Hurray for Hullywood Yorkshire Post Boxing Day Article By Alexandra Wood

Here is the Boxing Day Article By Alex Wood  quoted in full there is a also a link to the online version as well.

Stars of the screen are recreated as Hull looks set to be on a roll with City of Culture in the spotlight’

Project says hooray for Hullywood!

If Ursula Andress had surfaced in Hull…

BY the rocky Khyber Pass in East Park on a dank December day, Richard Hall is stripping off to become Wolverine – the mutant superhero of Marvel Comics. ADVERTISING inRead invented by Teads Suitably muscled he looks the part, along with a set of rapier-like claws – made out of cereal boxes. Recreating The Wild One on Hessle Road Mr Hall admits to being nervous, having in earlier life, struggled with his body image. But after the quickest of shoots – photographer Quentin Budworth has to rush off and meet “Marilyn Monroe” in under half an hour – he is glowing. “I feel a real weight lifted off,” he says. Budworth’s delightfully quirky Hullywood Icons project will be a highlight of the opening event to UK City of Culture 2017. A runaway success, the artist started out with the intention of inviting a few dozen people to dress up as their favourite Hollywood characters, against instantly recognisable city landmarks. But the calls kept coming in, and he now looks to top 100, with over 300 people, adults and kids, taking part. There’s been everything from the 37-year-old mother-of-two recreating the iconic moment in film history when Ursula Andress stepped out of the water in Dr No – except she was in front of the Humber Bridge – to a leather-clad mob (The Wild Ones) doing their best to look menacing outside Rayners pub on Hessle Road. “Marilyn Monroe” is Lucy Lines, looking splendid in a plunging halterneck dress and silver stilettos, who comes with partner Mike, who admits he “normally stands in the corner quietly watching.” The shoot in Kingston Square is for The Seven Year Itch – a cinch for blonde Ms Lines, who does vintage pin up modelling as a sideline – while Mike plays the part of Tim Ewell. Ms Lins said: “We’ve had a naff 2016, I think Hull really needs to celebrate 2017. I’m a massive fan. Quentin has given an opportunity for people to take part, you don’t get a chance to do that every day.” As part of the seven-day opening event, which starts on January 1, called Made In Hull, Budworth will be touring Hessle Road and Spring Bank in a Land Rover projecting the images against buildings to a specially composed Score of Scores, before coming back into the city centre for the last hour. To me, it seems the project has shades of a dressing game, rather like the cartoon Mr Benn. In this case people meet Budworth, briefly discuss how they want to pose, there’s a short adventure – the posing in the park certainly takes the dogwalkers by surprise – before they reenter their ordinary lives. Budworth said: “The idea was I wanted to use Hull as a playground and play with the people of Hull and this was a good way of doing it. “This is showbiz, creative and fun – people instantly see what they get from it. “I really want it to come from them. I want them to take ownership of it. It is a co-authored piece. It is not wrapped up in art speak. It is a dead simple concept.” Budworth discovered what it was like to be on the other side of the camera when he appeared as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (medieval costume, pointy shoes, hump made from rucked up woolly jumper) at the city’s Holy Trinity Church, the only long shot in the whole sequence.“It was a bit weird, but good,” he said. Later in January, Budworth is taking the Icons to Beverley Minster, St Mary’s and the Guildhall, and after that to Bridlington. He is having an exhibition from February 7 to April 2 at the Hull International Photography Gallery in Princes Quay, and there will be a print-on-demand book. For more visit hullywoodicons.com.

Read more at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/what-s-on/cinema/hooray-for-hullywood-1-8303464

The Truman Show

Sara Owen got in touch with me about recreating the role of Laura Linney as Hannah Gill playing Meryl Burbank, Truman’s wife, a nurse at the local hospital in the Truman Show the  American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir.
Since the show relies on product placement for revenue, Meryl regularly shows off various items she has recently “purchased”, one of the many oddities that makes Truman question his life.
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It’s all about the art and the legacy

Hull council hands out £1m to keep City of Culture going in 2018 and beyond

By Hull Daily Mail  |  Posted: December 17, 2016

INVESTMENT: Council grants cash boost for Hull's City of Culture company to continue after 2017

INVESTMENT: Council grants cash boost for Hull’s City of Culture company to continue after 2017.

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The company set up to run Hull’s City of Culture year is being given £1m of council cash to continue beyond 2017.

It is part of a deal with the Government after former chancellor George Osborne announced a £13m package of support in March.

The City of Culture company is led by chief executive Martin Green with broadcaster Rosie Millard as its chairman. As yet, it is not known whether either will stay on after 2017.

At a recent East Riding scrutiny meeting Mr Green hinted he might move once the year had finished, admitting: “I’m a bit of a project junkie”. However, the company itself will continue to operate until 2021 to delivery a legacy programme of culture and arts activities.

