THE END OF THE F * * K I NG WORLD | DRAMA
Symmetry can reveal an unspoken emotion between characters, so it’s fun to play with
WHERE THE F**K IS IT SET? If you have watched The End of the F***ing World , you will know that it inhabits a stylised world that is not really fixed in any time or place. There are no road signs placing it anywhere and restaurants, bars and shops aren’t branded. It feels a little American, a little British, a bit seventies, a bit nineties. “It’s kind of everything and nothing, which I think is brilliant because it allows your imagination to kick in a bit,” says Spence. “The first series is set in the sunny southeast of England, somewhere.” But, because of the progression of the storyline, which sees Alyssa and her mother – a little more trimmed and pruned – living in a cafe in the woods with her aunt, the set has moved to a “sort of damp, forested Pennsylvania”. He elaborates: “It was actually shot in Wales and in the
exciting moment.” He continues: “There’s also something quite pleasurable about keeping your eyes in the centre of the frame and letting the cut do the work for you.” Spence also references the graphic novel from which the show evolved and, although the novel ended where the first series did, with James lying on a beach in a pool of his own blood, he lifted visuals from it where he could. “Actually, my favourite shot of the second series was lifted from the comic and it’s this shot of James lying down on the back seat of his car, hugging an urn containing his dad’s ashes. It’s an amazingly sweet moment that’s well acted by Alex Lawther, who plays James, because we are absolutely destroying this kid who wanted to be – well, he thought he was a psychopath in the first series. Now his legs don’t work properly, and his dad is dead.”
garnered the show’s recognition. It is both gloomy and glamorous, but always good- looking and exquisite in its attention to detail. It’s a strong cinematic look, which he describes as “not being a difficult thing to emulate” for the very reason that it is so strong, but he still felt anxious about making sure he got it just right for the second series. He says: “Lucy Forbes, who was the first block director alongside myself, and I spent hours watching and rewatching the first series; studying what they did and looking to see what rules they created. And similarly, we watched a number of films, the key one being Fargo , which was used as a reference for the first series.” Wes Anderson’s precise, symmetrical style was also a big motivator for Spence, who framed every single shot of the series centrally. He explains: “Symmetry can reveal an unspoken emotion between characters, so it’s quite a fun thing to play around with when you’ve got two leads. The first time you see Alyssa and James stood next to each other, for example, that’s an
JANUARY 2020 | DEF I N I T ION 31
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