Synopsis

Martin Phillipps' story charts a fascinating, single-minded and singular journey ? from obsessive music collector to cult indie superstar; from three-chord slices of pop-punk delight to visions of grandeur and perfectionism; from the kaleidoscope world of pop to the darker side of drug addiction and Hepatitis C; an ordinary outdoor kiwi childhood, son of a Dunedin minister, to an arrest in 2007 for stealing a pint of banana milk and a pack of batteries?

Alone in Dunedin, struggling with depression and the weight of his own perfectionism, Phillipps is the archetypal New Zealand art hero ? an Icarus who flew too close to the sun. His story might by necessity be one of consolation rather than consolidation; of the splendid failure that guarantees cult status.

Except, there is something more positive to celebrate here. His example today speaks to the constancy of his passion, the persistence of a creative muse in a seemingly indifferent cultural landscape.

And while Martin may be seen as obscure by the mainstream, he is not forgotten. He is revered by important members of the international music scene ? including Michael Stipe/Peter Buck of REM, Frank Black of The Pixies, Alan McGee of Creation Records ? While younger rising stars acknowledge a debt to Martin Phillipps citing him as a musical maverick who helped lead the way to the sounds they are making
today.

In The Guardian newspaper, The Chills were recently cited as an influence on US Top 10 band The Shins; Panda Bear (Animal Collective) and I'm From Barcelona. And Swedish pop has taken to The Chills' sound almost religiously with Peter, Bjorn and John recording 'Chills' off their Writer's Block album in tribute to the magical pop band from New Zealand. Covers and tributes are popping up everywhere, indicating the invisible thread that links Martin Phillipps, the generation and music of 1982 with the up and comers of alternative pop now.

The narrative of Martin's life and career will be revealed by unlocking the rooms ? literal and metaphorical ? in which he creates, performs, or hides. This will open a more universal story, about the high personal cost of artistic ambition, and the problem of making a life in a business that eats its young.

VISUAL STYLE AND AESTHETIC
We would like to initially address a persistent red herring of documentary making ? the canard that it is an un-cinematic form.

In fact, the last decade has seen a surge in popularity for cinematic documentaries, spearheaded by work that has crossed over from festivals.

The inevitable difference between these works and more prosaic ?TV docos? is their narrative construction. Films as diverse as King of Kong, Super Size Me, and even An Inconvenient Truth, all employ dramatic story structure.
The principal appeal of these stories rests on character and theme ? to take a couple of outstandingly successful music documentaries as examples, there is nothing about the cinematic scope of Some Kind of Monster (2004) or Dig! (2005) to separate them from reality TV or
current affairs.

The difference lies in how the film makers approach their subject. It?s the difference between journalism and narrative art. A journalist details a subject. A film-maker focuses on character, conflict and change. The journalist deals in facts. The film-maker deals in emotions.

Subject and facts equals television. Character, conflict, change, and emotion equals cinema.

All of the music oriented documentaries cited in this document work beautifully on both the big screen, DVD and television. Today, wide screen television sets are common in most homes, and make a nonsense of previous formal limitations of the ?box?.

The importance of a theatrical showcase via festivals makes it imperative that this film works as a satisfying cinematic spectacle. To that end, we will shoot HD in a wide screen format.

The film will breathe. It will mix the dark and moody interiors of Martin Phillipps internal world, with the huge skies and landscapes he revels in and draws inspiration from.

The film will be a sinuous weave of past and present.

We?ll flip between intimate verite sequences that take the viewer into the heart of Martin?s contemporary existence, and kaleidoscopic fragments from his thirty year musical history ? a rich archival legacy of stills, video, film, audio recordings and diary entries. Primary sources will be constantly invoked not only as a way of illustrating, but of commenting upon the unfolding narrative.

House With A Hundred Rooms is the mansion of Martin?s psyche. He will give us the key. There will be a long, face to face interview, in which he will provide the narrative voice for the film.

But his account will be both backed up and challenged by a rich gallery of other witnesses ? ex bandmates, friends, enemies, business associates, and hangers on. No narration ? but a chorus of voices stitched together to present the complexity and contradictions of our
subject.

Interviews will be shot imaginatively, with a dynamic range of framing to avoid the deadening sameness encountered in most orthodox TV documentaries.
Martin is mercurial and unpredictable. He is quite childlike and open to experiences as if for the first time (what the French called artiste naif) in that his attention follows his enthusiasm from moment to moment. At one point during the research phase of this project, we accompanied him to the Temple, an old Freemason?s lodge that has now been renovated as a private residence and art gallery. Seeing a grand piano, he forgot all about us, impulsively sat down and began improvising a tune. This was captured ?in the moment?, and has been incorporated in our video promo, giving a good example of how an active contemporary sequence can be used to illustrate his reality today.

