LBB Film Club: National Treasures

A controversial artefact raises eyebrows in a satirical short film directed by VCCP senior creative Will Wright and produced by Snapper Films.

‘National Treasures’ critiques the British Museum’s murky history of colonialism and looting through the story of a stolen relic. But rather than spotlighting one of the more traditional emblems of the institution’s questionable track record (and there are plenty – the Elgin marbles, Rosetta Stone, Benin Bronzes, the list goes on…), Will’s opted for a fictional object of interest. Spoiler alert: it’s Hitler’s right testicle.

As you can imagine, that lends itself to a fair bit of humour. The artefact reveal is foreshadowed  in amusing ways, from specific language choices like seeing it “in the flesh” to visual gags even as subtle as a stone sphere on a podium. It begs a rewatch (or several) to pick up each one. And it’s all enhanced by some great face acting and comedic timing from the cast, which stars the likes of Harvey Quinn (‘The Witcher’, ‘The Kitchen’) as an art collector and Priyanka Patel (‘Malpractice’) as the museum’s curator.

Currently on its festival run, the film has already secured an honourable mention at the Hollywood Shorts Fest, semi-finalist status at Big Fridge International Film Festival, plus official selections at Swedish International Film Festival and more.

Chatting comedy and colonialism, and delivering a serious message through satire, LBB’s Zara Naseer sat down with Will to hear about the making of ‘National Treasures’.

LBB> What made you choose to tackle colonialism, looting, and the British Museum’s problematic history with it?

Will> The stars aligned on a couple of things. The topic itself is something that I care about as I’m from an army background through my grandad, and I wrote the script in response to one of the Kinsale briefs. I liked the story, the topic, and the way it was going enough to then develop it from there. The subject matter itself, in my opinion, is one of the more poignant topics that can be satirised – comedians use it as well for stand up bits – so it felt like a safe space to make jokes as long as it’s done right. I quite like making people feel a bit uncomfortable – it’s a fun place to play, as long as you're asking questions, not ramming answers in their faces.

LBB> And why, rather than classic symbols like stolen Indian jewels or Greek marbles, did you opt to centre a fictional story of Hitler’s right testicle?

Will> If I’d picked a particular artefact, it wouldn’t have been my story to tell. Also, I didn't want to prioritise one nation over another. Using the historical playground of this folk tale felt like an interesting way to connect with the audience, and the subject of ownership around this fictional object is also an interesting place to play. It raises more questions than it answers, but it's also just something that's funny.

LBB> Where was the film shot?

Will> The film was shot in a place called Bradbourne House, which is in Kent. It's a two location film, but I wanted to try and keep it all contained in one shoot – three days on the trot for production reasons. Any location change just felt like it was going to be a nightmare. When we recced it, we only looked at the blue room that most of the museum takes place in, but when we saw the study next door, it felt like with a bit of production design we could actually age it back. I was glad to just have everything contained, because the stress of doing a location change would have been pretty unpleasant. It's lovely to have all the whole crew all together for three days as well; we all became really good friends.

LBB> What was the thinking behind the particular artefacts you selected to spotlight, particularly at the beginning of the film?

Will> At first, we didn't even really have an intro. I thought we’d be able to capture a lot of it during the shoot days but to be honest, it didn't really materialise in a way that felt good, so Matt [Gentleman, director of photography] and I actually went to the British Museum. 

I wanted to capture busts, because there's a lot of facial expression in the film as well, but beyond that it was an aesthetic thing too. The poster that we have of the head that's fractured seemed like a really nice metaphor for the voice paralysis people have when they face an issue like the British Museum. No matter what your opinion, promoting questions is more important than giving the answers. Also stealing imagery from the actual British Museum felt like a poetic and ironic image to begin the film with.

LBB> Humour is a big part of ‘National Treasures’, from unexpected language choices to visual gags – what are your go-to techniques for amusing your audience? And what’s your favourite comic moment in the film?

Will> When it comes to comedy, timing is everything, from what I know so far. You can make amazing gags and brilliant humour if you time it right, it seems, and that is an edit and performance thing. Everyone says that the funniest joke on TV is just the word ‘pivot’ written down five times on a script, but it took Ross Geller to perform it and time it the way he did for that to happen. 

