patrick McNamara, who does the narration in “Ghosts Moving Flowers”; quite a while back and he basically sat down with me and we just did a Q&A about how we would explain things to a lay person. Basically, explain to the ordinary man or woman in the street as they say.
So Patrick has a great understanding of how it all works, he is also an excellent communicator, so he knew how to just do an inspirational talk without any script or prompting. I just asked a question off camera and he went off and answered it. We both knew the example clips that would be used in the documentary, so he just reeled off the explanation around the clips to be used. We could never use a script anyway, it wouldn’t work because Patrick cannot remember lines anyway!
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Totally unique
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest obstacle I faced is just filming it, hoping to capture something. When you make a film or documentary you generally have a script or story board maybe. Even with reality documentaries you can plan to a certain extent, and just follow the subject so there is always some result by doing this. However, what I have to do I end up just hoping to capture the phenomena and get an interview which is so difficult to do, and sometimes nothing or very little happens.
And there is no story board, and no script, or nor actors, or planning like in most filming. The team literally turns up and see what we can get. And normally as you probably know, it’s all so slow the filming business.
But that’s not the case with us. We do everything quite fast, usually within a couple of hours because it’s very tiring for us (especially Patrick and the other psychic mediums) and you are working with people who are not being paid, it’s all public volunteering, and they just turn up to see our psychic experiment. We have no idea most times who, or even how may will be there when we start the experiment. On one occasion, three people promised to turn up in the evening to film with us. We had only met them during that day, and in the end they never came back later on that evening. So, we actually went into a pub and asked three guys having a drink with some girls if they would like to do a psychic experiment in a function room we had next door. They said yes, and within 20 minutes, they had flowers moving in their hands. That’s what it can be like. We would do experiments with a lot of the staff at locations we film in, so we can only film them when they finish work which is usually quite late. Also, just trying to get the post interview reactions after filming was always a struggle because we usually filmed quite late like I said, and people normally wanted to get home straight afterwards. Patrick and I had a bit of an effort to try make people just stay behind, he would do a chat like a Q&A while I selected the people I wanted to interview. I normally had my interview targets after the psychic experiment, and I picked those who had the best experiences that I saw while I was filming. So, just to get a 5 minute reaction straight afterwards I would do it in a separate room because there was always chat afterwards and the noise can be quite loud, people were always excited after we did these psychic experiments. I would literally ask them for a quick reaction shot, with the emphasis on quick, and go do run and gun interviews with off the cuff questions. Then bang get the next person in who hopefully had not left by then. Next person, same thing again……
On one of the interviews on the documentary I had knocks on the door from the pub manager, that was a tricky edit to do as he was giving some great reactions too….I had to ask him to repeat what he just aid…but it was like 2:20am on a Wednesday night, so we had only finished about 1:30am…Filming for all of this, it was always a bit frantic.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was kind of emotional a bit because the only people to see the documentary up till then, were our crew members who were involved with the making of it. And while they all loved seeing it, I wanted to get an independent reaction to the documentary. So it was great to hear their thoughts and reactions to the viewing which I really enjoyed.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
Well, strangely enough…I was actually told by a psychic many years ago that I would be doing this…filming and creating lots of videos. It was shown or explained to me, as “I was standing next to piles of DVDs”. I didn’t even buy DVDs at the time. Yes DVDs remember those old things LoL? And, since then I have done about 50 episodes for a TV series called Ghostcircle. I did actually make DVDs afterwards for a while, and it was probably a large pile….So, there you go…I actually never had any interest in photography, or filming when I was told that prediction in the mid 2000’s.
Then when I started editing, I found I had a bit of knack, or aptitude for doing it…And I really enjoy doing trailers for different episodes I have done. I like putting the music and video together, that’s my fun bit.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
I’m not one to obsess over a favorite film, watching it over and over like some people do, but I do love “Back to the Future” and if it’s on I’ll stop and watch it. And one of the funniest I lie is “Some Like it Hot”. These days some people won’t even look at black and white films, which is just crazy, but for me they are both fantastic films.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
I think the reaction or feedback you do is really worthwhile, so thanks for doing that. And maybe other festivals should take note of that too and include it in their format somehow.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
It’s a really great platform, I had not heard of it until recently but now it’s quite vital for submitting your films and documentaries.
10. What is your favorite meal?
Steak, mash potatoes, onions and gravy. Or chips instead of mash. And if the chef has no Steak, I will take roast chicken. And if there’s no Chicken, then the chef should be fired. He knew I was coming!
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I am thinking of another documentary, something a bit different, but storytelling. I have some filming already done, the core bits of interviews are in the can so I need to put some narration around it. And edit it.
However, my main focus is that I have also recorded some Music with the London Symphony Orchestra in London over 2 days, which is now being mixed and mastered at the moment. The music was actually created for the TV Series “Ghostcicle” and we have re-mixed it with the composer Jamie Wilkins to create 12 Classical Music tracks which were recorded in February. Jamie actually also appears in the TV series too, but he is a composer and conductor. This will be his first Classical music album, and it’s all as a result from the filming we did, and the music he wrote for the episodes that we filmed.
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