A new film directed by Jeremy Wooding behind hit Channel 4 comedy Peep Show offers 'a psychedelic rock and roll ride through Norfolk.'
Burning Men is a road movie which follows young musicians Ray (Ed Hayter) and Don (Aki Omoshaybi) as they are evicted from their London flat and steal a rare record and head to Norfolk to sell it so they can fly to Memphis to follow their dreams.
As they drive through the county in their beaten-up Volvo Amazon, picking up hitchhiker Susie (Elinor Crawley) en route, they realise that dark forces surround the vinyl.
The film, which also has scenes in the Northumbrian Moors, is shot mainly in point-of-view (POV) which Jeremy created in the first series of Peep Show starring David Mitchell, Robert Webb and the Oscar award-winning Oliva Colman, who grew up in Norfolk.
Created by Munro Films, in association with Lightbulb Film Distribution, Burning Men is currently touring the UK before general release including a Q&A screening at Cinema City next Thursday March 14 with Jeremy and guitarist Justin Adams who wrote the score.
The film, which also stars Loose Women Denise Welch, has been independently funded and was shot over four weeks in 2017 including six days in Norfolk.
The locations used in the film include The Golden Nugget pub in Great Yarmouth, Elm Beach Caravan Park, Reedham Ferry, Brundall Station and the layby at the junction with Abbey Road on the A148 in Hillington, near King's Lynn.
The cast and crew also spent a day filming in Norwich which included St Andrew's Hall and Circular Sound record shop in St Benedict's Street.
Location Manager Crispin Buxton, who lives in Trunch has worked on films including The Last King of Scotland, Bridget Jones and Mr Bean TV series, said: 'I was approached by one of the executive producers who is a friend of mine who has worked with Jeremy and the idea really interested me as it uses the first person perspective Jeremy devised which creates a totally immersive experience.
'We had the hero car, a couple of minibuses, a mobile production office and three vans and did the journey as it unfolds in the story narrative from London up to Norfolk.
'Jeremy knew this part of the world and has had this project for a number of years and identified most of the places he wanted to shoot so it was my job to follow up.
'It's an original piece and I loved the story and it was great having a small team as it allows for everyone's contribution to be really heartfelt.
'I roll into town with 250 people for a major movie and I will have a relationship with the council and location owner but the vast majority of the cast and crew won't but this project had 25 people on the road.'
READ MORE: The Knights on putting Norwich on the map in Fighting With My FamilyMartin Webb, who has run Circular Sound for the last 22 years, said: 'One of the actors was looking through the records and he pulled out a Fine Young Cannibals single which you can get in every charity shop and in the scene he said 'I'll give you £25' and I shouted 'no, you can't do that' and everyone looked at me.
'I told them you can't have any credibility for this film if you offer that price as it should be 50p so I recommended a King Crimson LP instead which costs £200 if it's an original.'
The project also used drone footage of the car over the A1064 in Caister and B1152 in Clippesby.
Mr Buxton thinks creating this sort of film is just as important as the big budget period pieces as it shows the reality of Norfolk.
He added: 'This film is another example of the staggering variety of locations that this county offers and it is important to me that films of this nature are made in terms of reflecting what Norfolk is.
'We can and have delivered period pieces in locations such as Holkham Hall and the chocolate box village tourist driven vision of Norfolk.
'But Norfolk has so much more to offer and this little rock and roll movie goes to 12 different locations around the community, engages with the public and people at the location.
'Fighting with my Family was fantastic as it is a story about the Knight family who are as far from Holkham Hall as you can get but the sad thing from a production point of view is they only came for two days to Norfolk and spent little money here and didn't employ local people.
'That is the nature of bigger projects but in terms of showing the variety this region has to offer it's brilliant.
'People should come see Burning Men for a psychedelic rock and roll ride through Norfolk and it is an extraordinary and interesting piece of film making.'
Burning Men is released in select cinemas now, with a regional tour across the country. For more information, click here.
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