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FEATURE IN FOCUS
BACKON
THESTREETS
GROWINGUPINTOADULTHOOD
“IT MADE IT KIND OF EASIER BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN THERE AND DONE IT BEFORE...”
wo years after Kidulthood Tcomes the streetwise sequel, Adulthood, actually set some
six years on from the award-
winning original film. Writer- actor Noel Clarke and producer George Isaac came up with the idea of making a sequel after a throw- away comment by actress Red Madrell, who plays Alisa in both films. Mobbed by a bunch of West London teenagers, wanting to know what happens to one of the charac- ters, she said: “You’ll have to wait and find out in the sequel.’”
Relaying the story to producer Isaac over breakfast the next day, once they’d stopped laughing about what had happened, the team started throwing ideas back and forth and Clarke went home and wrote the first draft of the screen- play for Adulthood in seven days.
“I think we wanted to finish off what we had started,” explains Isaac. “The film was a voyeuristic piece set over a day and because we had so many characters and stories, it was a good way to resolve the story and complete the characters’ journey from where they started in the first film”.
Clarke had created and written Kidulthood and played the part of bad boy Sam Peel, but this time it was decided that he would also take the helm as director.
Says producer Damian Jones: “The decision for Noel to direct as well was a combined choice. At the initial idea stage, myself and George both thought that he should and the financers thought it was a very exciting prospect. Noel was always the brand of the first one, and he’s been fantastic.”
Also joining Clarke from the first film are actors Adam Deacon, Femi Oyeniran, Cornell S. John and Madeleine Fairley along with new- comers Scarlett Alice Johnson, Jacob Anderson, Shanika Warren- Markland, Nathan Constance, Don Klass and Arnold Oceng as well as English rapper Ben ‘Plan B’ Drew.
Brian Tufano BSC once again took on the role of DP, following his collaboration with the team on Kidulthood. “Brian’s experience is just invaluable” says Jones, “it’s ironic that he’s been doing iconic youth movies from the 70s onwards from Quadrophenia to Trainspotting, Kidulthood, and now Adulthood and if you chuck in Billy Elliot it’s quite an interesting mix”.
Jones also says that being a veteran, Tufano’s added value was in his ability to think ahead for the post-production on the movie with regard to angles: “Noel is a first time director and despite being very confident and very accom- plished, that helped. They work ex- tremely well together”.
“It made it kind of easier be- cause we’ve been there and done it before” notes Isaac, “we’re revisiting the locations that we used the first time round (all West London loca- tions) and we have a lot of returning heads of departments. It’s felt like an easier journey just because we knew a little bit more of what we were em- barking on”.
Adulthood was originated on 16mm Fujicolor ETERNA 250T 8653
36 • EXPOSURE • THE MAGAZINE • FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE
Photo main: Noel Clarke as Sam Peel;
above left: Brian Tufano BS, also pictured above far right with Clarke; above: various scenes from Adulthood