'Son of Rambow' feature

Time Out gains an exclusive insight into Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith's nostalgia-tinged follow-up to 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'

Where are you shooting?

A lot of it happens in and around a school at the top of a hill in Berkhamstead. The corridors are freakishly big, so it’s how I remember it.

What will the children’s video footage look like?

They are shooting on a classic early JVC – the kind that was laughably called portable even though you were carrying the videoing equipment around in a bag and the camera was a whole separate deal. I remember we thought the battery was amazing because it lasted for a whole half hour! So it will look like original video footage. You’ll see the making of it during the film then towards the end you’ll see what happens to that footage and it’s not just what you saw. It goes through a process so that the final film that they end up with is slightly re-adjusted to right some wrongs.

Have you managed to obtain the rights to genuine ‘First Blood’ footage yet?

I wrote to Sylvester Stallone and he’s approved his stuff being in it. But I think Canal Plus own the rights to the actual film so I’ve got to speak to them tomorrow. It’s not officially signed off yet but apparently they really liked the script and want to help us which is great. It’s just we don’t know how much it’s going to cost us yet and we don’t have a big budget. We’re nearly there but I don’t want to jinx it!

With that, Garth had to head off to a meeting, but before leaving, his enthusiasm boiled over, describing scenes of flying dogs, exploding barns and a dramatic Space dust overdose that should all appear in the film. He also let me rummage through a box full of 1980s badges hidden under his desk and browse through a beautifully illustrated book with hand drawn scenes from the film that yet further whetted my appetite.

And if you’re even half as excited as I am about ‘Son of Rambow’, there’s more good news – the Hammer & Tongs boys want you to get involved! They’ve created a website for people to submit their own illustrations (like the one at the top of this story) inspired by themes from the 1980s, the best of which will be posted online.

Time Out should also have news of a very special, top secret, ‘Son of Rambow’ competition coming soon, and we’ll also be visiting the set and posting info about every aspect of production right up until the film’s release.

For now however, to find out more about ‘Son of Rambow’, and to submit your own illustrations, head over to the official site here, and make sure you check back to The TOMB for our regular updates coming soon.