Why we need you…
Firstly we want you to spread the word and enjoy the finished film.
Secondly to make this film a reality we need a budget. So far we have been fortunate in securing some financial backing through the very generous assistance of London based production company Content is King. However to make this film we need your support to reach our target budget.
Our great crew are all working for free, however filmmaking is not cheap, and although we’ve cut everywhere we can, there are some expenses that we can’t escape.
Your help will be going towards...
Location Costs
Actresses Fee
Camera Equipment
Lighting Equipment
Underwater Filming
Accommodation
Travel and sustenance
Musical Score
Post-Production / Visual effects
Pulpit Rock looms over Catherine. Something is going to have to change.
In the Shadow of Eli is a 20-minute psychological thriller set against the dramatic backdrop of a secluded coastal cove. Here lies Catherine’s world; a tranquil haven filled with inner torment.
Set in 1919, the story focuses ontwo sisters who have drifted apart through circumstances out of their control, but who nevertheless have facilitated this fraction. Catherine lives alone in a remote coastal shack, a shack overshadowed by Pulpit Rock, the place where her son has recently died. Beth and her newly born son are her only living family, but Beth has not been seen since Eli’s death. The burden of her guilt has been too strong to face confronting her sister. It is now Eli’s would-be birthday and Catherine has reached the point of no return. Confronted with the dilemma of how to resolve the conflict with her sister, she needs to bring Beth back into her life, but what is guaranteed to bring her back to Pulpit Rock? After living in the shadow of Eli for so long, something will have to replace Catherine’s loss.
Our approach to film making is that every shot must tell a story, and we want to capitalise on this to allow the serenity of the environment to clash with the tension of character orientated drama.
We are a young, energetic and professional team with a hunger for filmmaking.
As a Writer / Director / Cinematographer duo (Hamish and Tom) our work has been screened at numerous film festivals; from Exposures in Manchester to VideoDanzaBa in Buenos Aires and even airings on Austrian Television. Together our crew has won 2 Royal Television Society awards, along with 2 other nominations. We both work at Production Company Content Is King, which means we have a wealth of industry experience, from Director of Photography credits on TV commercials to lead creative roles on national marketing campaigns.
We may be young but our team is tried and tested. With directors like Gareth Edwards heading off to Mexico with a couple of actors and a camera and coming back with a Blockbuster competing film like Monsters, it is becoming more and more evident that you don’t have to be in Hollywood or Pinewood to create a cinema quality production. We have the people and the skills and are desperate to get going.
Small crew. Small cast. One location.
Living and working at the location for just under a week, we want to be able to live and breathe the film 24/7, allowing an organic development of the production. Of course everything is meticulously planned, yet we believe in addition to working through the schedule, that spontaneity is crucial. Responding to the immediacy of an environment often leads to those magic moments you could never have planned. Having a small crew on site ensures this intimacy and readiness.
As a Writer/Director duo from a cinematography background, when working together we co-shoot and co-direct, this may sound odd – but it works for us. In theory this would mean alternating roles between directing and camera operating, but in reality neither of us are ever doing just one at a time. This means 2 directors and 2 cinematographers, and 2 heads are better than one.
A powerful and original film you can be a part of. We need you to make it happen.
We have a great script and a clear direction on how to bring it to life. Our individual approach means this isn’t an indulgent art film, or a generic low budget drama, but an original and truly cinematic short story that lends on the emotional pull and character of the location to further explore the personal conflict surrounding Pulpit Rock.
Obviously everybody says this kind of thing, but we really believe we are a team of strong, highly professional and passionate filmmakers, with something different to say.
There are loads of rewards for getting involved. But we hope the best one will be watching the film this summer, in a dark room, on a big screen, and with a sense of satisfaction.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter @Shadow_of_Eli and on our blog shadowofeli.wordpress.com
WOW!
We never thought we’d be sitting here writing this, but, incredibly we actually are… after 2 months and so many generous donations, ‘In the Shadow of Eli’ is at its target budget!
A HUGE HUGE thank you to everybody who donated, it really means a lot to have so many people get involved, not just in terms of money, but for the moral support it brings.
Needless to say we jumped up and down in the office like kids at Christmas when we found out, and with less than a week till the shoot genuinely can’t wait to get started, so that we can have a finished film to show to everyone that has helped us get there along the way.
As is tradition for these blogs, a big thanks to the most recent donations from Jess, Fiona, Jamie, Joey, Louis, Katie, Sophie and William, Laura and Napier, Jenny, Nicky, Fran and Pete, Joe, Jenny, Harrison, Josie, Andy, James and Vanessa.
