The latest virtual reality event to be in situ at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre is a nostalgic trip back to 2006 – as experienced by a north Walian teenager. Whether that sounds like ancient history or five minutes ago to you, an immersive time is in the offing, with English and Welsh narration from Callum Scott-Howells and Steffan Donnelly respectively. Amy Ford spoke to co-director Tom Chetwode-Barton about the Haunts project.
Haunts is delving into the subconscious minds of millennials living in rural communities in Wales in the 2000s – the journey of a young queer boy discovering his sexuality, the party scene and the magic of north Wales, whilst also lamenting what it’s like to be a teenager in a rural place. A lot of inspiration was taken from early television, media like Skins, even things like CBBC. Lynchian things as well – it’s intended to be very surreal and strange.
Working with the Wales Millennium Centre has been amazing. They’ve given us as much creative freedom as we wanted to do whatever we wanted. The National Library Of Wales provided an incredible catalogue of media – it was amazing going through Wales’ media history, and interweaving that with the project.
I’ve learned so much about VR through this process, having never made a VR film before. Judy and Andy at [Wakefield-based VR studio] Dreaming Methods are incredibly skilled at what they do, and have been amazing sounding boards for story ideas and visual techniques.
After experiencing Haunts, I’m hoping that people will feel sad… in a good way. You know, sad for the past. Because I do think that there is always an element of melancholy to nostalgia. We’ve really tried to capture that in the film without being depressing. I do think people want to feel a certain sense of sort of melancholy, but that kind of melancholy that you enjoy feeling. The kind that’s almost pleasurable.
Nostalgia is a huge part of pop culture at the moment; often it delves into mainstream things everyone knows, but I think nostalgia for different groups of people is different, especially when it comes to class and where you grew up. Rarely do we share stories of working-class people in remote areas; it’s important, when we talk about queer or even Welsh representation, that it includes, underrepresented parts of the country, and underrepresented classes.
The early 2000s is one of the most significant periods of time we’ve had so far, in terms of human history and culture and technology making massive leaps. It was a weird time – we had access to all this stuff that was unprecedented, and there were no ethics, so the internet was kind of a no-man’s land really. Lucy [Hammond, Tom’s co-director] and I were both children and teenagers around then.
One thing that was healthier for us in the early 2000s was the fact we had less access to screens. I guess maybe that’s a bit of a cliche thing to say, but it was definitely a good thing. I don’t know if there’s anything specific that needs to be brought back… I mean, I think nostalgia is a good thing, but I think we should always be moving forwards. Not to negate the premise of the question, but the past is a foreign country. Leave the past where it is, you know.
Haunts, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sun 1 Mar-Sun 12 Apr.
Admission: FREE. Info: here
words AMY FORD
