So here we are, our film has just a few minutes a go been uploaded to the Virgin Media Shorts website, and after plenty of blood, sweat and tears (sometimes all at once) we have a film that we are all very happy with.
The film was created as a project through the Clearhead Academy. The Clearhead Academy is a film school for young aspiring film makers and all of the production team on this short are current interns at Clearhead.
With the intention of developing skills as film makers including leadership, technical and storytelling skills. The Clearhead Academy is the perfect platform to create, develop and execute original ideas under the expertise and guidance of the Clearhead Team.
The shoot was an exciting, yet stressful time, spanning 4 days and using 4 different locations. We had to bring the shooting time forwards because of the availability of our actors, so this meant we had to all act quickly as a team to secure our props, locations and ensure that everything was ready so that it would all run smoothly.
The shooting days were really good fun and a great experience for us all. We had great commitment from all the crew and especially our actors. I can’t say enough just how well our actors all did. Syra Tayler played the young girl in the film and she not only gave a perfectly subtle performance, but she took direction extremely well and even while we had to sit and wait for it to stop raining, she kept smiling and kept us all positive. Jeremy Polychronopoulos and Zarah Lee Lawless played the couple, and they too were a massive help throughout, showing great commitment and dedication, even while they had to act with a pig’s head on a table in front of them. The effort that they put into the film, right from the beginning, really encouraged us all as a group.
Once we wrapped filming we then had the daunting prospect of editing it all together. The following week and a half then consisted of various different cuts of the film, special effects being created, colour grading, music composition and many hours of hard work from all the team to ensure that we had a film that we were all completely happy with. What will happen in the competition from now on we don’t know, that is out of our hands, but we are all proud of what we have produced, and we hope that you like it too!
If you would like to apply to be a part of the next Academy short film then get in touch by clicking here.
Simon Wade