But also again to everybody else who has got us here. Josh, Pete, Jeremy, Jacqueline, ALic, Serena, Jack H, Laura, Katie, Diana, Vicky M, Harry, Abigail, Vicky J, Angus, Chris, Ed, Lizzie, Penny, Norman and Ann, Jack C, Sue, Sian, Joe, Caroline, Angela, Ryan, Bren, Mark, Sarah, Dave, Dan, Willi, Flora, Karen and Paul, Elizabeth, Ginny, Nicola, Juno, Amanda, Harriet, Theo’s Dad (real name to be added for the credits!), Francesca and Ellie.
And welcome on-board to our new Executive Producer Andy Robertson, and Associate Producers Nicky Crowther, Jamie Abdy Collins, Fiona Davies and Jeremy Walsh!
And Fran who deserves a huge heart felt thank you for the endless iPad-ing!
We’ll be in touch soon with the rewards for donating, from thank you postcards to photography shoots. But please keep up with the blog for the rest of production through the shoot, post production and onto festival submissions in the distant future (which seems a lifetime away!). http://shadowofeli.wordpress.com/
Finally, if you want to feel as satisfied as us, click on this link http://www.sponsume.com/project/shadow-eli-0 and look for the green banner that says… “FUNDED”.
Again, WOW!
It doesn’t seem long ago that we we’re celebrating passing the £1,000 landmark on our blog shadowofeli.wordpress.com , Only a week later and here we are at 49% and £1,719 raised!
A big thanks to everyone that has been pushing us forward over the last few weeks – Diana, Vicky, Harry, Abigail, Vicky, Angus, Chris, Ed, Lizzie, Penny, Ann and Norman, Jack, Sue, Sian, Joe, Caroline, Angela, Ryan, Pete and Bren, Mark, Sarah, Dave, Dan, Willi, Flora, Karen and Paul, Elizabeth, Ginny, Nicola, Juno, Amanda, Hatty, Theo, Francesca and Ellie. We’re incredibly lucky to have such a long list of people to thank!
Thursday last week saw us meet some really talented students at Bournemouth University on the BA (Hons) Television Production course for potential runners and camera assistants, the high level making it hard who to choose! Then on Friday we were off to Torquay for our underwater test shoot, which coupled with the clean slates we shot on the coast on Saturday now means we have decided how to best shoot the underwater scenes. It was a steep learning curve, but one that proves how essential test shoots can be (test shots to be uploaded soon so keep checking the blog).
So with 4 days on Sponsume left and plenty of production preparation to be getting on with, the sprint finish starts here…
Here is our first video blog from the weekends recce…
http://vimeo.com/36690363
Made great progress with storyboarding and even managed to mock up some scenes which we’ll be cutting together soon to get a feel for some of the scenes (shame its us in shot though!).
Big thanks to the two Vickies, Diana, Harry, Angus and Abi for donating!
First things first – a MASSIVE thank you to everyone that has got involved so far. We’ve reached 15% of our target budget which is absolutely amazing and greatly appreciated. There are so many people to thank already, but here goes…!
Jeremy made an incredible donation, so has earned himself a free family photo shoot for a group or portrait (along with all the other treats!), but more importantly has made a huge step in helping us get the film made.
The ever-generous and glamourous Bee is soon to be the recipient of an ‘In the Shadow of Eli’ Blu-ray and an invite to the official screening. And Alice and Serena will be up there in lights on the night with a whole-hearted ‘With Thanks to’ credit on the film with their contribution. And of course Jack, Laura and Katie who all put a big smile on our faces this morning with really generous donations. (Cheers to Jack as well for spreading the word on Facebook!)
I’m conscious of saying thank you too many times, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, it really is massively appreciated.
And so onto production…
We started going through our casting applications last night (all 1,300!) and managed to get through the first 300. Some great interest and some potential actresses we’re really looking forward to meet. It’s odd spending so much time thinking about characters before they have a physical presence, so there was much “Oh yeh, she could be Catherine” and of course plenty of creative disagreements.
This weekend we have the recce down by Plymouth so we can begin to block-out some scenes and get a more detailed storyboard coming together. Another huge leap in making everything actually tangible. We’re also going to check out a local underwater equipment testing centre that we may be using for our underwater scene. Who’d have thought that there would be one within a few miles of our location!? Who know’s we may even knock up a video blog for a visual update.
So after this weekend they’ll be the first auditions on the cards, photo-storyboards (to be blogged as soon as we have them!) and some test shots (that hopefully we can work into a more detailed teaser poster, for Leicester Square of course!).
Big smiles all round.