The timing of Sam Alan, who plays the colonel, and his smile when he says “three glasses”, that little nuance – which he did completely himself, I didn't ask him to do that – seems to get the biggest laugh from audiences.

LBB> There’s a real shift in tone from the film’s formal beginnings to its end credit memes. How have you delivered that sense of descent throughout the short?

Will> The whole film is basically about a power shift. There are the high level power structures and narratives that come with the purpose of the film and the issues being discussed; but the curator and art collector’s power dynamic also changes as the film goes on. That's something we discussed when we did table reads early on. 

Harvey [Quinn, actor] performs it brilliantly, especially at the end – he's been in things like ‘The Witcher’, so he’s absolutely brilliant when it comes to performance. One of the reasons I really wanted to cast him is that his facial expression is absolutely spot on for what I was going for. He's got some quite dramatic and intense looks in him, but also very sombre if he wants. Watching him turn that on and off was brilliant. And then Priyanka [Patel, actor] steps into it at the beginning, and she's almost tentative, but then we watch her gradually become more and more confident in her demeanour. That long two minute delivery at the end – which was performed pretty much perfectly the first time around – was spectacular. I got very lucky in terms of casting.

LBB> I enjoyed the Easter eggs you put in to hint at the plot’s unravelling – the stone sphere on the podium, seeing the final artefact “in the flesh”... Are there any other good ones we might have missed?

Will> We actually had a few more lined up in the script, but after the Fabergé egg comment, I felt like we were going to give it away before the end. 

The stone sphere was well spotted. We didn't actually plan for that. That was something that we saw on the day and Matt, the DP said, “We've got to capture this.” We had some other props that we wanted to use which would have given it away too much. But I’m glad that you picked up on that.

LBB> The actors have all done a great job in their roles. What were the key qualities you were looking for in the two main characters – you mentioned facial expression was important?

Will> Yeah, there's so much close up in the film. In my commercials typically, expression is really important, but it's not very static – the camera swipes away fast and it’s not held for very long. So one of the main things was to try and find people who could perform through their eyes. Priyanka did it brilliantly, and the other guys were brilliant as well, each in their own special way. 

Visually and aesthetically, Harvey really fit the image I had in my head, and I didn’t even have to ask him to grow his hair out, which was great. With Priyanka, I didn't have much time to cast her – the original actor cancelled two weeks before the shoot – but the moment we met I knew she was perfect. She had exactly the right accent naturally. But the comedic timing and that absurd, flabbergasted, surreal facial expression was the key.

LBB> It feels like every detail has been intentionally selected. Can you tell us about the significance of colour in the short?

Will> The film is almost in two parts – the museum and the story being retold. I wanted to give that separate world a sort of ephemeral, abstract look, which was difficult because the light was constantly changing in the room and we didn't have bags and bags of time. So we made it very dark, and then tried to ham up the grades and those kinds of elements. It’s also shot on a different lens: anamorphic inside the study, and spherical inside the museum. Once we got into the grade, I wanted them to just feel very, very separate. 

Personally, the look that I like tends to be very rich in colour and very vibrant. Priyanka and Harvey’s wardrobe was deliberately based on the environment around them, with its blues and oranges. I wanted it to ooze out of the image, and so far, in the places I've seen it, it does do that. The slight problem is that if you go to some of these more ropey screenings where the projectors haven't been tuned, sometimes the yellows are hued up so much they start to come out green. It's ever so slight, and I'm probably the only one who notices, but I sit there watching thinking the colour’s not right!

LBB> What was the biggest challenge you faced in bringing ‘National Treasures’ to life? How did you overcome it?

Will> Honestly, just getting everyone into one place was really, really difficult. From a production standpoint, Lina [Portonova, producer], the superstar who managed all the production from start to finish, was absolutely instrumental in every part of that. 

From a director’s standpoint, I think the biggest learning has been that you have to think of things that other people aren't thinking of. You have to trust people, but you also have to know who you're trusting. It's thinking about everything, but also moving quickly, but not letting people feel like you're moving quickly. So on the very first day, all our lenses were malfunctioning after being refurbished, and we had to have the production house send out new ones – we lost half a day. We had to adapt to try and find things to do in that half day, so we did all of the production design in the study that morning, instead of shooting what we were planning to. Especially on independent short films like this, being willing to adapt and change and alter your production process is key. And not panicking.