‘PROJECT JUNKIE’: Martin GreenCity council deputy chief executive Trish Dalby said: “2017 is going to be a fantastic year but it’s not just about that year.

“It’s about another three years after that when Hull will still be the UK City of Culture.

“During that time we will be looking to change significantly how people think about arts and culture in Hull by using them as a vehicle for regeneration and transformation.”

More news: Why global investors are now looking at Hull and big-time projects

Ms Dalby said it was too early to say whether key company figures such as Mr Green would be staying. She said: “Ultimately it will depend on personal circumstances and we have to respect that, however, I am confident that some people who have come to Hull work on 2017 will consider staying on.”

She said one the roles of the company beyond 2017 would be to continue the job of attracting arts funding to Hull. “We have already seen how it has attracted really big funders and sponsors for 2017,” she said.

“For this additional investment the council is putting in we would expect a similar return.”

CULTURE: ‘Hullywood’ movie posters are among the projects catching attention.Several major funders for the 2017 programme have already expressed an interest, in principle, of extending that support for Hull into the following years.

The council’s £1m allocation will sit alongside £8m from Mr Osborne’s grant for legacy work. The remaining £5m from the government grant is going towards the cost of redevelopment work at Hull New Theatre.

The 2017 company was set up in October 2014 after Hull won the bid to become the next UK City of Culture. It operates as a charity and is based in High Street.

Read more at http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/hull-council-hands-out-1m-to-keep-city-of-culture-going-in-2018-and-beyond/story-29989565-detail/story.html#qxgkwSj8ZgRVGmFp.99

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Well at last  I have succumbed after much cajoling to create my own  Hullywood Icon. The temptation to do a selfie in the bell tower of Holy Trinity was great but after researching the 1939 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring Charles Laughton I realised that the mise-en-scene was everything as the film had one of the largest and most extravagant sets ever constructed. Following a serendipitous meeting with Reverend Neal whilst shooting Cosette from Les Miserables in Trinity Square on a cold December morning I approached Holy Trinity Church to recreate a classic moment from the film.
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Eraserhead

When Kate Macdonald asked me if she could be The Lady in the Radiator from the cult David Lynch film Eraserhead I thought blimey that’s a bit out there but what the hell let’s give it a whirl.
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Kate explained that she had scene the film whilst a living in a flat which resembled the kitchen in Withnail and she was about 18 the first time she watched it and under the influence of various things and remembers the jacket potato she was trying to eat resembled the baby in the film. She was determined to watch it when ‘straight’ but said it was still as weird! The meaning attributed to the mysterious Lady in the Radiator (Laurel Near) was that she represents the Grim Reaper and sings to Henry an eerie song of heaven and of how “everything is fine” there. It can be stated that the radiator itself is representative of Henry’s thoughts of self-destruction and that he sees death as a source of freedom from his living Hell.

This view seems to be confirmed at the film’s shocking climax when Henry kills his baby in act of release and mercy. He is then met by the Lady in the Radiator in a brilliant flash of light and dies in her arms. In this act, Henry has finally embraced Death and accepted it into his life, giving him admittance to his own personal heaven and freedom.

Many thanks to Paul Jackson at the Adelphi for letting us use the stage there for the shoot.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Liz dees asked if she could be the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia played by Tilda Swinton and that she had a ‘brown haired boy’ lined up for the shoot imagine my amazement when I arrived at the shoot to find Charles Huckvale dressed as  Edmund Pevensie played by Skandar Keynes in the film. You may recall Charles starred in ‘The Wild One’ shoot with Bandanarama,

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The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of fantasy films from Walden Media, based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels by C. S. Lewis. From the seven novels, there have been three film adaptations so far—The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008) and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)—which have grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide among them.

The series revolves around the adventures of children in the world of Narnia, guided by Aslan, a wise and powerful lion that can speak and is the true king of Narnia. The children heavily featured in the films are the Pevensie siblings, and a prominent antagonist is the White Witch (also known as Jadis).

Dirty Dancing

Amy Burley contacted me about recreating a scene from Dirty Dancing with her husband James… it was a bit breezy but well worth the effort…

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Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American musical romance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach.

Originally a low-budget film by a new studio, Great American Films Limited Partnership, and with no major stars (except Broadway legend Orbach in a supporting role), Dirty Dancing became a massive box office hit. As of 2009, it has earned over $214 million worldwide. It was the first film to sell more than a million copies on home video, and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack created by Jimmy Ienner generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, including “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”, which won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award for best duet

The Wizard of Oz – take 2

Jane Green, Grant Davison and Rachael Hindle got in touch about recreating a scene from The Wizard of Oz, Pearson Park seemed like a good place to recreate the scene in which Dorothy, the Lion and the Tin Man meet the mighty Oz. You may recall Emma Palmer was pictured earlier in the series pictured as Dorothy outside the city of culture offices with a real yellow brick road you can see the post here.

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