Half the Picture

Half the Picture’s guest this episode is writer-director James Marquand, the man behind the new WW2 action thriller ‘The Partisan’ based on the life and exploits of Krystyna Skarbek. James joined us on the show to chat about the making of the movie, his experiences working with Morgane Polanski, Malcolm McDowell and the rest of the cast and his time spent working on his father’s (Richard Marquand) movies. For all this and more, watch on! #thepartisan #malcolmmcdowell #podcast #halfthepicture Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so you don’t miss any of Billy’s interviews! Note: This interview was recorded on September 17th 2025. Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast Listen to the podcast online... SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp... APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod Billy on Instagram: / billybarnel. . Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 01:30 - James Marquand interview begins 02:14 - Discovering Krystyna Skarbek’s Story 05:07 - Scripting The Partisan 07:47- Krystyna Skarbek’s Life 13:08 - Working with Malcolm McDowell & The Cast 16:14 - Working with Morgane Polanski 19:21- James's Background As A Director 23:14 - Falling Into Filmmaking 24:57 - Outro 'JAMES MARQUAND talks The Partisan, Morgane Polanski & Falling Into Filmmaking' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture’s guest this episode is the legendary Grant Morrison - the award-winning comic book writer behind such classics as Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Invisibles, New X-Men, WE3 and Animal Man. Join us for Part 2 of our conversation with Grant as we dive into their Kathmandu experience in the 1990’s where they were abducted by higher dimensional beings, their strangest fan encounter that took place in Sheffield (Billy’s hometown) and their upcoming Batman/Deadpool comic due out in November! For all this and more, watch on! #grantmorrison #superman #superman2025 #jamesgunn #halfthepicture Also, Billy will be representing the podcast at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival this weekend, where Grant will also be appearing as a guest! Check out the festival's website and Instagram below! LICAF Website: https://www.comicartfestival.com/ LICAF Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lakesinternationalcomics?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so you don’t miss any of Billy’s interviews! Note: This interview was recorded on July 11th 2025. Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast Listen to the podcast online... Listen to the podcast online... SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp7BrhusFCCeBBNyg?si=RhrL53N0RySSNifKZ5v_1g APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/half-the-picture/id1768054211 Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod Half the Picture Twitter/X: @HalfThePicPod Billy on Instagram: / billybarnel. . Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 01:57 - Grant Morrison Interview Continues 03:04 - Grant’s Kathmandu Alien Abduction 16:04 - Grant’s Wildest Fan Encounter 20:09 - Robbie Williams Collaboration 24:10 - Better Man 26:00 - Grant’s Favourite Movie 30:46 - Chaos and Structure In Comic Writing 39:44 - Arkham Asylum’s Legacy 47:15 - Arkham Asylum 2 & Dave McKean 49:09 - Grant's Spider Man Comic w/ Simon Bisley 50:39 - Batman/Deadpool 53:38 - Superhero Fatigue 56:46 - The Unreality of Superheroes 01:00:19 - Outro 'GRANT MORRISON talks New Batman/Deadpool Comic, Alien Abduction & Wildest Fan Encounter (Part 2/2)' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture’s guest this episode is the legendary Grant Morrison - the award-winning comic book writer behind such classics as Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Invisibles, New X-Men, WE3 and Animal Man. Grant joined us primarily to chat about their work on the iconic All-Star Superman that redefined the Man of Steel for the 21st Century and was a major influence on James Gunn’s new Superman film. They also spoke about their friendship with Gunn, writing a Flash film script with Ezra Miller, the taboo-busting magic of comics and why hope and optimism are radical but essential ideas in the world today. For all this and more, watch on! #grantmorrison #superman #superman2025 #jamesgunn #HalfthePicture Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so you don’t miss any of Billy’s interviews! Note: This interview was recorded on July 11th 2025. Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast Listen to the podcast online... Listen to the podcast online... SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp7BrhusFCCeBBNyg?si=RhrL53N0RySSNifKZ5v_1g APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/half-the-picture/id1768054211 Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod Billy on Instagram: / billybarnel. . Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 02:03 - Grant Morrison Interview Begins 03:12 - All-Star Superman 09:08 - Superman Is Not a Symbol of Hope 10:46 – Writing All-Star Superman 14:11 - We3 & Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 15:59 - The Invisibles & The Matrix 19:53 - All-Star Superman’s Timelessness 25:33 - James Gunn’s Superman 28:19 – Scripting The Flash with Ezra Miller 29:36 - Writing Comics vs Screenwriting 33:15 - Consulting with James Gunn 34:53 - Taboo-Busting Comics 41:27 – Working Class Culture in Postwar Britain 48:03 - Supergods and The World Today 56:05 - Hope is Punk Rock 01:00:59 - Outro 'GRANT MORRISON talks Superman, James Gunn & Having Hope in the 21st Century (Part 1/2)' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture’s guest this episode is the legendary Walter Murch — Academy Award-winning editor and sound designer behind such cinematic milestones as The Godfather Trilogy, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now! Walter joined us for a wide-ranging conversation that delved deep into his groundbreaking work with directors including Francis Ford Coppola, his pioneering approach to film editing and sound, and his thoughts on the evolving nature of cutting in the modern age. He also spoke candidly about his directorial debut ‘Return to Oz’, his new projects ‘Suddenly Something Clicked’ and ‘Her Name was Moviola’ as well as offered sage advice for aspiring editors. For all this and more, watch on! #WalterMurch #apocalypsenow #thegodfather #HalfthePicture Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so you don’t miss any of Billy’s interviews! Note: This interview was recorded on October 30th 2024. Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast Listen to the podcast online... Listen to the podcast online... APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp... Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod Billy on Instagram: / billybarnel. . Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QY... Timecodes 0:00 - Intro 01:10 - Mixing The Godfather 05:34 - Editing The Conversation 10:04 - Gene Hackman 17:05 - Apocalypse Now 23:04 - Robert Duvall & Blinking 26:22 - Return to Oz 34:56 - Pitching Return to Oz to Disney 37:24 - The Wizard of Oz & Thomas Edison 41:02 - Male & Female Editors 46:55 - 21st Century Editing 50:42 - Fred Zinnemann & Cutting Julia 56:19 - Suddenly Something Clicked 01:00:13 - Her Name Was Moviola 01:06:03 - Advice to Aspiring Editors 01:11:06 - Editing and AI 01:15:34 - Outro 'WALTER MURCH talks The Godfather, Apocalypse Now & Suddenly Something Clicked' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's guest this episode is director Paul McGuigan, whose brilliant and mercurial talents have been gracing screens, both big and small for over 25 years! Paul joined us primarily to discuss his cult classic British crime film, 'Gangster No.1' featuring barnstorming turns from Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis and a star-making performance by a then unknown Paul Bettany! He also delved into his approach to directing on 'Sherlock', his pioneering use of onscreen text amongst other stylistic flourishes and his films 'The Acid House' and 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.' For all this and more, watch on! #PaulMcGuigan #Gangsterno1 #sherlock #HalfthePicture Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so as not to miss any of Billy's interviews! *Note: This interview was recorded on July 27th 2022. Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast Listen to the podcast online... APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp... Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnel... Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QY... Timecodes 0:00 - Intro 00:45 - Gangster No.1's inception 05:47 - Casting Gangster No.1 15:11 - Working with Malcolm McDowell 17:08 - Paul Bettany's Performance 22:32 - Homosexual subtext in Gangster No.1 29:15 - Deconstructing gangsterism 31:53 - Francis Bacon's influence on Gangster No.1 33:17 - Cinema's influence on gangster culture 35:28 - Bettany & Marsan's Kitchen Scene 44:10 - Lennie Taylor's POV Murder Scene 51:28 - Working with Peter Sova A.S.C. 52:24 - Visual flair in filmmaking 55:13 - Directing Sherlock & Onscreen Text 58:00 - Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool 01:00:32 - Sherlock & Cinematic Transitions 01:02:10 - Critical Response to Gangster No.1 01:05:56 - Working with Steven Spielberg 01:06:47 - Sherlock Holmes in the 21st Century 01:10:25 - Fun and games on the Gangster No.1 set 01:12:40 - Outro 'PAUL MCGUIGAN talks Gangster No.1, Sherlock & Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's guests this episode are Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, popstars extraordinaire and writers/composers of the award-winning