Archive for August, 2009
Stained Progress
So after spending two weeks in and out of a darkened edit suite at Aquila TV, we are finally making great progress with ‘Stained’. With the cut in good shape and after recently receiving some great feedback from Screen WM and The Film council, we are now fast approaching picture lock.
This means I am now working closely with composer Owen Morris, (the same man who produced Oasis’s album, What’s the Story, Morning Glory?) to produce a delicate score to compliment the films raw and realistic feel. It is such an honor to be working with Owen on ‘Stained’ and so far I have been really impressed by his work on the film!
We are also currently sourcing a sound studio, to complete the sound design for the film. We’ve had an amazing response from a Mandy post put online towards the middle of the month and as soon as Tom has sorted through the applications we should hopefully be underway with the audio by the end of next week. This is really exciting as the sound design will play an integral part in emphasising the feel and mood of this particular piece.
Keeping check back for updates!
Image taken by Gary Burrows.
- Everal Walsh, Frank Harper & Lewis Arnold on set
Solihull College Galaxy Vodcast Online
A new Galaxy FM vodcast with Katie Poulsom and shot for Solihull College has official been launched online this month. The short video shows a different side to the colleges’ varying courses and qualifications, as current students speak openly about their own experiences studying at the College.
Directed and edited whilst I was based at Aquila TV the video’s idea was conceived by Simon Foster of Galaxy and produced by Aquila TV during May 2009.
You can check it out http://www.solihull.ac.uk/video_on_demand-46838.html
No comments‘Stained’ Shooting in Scarborough
So after working on Ronnie Thompson and Colin Butt’s short film ‘Stained’ for just under a year, I have finally just sat back, put my feet up and watched the film in its entirety and I have to say, it was such an overwhelming feeling of joy!
Its been a very long journey to say the least with a series of problems and obstacles laid out in front of us including, script development, securing fiance, more script development, budget concerns, casting issues and a location 5 hours away from anywhere. I think a lot of people doubted if it was all possible, myself included, but it seems all the hard work seems to have paid off as we finally have the film in the can and on the screen.
The shoot itself went extremely well as we had such a fantastic crew surrounding us. Tom, Duncan had planned the three days down to the minute and Andy Tea and myself really mapped out the shooting schedules to the nth degree. Shooting in Scarborough obviously posed its problems, all of which Tom overcame. Cast and Crew alike all stayed together  in University halls, which was surprisingly good fun and helped build the bonds between us all.
Tom had also managed to arrange us reccy dates and set dressing days within the location, the week leading up to the shoot. With time being against us, having our DOP Graeme see the location and being able to walk through all the scenes with him, helped us with our time management during the three days. Graeme is such an amazing talent who has bought so much to this film, we eventually adopted the motto ‘less is more’. We tried to do so much in as few shots as possible, spending time on performance and lighting which has really worked out. We honestly couldn’t have found a better man for the job.
It also helped having the best cast I have ever had the privilege of working with, delivering some of the most dramatic and powerful performances time and time again. It was an honor to be working alongside Ricci, Craig and Frank, they made my job so easy with their incredible talent and wealth of experience. The supporting cast we’re also superb with some of the usual suspects Nick Keith & Alexander Delamere joining the cast and helping us to create some great scenes!
The anticipation alongside my first day nerves subsided when I first saw Ricci and the extras in their costumes standing on the prison landing. These were the images I had been imagining for 11 months and now they where real; I was so excited and eager to crack on. At one point Ronnie had to leave the set as he was so overwhelmed with how real it was all looking on the monitor. I’m really glad we were all able to do justice to the world in which he served for seven years.
It is rare you see a short film have such an A-list cast, shooting on RedOne, at a location 5 hours away from the production office and I have to really take my hat off to Tom Knight who really proved how truly awesome a producer he is!
I’m now awaiting Dan Lawsons feedback on the the first cut before getting some footage up to Owen so he can begin thinking about the score! Exciting times…
Image Taken by Helen Turton.
Stained Wrapped!
New short film ‘Stained’, wrapped filming on Saturday 1st August after a three day shoot within a disused prison in Scarborough.
The film stars Ricci Harnett, Craig Conway and Frank Harper and is written by ex-prison officer Ronnie Thompson and writing partner Colin Butts. Funded by Screen WM and The UK Film Council and produced by Tom Knight the film is now being edited at Aquila TV in Birmingham.
Watch out for the films website to be launched next month with photos, videos and more news!
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