Il Sonnambulo- a bit horrifying, a tad funny and very disturbing…
Created by Hannah Rath and Douglas Rath , this series is about Atticus Hurst – fêted photographer, notorious provocateur – who is in London chasing down his one and only muse, the serial-killing Il Sonnambulo. Charming the charmed and doing as he pleases, Atticus is beholden to no one except his own glittering, scandalous legacy.
This renegade photographer also happens to be the foremost authority on the phenomenon of Il Sonnambulo, a killer of almost mythical proportion who has terrorized Europe for decades. What separates him from folklore however, are the very real horror-show crime scenes cropping up all over London, scarring the collective consciousness of the civilized world.
Although Il Sonnambulo is a fictional character, did you draw on the characteristics of any real serial killers when creating his character?
We drew on more generalized ideas of darkness, mythology and the legends/folklore created when people find certain things frightening. It’s more interesting for us to explore what people do in extreme circumstances, when they’re up against something horrific or challenging, than fetishize the villain. The series takes a look at the human impact of a serial killer and the kind of society/culture that elevates a killer to celebrity status, and the role we all play in perpetuating that celebrity.
As a content creator, where do you go to find information about other film makers and web series?
We are huge fans of film and television and tend to seek out everything and anything to find entertainment or inspiration, from Netflix to weird viral stuff.
Why should people watch your series?
To meander into a world other than your own, a place where subversion and horror thrive.
What is your favourite thing about making web series?
It was excellent to have total autonomy and creative control over what we were doing; we weren’t really restrained and I think that’s allowed it to resonate with audiences. It was paradise not having to listen to people telling us to reign back the darkness, or add in a meaningless stunt, or dumb it down.
What’s your background as a content creator? And how did you approach this project differently to previous projects?
Both of us write, direct, edit, produce (not necessarily in that order!) and have been involved in many facets of the industry. As 100% owners of this project we approached it in a fairly full-throttle, guns blazing way – which meant we were able to bring it from inception to completion in a very short space of time. That was definitely different to previous projects where you may be working on someone else’s schedule and need to allow a lot of time for collaborators to weigh in.
Il Sonnambulo on the web:
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