THE SILENT PEOPLE FILM

The idea for THE SILENT PEOPLE film emerged from the trilogy at the heart of the album. Inspired by the lyric, "the ghost inside of me and the ghost inside of you", John began exploring the notion of a parallel existence. A world where a love that never found its place in reality might continue somewhere else. A ghost life. A ghost family. A different story unfolding beyond the limitations of the real world.

From that idea grew the visual concept for the film.

John imagined a circle of silent figures surrounding the performers as they played, observing, filming and becoming part of the story themselves. At the centre would be John, Ash and Veri. Around them would be The Silent People. Masks, stroboscopic lighting and an increasingly dreamlike atmosphere would build towards the film's final sequence.

Universal Hall became the location, with Glyn securing the venue and organising lighting support from Brian. James kindly stepped behind the camera to film the project, while John designed and hand-painted every mask used throughout the production. He also revisited the music itself, remixing THE SILENT PEOPLE and incorporating elements of STILL LIFE and the choral finale from IN THE BEGINNING to further connect the film to the trilogy.

One of the biggest challenges was finding enough extras at short notice. With numbers falling short just before filming, neighbours, friends and even customers from the café beside Universal Hall stepped forward to become what we affectionately named The Silent People Extras.

The entire production was filmed in a single day.

Edited by John using DaVinci Resolve for the first time, with technical support from Edd, the finished film stands as a reminder of what can happen when imagination, determination and community come together to bring an idea to life.