After sweeping the 2023 ATVAs with The Ballad of the Indispensable Walnut Man, the McQuaid twins are back for the 2024 awards with the third – and potentially final – addition in the Nut saga: Ginger Nut.
The boys acknowledged that the pressure was on this time. After delivering such a successful stop-motion animation last year, they decided to stretch their skills to the max with this year’s project. So, Ginger Nut, a 20-minute-long period drama thriller, was born. So, no it’s not a film about the McVities biscuit.
However, Nathan told Brig that Ginger Nut didn’t start off like that: “We came up with the title before we had anything else which was probably a mistake. We spent ages trying to think of anything that could work with the title. It’s gone through quite a few iterations.”
Ben continued: “The first draft we wrote of this was very different. It was about a ned gang war, but very early on we changed it. Then, we kept changing it. But, we knew we had to think of something because we had already teased it in The Walnut Man. If we don’t do it, then… [Brig: “Expectations had to be met?”] Yeah, exactly. So, it went through various different script changes.”
The final product, however, is something the boys are more than happy with. Nathan explained the premise behind the film, before it premieres at the ATVAs: “It’s set in the 1980s, which was the first major challenge for us.
“It’s inspired by the concept of The Manchurian Candidate, the 1950s book by Richard Condon which John Frankenheimer made into a film in the 60s.
“The idea of a programmed assassin which, when we read about it, thought it was such an interesting thought. We’ve added a Frankenstein’s monster spin to the concept.”
The McQuaids explained the process of creating what is their biggest 2 Muggers Productions project to date. With a 20-page script and a vast cast with many extras, the twins had their work cut out for them.
Additionally, Ginger Nut was their first experience filming in public, meaning a few familiar sights can be seen in the film, including the Settle Inn which happens to be their Dad’s favourite Stirling pub. Ben told Brig what that experience was like:
“Filming in public and having to ask permission to shoot in places was a big goal for us. Most of our stuff had been on uni grounds. We thought ‘if we can do this, we are really pushing ourselves.’”
Costuming and casting were two other areas of difficulty. Matthew Crawdord Russell, as well as starring as Professor McGowan, was able to provide some pieces for characters to wear. Others had to be sourced on eBay, and (unsuccessfully) rid of unfortunate pongs before wearing. However, some elements of the film were hand-crafted.
Nathan said: “We made two brain moulds of latex. We painted them orange and pink, and they were a pain to make. A lot of our attempts failed, but we eventually got it right.
“After that, we made a paper mache head and built a paper lid for it. We painted it and then attached a wig.”
Their efforts didn’t go to waste either: the effects, along with the rest of the film, looked fantastic. The efforts of the cast, too, cannot go unnoticed especially since the twins put a lot of effort into their casting choices, as Ben said: “First of all, we knew a lot of people that we wanted to be in it straight away, but we were aware most of them were busy graduates with jobs. We realised that, with a 20-page script, being in the film was a commitment.
“The first people we knew we wanted in it were Henry Swindells and Calum Cownie. They’ve very much became staples in our films now.
“We knew that A) They would play great military officers and B) They’d have more fun getting to wear those costumes, and C) We could get those characters and those scenes done in one day.
“We also knew we wanted to cast Matthew Crawford Russell, who we met on the crew for Freya and Lea’s Elf films. We’ve since worked with him a few times for animated films.
“He’s probably the best actor around. That role was written with him in mind.”
Nathan chimed in: “He was the person we officially casted first, too. He’s pretty much been the lynchpin of the film.
“Other people, like Ian who’s been in the full trilogy… we knew wanted him. He also wanted Paul.”
Ben then explained the difficult of casting the lead: “It [the Ginger Nut] is a very different sort of character. It’s a mysterious role but we also wanted the audience to feel sympathetic. So, we did something we’d never done before, which is cast someone from SUDS (Stirling Uni Drama Society). Usually, we exclusively cast our AirTV friends so we thought we will cast someone from SUDS who we had never spoken to: Calum Edwards.
“It was a very unique experience for us. We wanted this guy to be shrouded in mystery so casting someone we didn’t know hopefully meant the audience would feel like they never knew him either. There was no prior established chemistry between us, which gave it that different feel. And, we think he done a great job in the role.”
The Ginger Nut is another passion project from the twins. With a score curated by their brother, Matthew, inspired by Taxi Driver, A Clockwork Orange, and La Strada, the film has a wonderful originality that rings true to the philosophy of student filmmaking: fun creativity. Speaking of, the twins had a particularly large amount of fun including some of the Film and Media faculty in a moment of The Ginger Nut that gave Brig some credit, too.
The twins told Brig to expect some further wackiness next year (Nathan: “We may even do a musical”), however, the 2024 ATVA audience will surely be in for a treat especially if Ginger Nut proves to be as big of a success as The Walnut Man.
Tickets for the ATVAs on May 8 are available to buy here. To read more on this year’s ATVA entrants visit brignews.com.
Feature image credit: Daniel Fury
Editor-in-Chief.
Twitter/X and BlueSky: @AlexPaterson01
