Projection Room: Secrets of a Haunting- Passing The Torch

 

Back in May, the UCLan film production project came to a satisfying conclusion following the 4 star review of what had become known as The Haunting. With the screening of the film happening next week at the Great Northern Creative Expo (tickets are free, come and join us if you are in the area), it was about time we updated you on who’s doing what after production wrapped, and importantly, have a look ahead to next year’s feature.

THE ORIGINAL TEAM: What Next?

2019 Feature Film directors Jack O’Connell, Shayla Kirkham and Caitlin Rigney at the premiere of The Haunting (photo courtesy of Stephen Fisher Photography)

This is where things get exciting. The team behind The Haunting are now developing their own short film ideas, and we’re gonna showcase their work as you’d expect- we’ll start with directors Jack O’Connell, Shayla Kirkham and Caitlin Rigney.

Rigney is tackling a romantic film mixing 2D animation and live action, and based on the early tests, this is something to keep an eye on during this academic year, and has the potential to really deliver a unique experience. O’Connell is currently developing a short inspired by the works of Wes Anderson (a favourite of the team here at Smit HQ), involving a man who realises that he is stuck in a film made by the creator of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and as of publication, we are yet to hear from Kirkham regarding her major project. Other ideas that I am aware of at the time of publication include 1:100, a short that is a passion project for its director Joseph Hagan (who acted as the line producer on The Haunting)- this is a plot and a premise he feels very strongly about and wants to raise awareness for, especially as representation of this particular topic in films has been few and far in between (the most iconic depiction being Rain Man in 1988)- here on TheJackSmit.com, we will be putting the spotlight on as many of these shorts as we can once they are ready for public viewing, and as soon as we get information on them. These guys are the future of filmmaking here, and they’ve already proven themselves by working on a feature this early in their careers.

I am very much looking forward to seeing what this group of final year students can produce, namely as they will be working with a lot of the same creative teams who brought The Haunting from a concept to a finished film in less than 9 months, and as this short film task has been taken by a lot of the production team both above and below the line (they have the option to take either a Major Project, a dissertation, or an extended research task), they have a lot of potential to excel both in terms of the scale and their actual marks, much like they did on the feature.

Plus, eagle eyed viewers to The Journal will have noticed that the trio that made Thursdays so enjoyable last year have become associate producers of the entire series, with their names proudly going on that credit roll- me and the directors have stayed in touch over the summer, and they have been working with me over the last few months to develop the ideas for some of the episodes we have planned for the rest of season 2, namely some of our deep dive documentaries. Kirkham actually provided a lot of input on our 3D in 30 Minutes episode- arguably my favourite episode that has been released so far (well, that’s until the Christmas Day edition goes out), and having those three on board has been brilliant. But that handily brings us on to the next team of second year students.

NEXT YEAR: The Hanged

Official artwork for The Hanged (2020)

For executive producers/lecturers/all round Great Men™ Ed Greenberg and Ian Crook, the standard was set high following the red carpet premiere at Longridge’s fantastic Palace cinema. So naturally this year it was time to go big or go home, as this time, they have tasked the second years with another huge project- over the next few months, they shall attempt to make a murder mystery film. A film where 8 people are welcomed to an isolated island by an enigmatic host, where tensions will rise as they are hunted, and then murdered one by one- sound interesting? Let’s tell you a bit more.

Introducing the 2019 Feature Film Team

Matthew Reese, Piril Baruh and Callum Wilkins, pictured above, are this year’s batch of directors, and much like last year’s students did with The Haunting, they have taken inspirations from some cracking source material: Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel And Then There Were None was their main inspiration, alongside a variety of other murder mystery films to add a little more cinematic flair to proceedings. After a lot of work and creativity from Wilkins and Reese, who are handling scriptwriting duties, another unique film is set to be produced from the confines of that production office in UCLan’s iconic Media Factory- and it will be called The Hanged. Pre-production is well underway, and while we won’t be documenting the production of it as thoroughly as we did on The Haunting (there’s only so much you can write about production meetings, filming and editing for a movie), we will still be championing the future of independent cinema and showcasing the work of these guys throughout the year as they build up to the premiere. And you guys can actually play a part in it. Unlike last year, the film is being crowdfunded. And also unlike last year, there are no legal or copyright issues- so I can officially reveal the Indiegogo page without having to re-edit ANYTHING.

There is a system of tiered rewards for backers of the film, so do us a favour and tell them TheJackSmit.com sent you. The film is set to premiere in Spring 2020, and we will do our absolute best to review it as you’d expect.

Keep up to date with the film on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @TheHangedFilm, and to back the film on Indiegogo, click here.