The sound of the film will be hugely important. First, and most obviously, there?s the music ? the Chills anthems which seem both more familiar and more strange with every listen. The emotional effect of combining these tunes with pictures and story will be very strong. This can
be further exploited by presenting the songs in less familiar settings ? for instance, Martin performing an unaccompanied version of his best known song Pink Frost is quite spine chilling.

Then there are all the other ways in which sound design can create a powerful emotional effect ? the sounds of wind on the Oamaru plains; the dry creak of timbers in a freezing Dunedin villa; the hum of traffic in downtown Dunedin; the raised voices of a choir in church. Audio will
be a strong underscore or counterpoint to pictures throughout.

STRUCTURE
In outline the film will have a classic story structure. The spine of the story will concentrate on the trajectory of the band that has defined
Martin's life. The First Act will close with the creation of Pink Frost the Chills' first major recording success.
The Second Act will follow the journey of the Chills from kiwi indie darlings, and rocketing promise internationally, to the brink of great
success after the hit Submarine Bells album; then to the muted thud of Soft Bomb, overnight musical redundancy as the pop charts filled with Grunge and an ignominious retreat back to Dunedin.

The Closing Act will detail the heroism of Martin's struggle to survive and continue to make music. Meanwhile, a groundswell of recognition from critics and musical peers and new artists continues to grow,  confirming that the sound dreamed up by the minister's son from Dunedin still reverberates.

MANY ROOMS
The best documentaries are the sum of their questions. The more interesting the questions, the more interesting the answers. There?s no shortage of interesting questions that can be posed in this film. They are the keys to the many doors of Martin's psyche, his House With A
Hundred Rooms, and reflect the poignant reality and lot in life of many musicians the world over. As such, we want these questions to touch and bring the same level of heightened awareness we remember when we first heard Martin Phillipps' songs: Was the parade of musicians through the band the result of failure? Or did the procession of changes Martin brought in make success
impossible?

Is a true band a lightning in the bottle thing impossible to recreate? Were The Chills over after the first major breakup of the band, and has Martin been trying to recapture what was lost ever since?

What are the crucial stages in the evolution of Martin Phillipps and The Chills?

What is expected of the new material by both Martin and those around him? Does he have another great record in him like Alan McGee hopes?

Why does Martin continue to pursue the band? Is a close to 50 year old rock musician still pursuing his youthful dream to be celebrated or mocked? Does success define this?

Did Martin start using drugs to numb himself to the failure of the band or was his drug addiction a cause of that failure?

Did the expectations of the international press inhibit the band or lead Martin to attempt too much? In hindsight do those journalist still believe in their declarations or were the comparisons to The Greats tabloid declarations to sell newspapers? What other bands from that era were meant to be the next thing and what happened to some of them?
What did the world know of New Zealand at the time (mid 80s) and how did the music of the Flying Nun label change this? Could The Chills be said to have had a sizeable cultural impact both in NZ and overseas? (Crowded House and their US success were caught up in the wave of the Australian Crawl of Midnight Oil, Men At Work and INXS; its only after the fact they were acknowledged as kiwi).!!"

What did The Chills mean to overseas and local commentators? What did Martin and The Chills mean locally? What are the differences? What do The Chills and the Flying Nun label mean to musicians now? Is there a gulf between overseas appreciation and recognition at
home?

What made the music so great at the time? Was it the recording technique, the instruments chosen or the content of the music? How was the 'Dunedin Sound' out of step with mainstream music then?

Did the failure of The Chills to break in the US lead to Flying Nun's demise? Do other Flying Nun's begrudge The Chills their notoriety or even lay blame on them? Is it time to set the record straight?

How have the experiences of the Flying Nun's bands flirting with small time success before eventually drowning in the ocean of international expectations and obligations affected contemporary bands? Are NZ bands still as naive as the Flying Nun bands collectively were? A look at the Rock Music MA Graeme Downes runs where Martin's work is annually reviewed and deconstructed by the students.

What does Martin do with his time now? A look at an eccentric collector, musical completist, artist (road kill sculptures and miscellaneous pop art). Martin and his new beliefs - the pentagram ring, the S and B title in every record since 1990. Martin as a Peter Pan figure, etc