2. Pete Townshend
• Background Information:
• Pete was born on the 19th May 1945, he studied graphic design at
Ealing Art College, but dropped out in 1964 to focus on music full
time.
• Who is Pete Townshend?
• Pete Townshend was the leader, guitarist, secondary lead vocalist,
and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential
rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. As well as being well known for
music, he has also written the screenplay for the film
Quadrophenia, this movie is about growing up around mods and
rockers in Brighton and the challenges that people had to face in
this time. The film is named after one of the Who’s albums,
released in 1973.
• Rotten Tomatoes describes the film as “An angst-ridden London
youth, Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels) escapes the drudgery of his
postal job as a member of the Mods, a sharply dressed gang
constantly at odds with their rivals, the Rockers. When the Mods
and Rockers clash in the coastal town of Brighton, England, it leads
to both trouble and an encounter with the lovely Steph (Leslie Ash).
Returning to London, Jimmy, who aspires to be like Mod leader Ace
Face (Sting), becomes even more disillusioned and longs to return
to Brighton.” Pete Townshend said that the film and the album
were based on a “true-life tragedy of a mod committing suicide off
the tip of beachy head”
• Their beliefs:
• Pete Townshend believes that at one point in his life he was
pansexual, he has previously opened up about sexual encounters
with both men and women in the past.
• In a 1979 interview, Pete Townshend recalled how he was
influenced by the Rolling stones, he thinks that punk rock was
inspired by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. He states “The Stones
really affected me, very, very deeply, their wildness on the stage,
the fact they didn’t wear uniforms. This kind of thing was very just
outrageous, you know.”
3. Pete Townshend
• Their work:
• Pete Townshend is an English musician,
singer and songwriter. He was part of a rock
band formed in 1964 called The Who, they
were a huge inspiration to mod culture and
its rise to fame.
• This is important for me because anyone who
is a mod knows this band, so it will most
likely be brought up in an interview.
• Pete was so influential in this era that he was
also part of Ringo Starr's band named 'Ringo
Starr & his all-Starr band’
• Why they are important to me:
• Pete Townshend not only wrote the film
‘Quadrophenia’ but he also created an album
to go with it, which was used as the
soundtrack. He is an inspiration towards my
project as he has also created a mod based
film with songs related to the mod
subculture, I even plan to use some of these
songs in my own project.
4. Don Letts
• Background Information:
• Don Letts was born on the 10th January 1956 and went to
Tenison's school in Kennington. From 1975 he owned a London
clothing store named Acme Attractions.
• Who is Don Letts?
• Don Letts first became popular in the 1970s. “He was the link
between punk and reggae scenes, playing heavy dub records to
members of bands such as The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The
slits. He later went on to become a renowned documentary
filmmaker, not to mention part of the Grammy – Winning group
Big Audio Dynamite.” He was part of this group from 1985 to
1989 when the website began to decrease in popularity and was
disbanded.
• Don Letts is known for turning a whole generation of punks onto
reggae “It was whilst as a D.J. at the first punk club 'The Roxy' in
1977, that made his first film 'The Punk Rock Movie' w/ Sex
Pistols-The Clash and many others. This led to a period directing
over 300 music videos for a diverse mix of artists ranging from
Public Image to Bob Marley.”
• Many people think that Don Letts had a huge positive impact on
reggae and mod culture in the 70s, Forbes states that “Don has
seen a lot of cultural trends come and go and has been a key
influencer during many of them.”
• Their Beliefs:
• Don believes that Punk was a refuge from racism, he believes
that it was a great time to protest against racism as bands were
bringing people together, In an interview, he says “The clash was
doing rock against racism concerts”.
5. Don Letts
• Their work:
• Don Letts is a notable name for a number
of reasons, as he has worked in a few
different mediums. He started by focusing
on film, he was credited in 'Two Sevens
Clash', ' Punk: Attitude' and 'Dancehall
Queen'. After this, he wrote a book titled
'There And Black Again' focusing on
growing up being black in London, and the
struggles that come with it. Don has also
worked as a radio presenter and still does
to this day. He was also a DJ in the mid 80s.