musical 'Annette' directed by Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard! Ron and Russell joined us to break down the making of 'Annette' and their close working relationship with Leos Carax as well as their world tour for their latest album 'The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte' which saw them play the biggest venues of their career. They also talked telling stories through music, shared advice for young artists looking to break into film/music and even touched a little on 'X-Crucior', their upcoming movie musical collaboration with John Woo! For all this and more, watch on! #Sparks #Annette #HalfthePicture This October also saw Ron and Russell release the original 2013 recording of the 'Annette' soundtrack, as a limited edition 3LP boxset on the band’s own label Lil’ Beethoven Records. Writing in the sleevenotes of this boxset release Ron and Russell said “Annette was a divisive film, but we feel a great film, and directed with enormous artistic skill by Leos, with a magnificent cast. It was unapologetically a musical. After all, the French had made the greatest film musical of all — apologies to Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen — The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg by Jacques Demy and Michel Legrand. Still, we feel that this earlier version of Annette should be listened to not as the preparatory or demo step toward a filmed version, but rather as a complete and alternative version in itself. We are very proud of it.” Annette - An Opera By Sparks (The Original 2013 Recordings) is available exclusively through Sparks’ store at www.store.allsparks.com, limited to 1,000 copies. Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so as not to miss any of Billy's interviews! *Note: This interview was recorded on March 22nd 2024. Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast Listen to the podcast online... APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp... Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnel... Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QY... Sparks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparks_official?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Timecodes 0:00 - Intro 00:14 - Passion for Cinema 02:00 - Working with Leos Carax 07:10 - The Cast of 'Annette' 12:53 - Storytelling through Music 16:22 - Reactions to 'Annette' 22:23 - The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte Tour 25:26 - Advice for Young Artists 28:38 - 'X-Crucior' 30:19 - The lights cut out! 30:52 - Lyrically Speaking with Ron Mael return? 32:43 - Outro 'SPARKS talk Annette, X Crucior and Share Advice for Young Artists' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's third guest is Jason Reitman, director of such modern classics as Juno, Up in the Air and his latest, Saturday Night: a visceral portrait of the 90 minutes leading up to the birth of the classic late-night comedy show! Jason joined us to chat the length and breadth of his career, ranging from his exuberant debut ‘Thank You for Smoking’, to the life-changing impact of making ‘Juno’, up through the deeply personal journey he undertook making ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ with his father Ivan to working with the iconic J.K. Simmons and exec-producing Damien Chazelle's ‘Whiplash!' For all this and more, watch on! #jasonreitman #saturdaynightmovie #ghostbusters Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so as not to miss any of Billy & Ahmed's interviews! *Note: This interview was recorded on July 27th 2024. Full Episodes: / @halfthepicturepodcast Listen to the podcast online... APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp... Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: / halfthepicpod Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnel... Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QY... Ahmed on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrahmedoali?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Jason on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasonreitman?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Timecodes 0:00 - Intro 00:44 - Thank You for Smoking 04:57 - Directing is reacting 06:07 - Improvisation on set 10:30 - Young Adult 12:31 - Diablo Cody 13:37 - Up in the Air 16:08 - Flawed Protagonists 17:24 - Juno 25:01 - Tully 27:55 - Favourite Scenes 29:44 - Adapting novels to screen 31:53 - Discovering young stars 34:52 - Adam Sandler 38:45 - Maker's Mark in Diablo Cody scripts 40:09 - Eric Steelberg D.O.P. 43:59 - The Front Runner & confident directing 46:36 - Ghostbusters: Afterlife 48:51 - Growing as a filmmaker 51:32 - Jason's favourite directors 55:18 - Exciting upcoming movies 57:10 - Invisible directing 01:00:31 - Using Letterboxd 01:02:20 - Saturday Night 01:05:08 - J.K. Simmons & producing Whiplash 01:06:56 - Outro 'JASON REITMAN talks Juno, Ghostbusters & Saturday Night' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's second guest is Tristan Oliver BSC, cinematographer extraordinaire and arguably the leading DOP working in stop-motion animation today! Tristan joined us to chat about his experiences working with Wes Anderson on Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs, making his start as an actor before switching to cinematography, shooting the iconic train chase in The Wrong Trousers and having lunch with the legendary Jack Cardiff, as well as to share advice for aspiring animator/cinematographers! For all this and more, watch on! #wesanderson #isleofdogs #wallaceandgromit #aardman Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so as not to miss any of Billy's interviews! *Note: This interview was recorded on July 20th 2022. Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/@HalfThePicturePodcast?si=4voOUGPn1WEE6fYY Listen to the podcast online... APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/half-the-picture/id1768054211 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp7BrhusFCCeBBNyg?si=k-TB_l39SFa5u-zyC3pCFw Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halfthepicpod/ Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnell96?igsh=MWk0aW5yeHZ4dTVpYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QYyJcwx8wDDu_oVNj9MXQ Tristan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tristanoliverbsc?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== Huge thanks as well to Nazifa for designing our new logo! Check out her work here: https://www.instagram.com/logo_designsby.n?igsh=bDNubjRhNDkxOWxt Timecodes 0:00 - Intro 03:24 - Working with Aardman 08:15 - Stop Motion vs Live Action 12:54 - Maintaining Your Passion 15:42 - Fantastic Mr. Fox 18:03 - Working with Wes Anderson 24:08 - Robert Yeoman 25:49 - Isle of Dogs 31:21 - Wes' Remote Directing 33:10 - Multi-Tasking On Set 34:49 - The Dog Flu Injection Shot 40:19 - Puppets 42:46 - Rewatching Old Work 45:40 - Meeting Jack Cardiff 47:38 - What Makes a Good Director? 49:40 - Advice for Aspiring Animators/DOP's 55:31 - Outro 'TRISTAN OLIVER talks working with Wes Anderson and Shooting Fantastic Mr Fox & Isle of Dogs' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.

Half the Picture's first guest is Brendan McCarthy, Mad Max: Fury Road's brilliantly inventive co-writer and visual designer! Brendan joined us to for an in-depth chat covering all things Fury Road, from his experiences working closely with George Miller in pre-production on the scripting and storyboarding to Splendid's original (and much more hardcore) death scene that was cut from the film. He also delved into the original ending he and Miller had planned and even teased the upcoming and eagerly anticipated 'Furiosa!' For all this and more, watch on! #madmax #furyroad #furiosa #georgemiller #HalfthePicturePodcast Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the channel so as not to miss any of Billy's interviews! *Note: This interview was recorded on July 7th 2022. Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/@HalfThePicturePodcast?si=4voOUGPn1WEE6fYY Listen to the podcast online... APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/half-the-picture/id1768054211 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/7btEvvp7BrhusFCCeBBNyg?si=k-TB_l39SFa5u-zyC3pCFw Follow us online! Half the Picture Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halfthepicpod/ Billy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billybarnell96?igsh=MWk0aW5yeHZ4dTVpYg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Billy on Twitter: https://x.com/billybarnell?s=21&t=3QYyJcwx8wDDu_oVNj9MXQ Brendan on Twitter: https://x.com/MysticMcCarthy Peter Pound's Website: https://www.peterpound.com.au/ Timecodes 0:00 - Intro 01:07 - Mad Max 2 impact 02:40 - “Whatever happened to Mad Max?” 04:15 - The Dawn of CGI 06:13 - Pitching Fury Road to George Miller 09:28 - Working with Miller 11:38 - Seeing Fury Road the first time 12:56 - Playing in George Miller’s sandbox 15:29 - Unmade George Miller animated film ‘Fur Brigade’ 18:30 - The scripting process + a Great Mad Max movie 21:12 - Cameron/Miller/Spielberg 22:53 - CGI vs. Practical Action 24:05 - Fury Road’s action storytelling 28:49 - Marvel + boring action movies 30:16 - Casting Tom Hardy 32:19 - Visiting Fury Road set 34:00 - Inventing Fury Road characters 35:06 - Splendid's Original Death Scene 39:05 - Fury Road’s Original Ending 44:30 - Furiosa’s backstory + genre cinema 47:52 - Furiosa Prequel 49:32 - Fury Road's Legacy 51:43 - Designing The Doof Warrior 53:24 - S&M Costume Design 55:15 - Designing the War Boys 58:23 - Fury Road Premiere + Mel Gibson 01:00:21 - Outro 'BRENDAN MCCARTHY talks writing Mad Max, George Miller, & Fury Road's Original Ending' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.