Film Production and Editing
Across The Dark Water
Co-producer
Steve Hogg
A fantastic project I was recently a part of was as co-producer of a film series called Across The Dark Water. The film was created from the stage play by Ben Musgrave. The stage play and the film tells the story of 'The Southampton Plot' to overthrow Henry V in 1415 just before the invasion of France and the Battle of Agincourt.
The cast of the film were:
Tom Brownlee: Henry V
Darrell Brockis: Lord Scrope of Masham
Ben Callon: Edmund Mortimer, Earl Of March
Chris Gunter: Richard, Earl of Cambridge
I was approached by the Owen Calvert-Lyons who was then the Artistic Director of the Point Theatre to see if I would be interested in helping the production team behind the stage play to make a film version. I jumped at the chance as film making was an area I was keen to explore and I knew it would be a great project for the media students I was teaching.
The theatre production team were brilliant to work with as were the cast. Everyone was friendly and supportive and I know that they in turn appreciated the professionalism and dedication of our film crew. A great deal of planning when in to the filming schedule which was vital as the filming was done in only 5 days. The locations for filming were historic locations around Hampshire including Portchester Castle, the Tudor House and St Julian's Chapel in Southampton as well as the banks of the River Hamble and a scout field in Romsey.
The film crew worked long hours sometimes until 3am but never complained or felt hard done by as they were loving the experience. We filmed on Digital SLR cameras. I was looking to create a cinematic look and with a very limited budget this was a great option. By far the longest work was the post production work. During the long post production process including re-recording all the dialogue and creating a full sound design we kept to our release deadlines and produced a weekly episode on time each week.
A first cut of the full length film was shown to a public audience at St Julian's Chapel on Wednesday the 5th of August 2015. The film series was also released as part of the Eastleigh Film Festival on the 25th of September 2015.
The film was released as a 5 part series on YouTube with each episode being around 15 minutes.
Film Production and Editing
War Stories
Co-Producer & Editor
Steve Hogg
This is a recent short film project that had it's first public showing as part of Southampton Film Week on Monday 13 November 2017
The synopsis of the film is:
Three damaged teenagers from a children's home skip school and go for a walk in the countryside. They stumble upon a camp buried deep in the woods where they meet a homeless ex-serviceman. He challenges their attitudes and tries to make them see the folly of their ways. When they realise he is not who he seems and has a dark secret they feel tricked and betrayed. The tension rises and the story takes a dark turn.
The cast of the film are:
Lucas Bradshaw: Wes
Sophie Curd: Rachel
Lewis Pickles: Dan
Our film crew were:
Sofy Bazzini: Camera
Carlos Carvao: Sound Mixer
Guy Dowsett: Composer
Adam Fontaine: Sound Design
Steve Hogg: Editor and Co-Producer
Bernadett Horvath: Sound Design
Alarna Moles: Sound Design
Louise Morrell: Art Director
Paul Ramshaw: Director and Co-Producer
Andy Wilkin: Director of Photography
The film was written and directed by Paul Ramshaw who I met through the Across The Dark Water project.
Here is the film:
The opening music track is the song You Don't Know What It's Like (To Live My Life) and the closing music track War Stories I wrote and recorded with The Reaktors.
The film score is by Guy Dowsett
We filmed on location in the housing estate behind The Joiners in the St Mary's area of Southampton as well as in Eastleigh and the forest of Queen Elizabeth Country Park in Hampshire. Many thanks are due to the ranger at the park for supporting the filming and for permission to film there.
Film poster by Louise Morrell.
Header photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash