Projection Room: Secrets of a Haunting- The Home Stretch

With the premiere of the film production team’s version of The Haunting just a couple of nights away, it’s been difficult to milk the content cow for the UCLan project in terms of material we can use here on TheJackSmit.com. So knowing that we’re well and truly in the endgame now (both with my uni experience and this project), here’s a quick little summary of those last bits of production that got us to what we’ll be reviewing exclusively here on the blog and on Ripped Ticket’s season finale this Friday.

March 2019: Post-Production Begins

One of the many editing suites in the Media Factory- no, this isn’t THE suite that the film was edited in. But it’s a good example of what they can work with.

As part of my commitment to see as little of the film as possible until it’s done, I only paid one visit to the edit suite. Now, I know a few things about editing video together- as I edit all the Journal output using Vegas Pro, I know a lot about this process by way of practical knowledge- but cutting together a 90 minute feature film is way more complex than 15 minute online videos. Especially if you’re doing it in Premiere Pro on dedicated rigs. With the directors (Shayla, Jack and Caitlin) keeping a very close eye on proceedings, the film was very slowly pieced together bit by bit, and with the addition of a second round of shooting towards the end of March that forms the start of the film (from what I understand), they achieved picture lock incredibly quickly. I visited just before this second shoot, and at that point, nearly all of the footage from Borwick was ready to go. From there, it was down to the sound teams. I spoke with a few of them at the wrap party, and they were focused on getting at least a stereo mix of the film prepared, and then worrying about the surround mix that will play in a proper big screen environment. Surround is a completely different beast- having dabbled in 5.1 occasionally on a few external projects, making sure the levels are set correctly, as well as utilising the low frequency channel that a certain cinema chain’s pre-film ident really tests is a task that takes a lot of perfecting and refining. Again, trying to find out the latest updates without actually seeing the film has been difficult. But having spoken with their main lecturer (and occasional TheJackSmit.com contributor) Ed Greenberg at the start of this month, they have been able to nail it.

THE WRAP PARTY

On March 21st, myself, Ed, course leader Ian Crook and the entire team behind this film gathered for the wrap party proceedings- including the inaugural ‘Eddie’ awards. And as you’ll have seen on the April Journal, I may have won one, and I’m surprised nobody has spotted the trophy in our setup yet. They honoured me as the ‘Most likely to become a UCLan lecturer’. We’ll see about that one. 

The Eddie for Most Likely to Become a UCLan Lecturer proudly lives on the Journal set

They also honoured the crew with a variety of silly awards, the majority of which we can’t name for legal reasons; although they were all named after quotes that Ed had blessed them with during the production period. After heading off for my official university commitments, I rejoined them that evening for the ‘big do’ as a certain team I work with call nights of that nature. A lot of alcohol was bought- not by me of course, but still, it was a rather enjoyable way to bring the curtain down on the last few months. Believe me, they enjoyed themselves. And they earned that session alright. After 6 long months of work, The Haunting was officially completed on time at the end of April, and with that, the countdown to Thursday’s premiere at the Palace in Longridge- one of the venues that inspired our Born Independent campaign- officially began. Of course, they are making a few final tweaks to the edit, but Thursday night will be this team’s crowning achievement. They took a spec script, adapted it, cast it, shot it, and edited it on time and on budget. And that’s why line producers are so important.

THE HAUNTING: TheJackSmit.com Reviews and Associated Coverage

So, this is the bit that’ll be of interest to the team- when the film is reviewed later this week at the Palace- a venue which we’ll be publishing a dedicated post about very soon, it will be to the same criteria that any other release has been rated against. Sure, being on set with them has been an honour and a privilege, but to make it fair, the film will have to earn a high rating, like every other release- especially as my work on this project has resulted in only 2 films getting a 5 star review so far this year. We’ll be covering the premiere in full here on the blog, The Journal, on the final Ripped Ticket Show of the 2018/19 season with myself and Liam Murphy, and when it launches in a few weeks, on the podcast too. It’s been a genuine honour working with this lot, and I just happen to know some of the students pitching for next year’s film… so I think round 2 is on the cards.

The Haunting will be reviewed exclusively on TheJackSmit.com on May 24th at 8pm. Huge thanks to Ed, Ian and the staff and students on UCLan’s Film Production course for their hospitality and support on this project- it’s been one of the most enjoyable experiences working with them all.