• Why they are important to me:
• Don Letts has created a number of
documentaries that have been widely
popular and even looked back on in the
future, they are all very informative and tell
a different side to the story of which we
hear commonly. His interviews give the
viewers an insight to a much more personal
experience of what his documentary is
based on.
6. Julien Temple
• Background Information:
• Julien Temple was born on 26th November 1953, he studied at
Kings College in Cambridge, National Film And Television School and
St Marylebone Grammar School.
• Who is Julien Temple?
• Julien Temple is an English film, documentary, and music video
director, he started his career by making short films featuring bands
such as the Sex Pistols, a mod-inspired group. From 1977 to 2020,
Julien Temple made 14 films, 30 documentaries, and over 100
music videos. Temple’s first notable video recognized within the
mod subculture is when he was a student “living in a squat in west
London”. He came across four men singing a cover of a Small Faces
song (Small faces were a mod band in the 70s). Even before they
played their first gig Temple Knew he had seen “the future” and
began to record them. ‘The Great Rock n Roll Swindle’ released in
1980, was the first film Temple made about the Sex Pistols. 20 years
later, he made a film about the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols from
their perspective.
• Their beliefs:
• In an interview with the guardian, Julien Temple was asked about
his first film “absolute beginners” he discusses how this film has
had an impact on him to this day, he states that “it’s been an
albatross around my neck since I began making films. It’s still
difficult for me to get funding because of it. I had to leave the UK.
Scorsese helped me get a green card actually. I couldn’t get work
here.” he even went as far as to say “ I was very much the one
who’d been blamed for destroying the British film industry.”
7. Julien Temple
• Their work:
Julien Temple began his career with a
short film called 'The Filth And The
Fury' which was about the Sex Pistols
and how they rose to fame, afterwards
he made 'The great Rock n Roll
Swindle' which was also about the sex
pistols. He then made 'Absolute
Beginners' (featuring David Bowie) a
film about a young photographer
falling in love. He also made a popular
documentary on the music festival
Glastonbury.
• Why they are important to me:
• Julien Temple is one of few
filmmakers who have focused on
the mod subculture and taken the
time to inform people on the
specific aspects that are not so
commonly seen, for example the
type of people who are involved
with supporting these bands, and
even how the bands react to the
rise of fame.
8. Chris Green
• Background Information:
• Chris Green is a 45-year-old writer, director and film producer
born in Salford.
• Who is Chris Green?
• Chris Green is a film director born in Salford, he directed a film
titled ‘The Pebble And The Boy’ – released in 2021. This film is
based on mod culture. The story follows a boy from
Manchester going on a journey to Brighton on a Lambretta
Scooter left to him by his dad, Brighton is commonly
associated with the mod subculture.
• “He is the writer/and or director on a number of independent
films including The Caravan featuring Shirley Henderson,
Strangeways Here We Come, Me, Myself & Di and his latest
film, the Mod and Paul Weller inspired road movie The Pebble
& the Boy is scheduled for release in the summer of 2021.
Chris has also written for Hollyoaks and GQ Magazine. His new
film Thick as Thieves, set at the height of Britpop is scheduled
to go into production in Sept 2021.”
• Their beliefs:
• There is an interview with Chris that covers some interesting
points, such as capturing certain aspects in film, which is
known to be a struggle, in this instance, Chris was asked “As
the writer and director and a lover of the Mod scene is it
difficult capturing the essence of the scene on film?” He
answered with “Yep! I guess I’m a ‘second generation Mod’ so
the film reflects what I know and experienced, which is very
different from what went on in the ’60s. And as the film is set
in the modern-day it is a bit tricky to capture the excitement of
the Mod movement as a subculture. But I think we’ve managed to
blend the old and the new…hopefully!”
9. Chris Green
• Their work:
• Chris Green has directed a number of films in the
past decade, his first was called 'Desperate
Measures' (2011) a film about a man who was
kidnapped and forced to become clean from
drugs. After this he made 'Best Laid Plans (2012)
which is about the relationship between a thug
and a man with the mental age of seven. A few
years later he made 'Pretty' (2017) a film about a
girl trying to cover up her insecurities as she
grows up. His most recent film is Called 'The
Pebble And The Boy' (2021) a mod inspired film
about a child following his dads legacy.
