The making of Faintheart in Ludlow

Faintheart, a romantic comedy set in the world of battle re-enactments, aroused particular interest amongst West Midlanders on its release in January. Read our interview with the director and see more pictures here.

Faintheart, a romantic comedy set in the world of battle re-enactments, aroused particular interest amongst West Midlanders on its release in January.

The film, which stars Eddie Marsan (Miami Vice), Ewan Bremner (Trainspotting) and Jessica Hynes (Shaun of the Dead), was predominantly shot in the Shropshire town of Ludlow, and many viewers will recognise familiar streets and landmarks in the movie, including Ludlow Castle where most of the battle scenes were filmed.

See the pics in our gallery below.

Faintheart caught the attention of industry moguls after it was billed as the "world's first user-generated film" - a collaboration between MySpace, Vertigo Films and FilmFour to make an almost entirely user-created movie.

Although the film features established actors in its lead roles, the experiment has unearthed a host of fresh new talent - and first-time director Vito Rocco is no exception.

Vito won the MySpace competition to find a director after he uploaded his short film 'Goodbye Cruel World' onto the social networking site.

He was one of just three out of a thousand entrants selected by a panel of judges, which included Sienna Miller, to pitch his idea for a film that would be funded by a combination of MySpace, FilmFour, the UK Film Council and Screen West Midlands.

After pitching Faintheart, written by David Lemon, over half a million MySpace users voted Vito's as the best idea.

Lara Page caught up with the first-time director to find out how Faintheart's been received and what he thought of Ludlow...

The MySpace link-up is quite revolutionary, do you think it's the way forward?

Absolutely. The film industry is suffering as a result of the economic downturn so we need to find more innovative ways of making and showing films. It's very important that we maintain a healthy British film industry.

How have people been watching it?

Well we wanted it to be a cross-platform film, so we released it at the cinema where it was shown for one night in theatres selected by our MySpace audience, as well as online and on DVD, and it's also been appearing as an in-flight film on BA and Virgin flights from the UK to China.

What's been the response so far?

Generally very good. It sold out at every film festival we've been to. In fact we've just come back from Gothenburg in Sweden and it was immensely popular there – probably because of all the Viking connections!

How would you sum up the film?

It's a real escapist, feel-good film – there are lots of funny moments and a few sad ones too, but it warms the cockles of your heart.

What made you choose Ludlow as a filming location?

Well the film's set in a world of battle re-enactments, so we wanted a place that was quite magnificent but ordinary at the same time.

The main character works in a hardware store but 'battles' at the weekend, and we wanted somewhere that epitomised Middle England but that was also very picturesque.

Which parts of the town did you film in?

A lot of the scenes were shot at Ludlow Castle, which created a fantastic backdrop to the battles and represents everything this group of Vikings have been seeking to achieve.

We shot the opening battle scenes in the woods around Ludlow - the geography was perfect for it. Some of the other locations, such as the school, were filmed in Worcestershire.

Did you use locals as extras in the film?

Yes, in total we had around 250 Viking extras from all over the country. A lot of people from the town came to watch us filming the battle scenes and cheered their heroes on, which was great.

What were your impressions of Shropshire?

Wonderful! The people of Shropshire welcomed us with open arms. In somewhere like London where I live, people are used to the film industry and get rather blasé about it because there are often film crews around. But Shropshire was great.

Faintheart is a happy, feel-good film, and I met lots of happy, feel-good people while I was there. I'd love to come back and make another film in the West Midlands.

What's next for you as a director?

Well this is my first ever full-length film and it's completely new territory for me. So I'll be involved with this for a while, but I'm also writing a new film called The Show Must Go On.

It's set in a world of talent contests, about people who want to be heroes but don't quite have the talent! It's sort of like the dog show documentary-style film Best in Show, only with humans.

You can buy Faintheart on DVD at Amazon, Play and HMV as well as the major supermarkets.

Watch the trailer on the Official Faintheart Website and see more pictures below.

The lead character Richard, played by Eddie Marsan, who has also appeared in V for Vendetta, I Want Candy and Gangs of New York.

Ewan Bremner, better known to some for his role as Spud in Trainspotting.

Eddie Marsan, pictured filming a scene in Ludlow.

Tim Healy, who played Dennis in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

One of the battle re-enactments filmed at Ludlow Castle.

Extras line up to shoot one of the battle scenes at Ludlow Castle.

Fans gather to watch the filming at Ludlow Castle.