• Why they are important to me:
• This film is perfect for finding out details about
mods, this film shows what they would wear and
even how it was styled. It’s a great insight into the
music that mods would listen to, and songs that
have stayed popular to this day among the mods,
there was a big focus on the scooters and how
they were styled at the time, with all the mirrors
on, this is a very memorable aspect of the time
when mods were popular.
10. Bibliography
• Slide 2 - Lynsey Ford. (13/08/2019). Mods and sods – Remembering
Quadrophenia at 40. Available: Mods and sods – Remembering Quadrophenia
at 40Last accessed 09/01/22.
• Slide 2 - Rotten Tomatoes. (N/A). Quadrophenia - Rotten Tomatoes. Available:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/quadrophenia. Last accessed 09/01/22
• Slide 2 - Rafael Polcaro. (2021). What is Pete Townshend’s opinion on Punk
Rock music. Available: What is Pete Townshend's opinion on Punk Rock music/.
Last accessed 11/02/22.
• Slide 3 - Wikipedia. (2022). Big Audio Dynamite. Available: Big Audio Dynamite.
Last accessed 09/01/22.
• Slide 3 - Don Letts. (N/A). Don Letts - The Rebel Dread. Available: Bio |
donletts. Last accessed 10/01/22.
• Slide 3 - James Mcmahon. (2020). Don Letts: ‘Punk was a refuge from
racism’. Available: Don Letts: ‘Punk was a refuge from racism’ | Life and .... Last
accessed 11/02/22.
• Slide 4 - Olivia Marks. (2016). The VICE Interview: Julien Temple. Available: The
VICE Interview: Julien Temple. Last accessed 10/01/22.
• Slide 4 - Tim Lewis. (2020). Julien Temple: 'People who are considered difficult
are very rich subjects for a film'. Available: Julien Temple: 'People who are
considered difficult are .... Last accessed 16/02/22.
• Slide 5 - Simon Smedley. (2021). Award-winner Chris wants the North to truly
make its mark in the film-making business. Available: Oldham News | Main
News | Award-winner Chris wants the .... Last accessed 02/03/2022.
• Slide 5 - N/A. (N/A). THE PEBBLE AND THE BOY EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH CHRIS GREEN. Available: SUIT YOURSELF MODERNISTS : THE
PEBBLE AND THE BOY. Last accessed 02/03/2022.
•
Bibliography
11. Context Statement
• I am going to make a documentary based on mods for my Final Major Project, as I have grown up I have been introduced
more and more to the culture and different aspects of it, so naturally it is something that I am interested in and have a bit
of knowledge about. Furthermore my grandparents live in Margate, which is a very well known spot for mods and it plays
a huge part in the history and how mods rose to fame, so with this in mind, I could very easily visit and get some footage
and show a side by side comparison of how it looks today as opposed to how it did in the 1960s. This is also a great time
for me to get an interview because my grandparents lived there at the time, so they will have some first hand experiences
of life at the time.
• My inspirations for this project are people who have chosen to focus on the mod subculture in their work, and have
become popular because of it. For example – Pete Townshend was already an icon in the scene, and is popular among
most of the mods, not only did he make legendary music which will always be renowned with mods, he also created a film
that is based on mods, and spoken very highly of among people in the subculture. Julien Temple is important as well, he
created documentaries about the mods and rockers, because of this thousands of people have been given an insight into
the lifestyle that people had at this time, and without these documentaries the detail we get to see it in would not be so
clear. The final inspiration I had that I included in my research was Chris Green, a filmmaker who has recently made a film
which contains a lot of mod scenes and references, I think that this is important because it shows that people are still
interested in seeing media based on this time.
• Completing this project will be something that I put a lot of time and effort into as I am interested in the subject, going
over information that I know and learning even more is something that I will continue to enjoy doing, and being able to
visit Margate will be nice for me, therefore I am feeling good about putting a lot of my time into this project.
