Friday April 24th, a team comprising of twenty film students stared at Director Michael Henry, and Producer James Jackson. It looked pretty daunting when I arrived. Awkwardly taking a seat, I glanced around and asked myself: “Why’re you so serious?” as I was already familiar with a lot of faces in the room, which tend to be outgoing and mischievous. Of course, the reason we were all there was because of Quandary Productions’ new feature film ‘SPECTRUM’ – and we are determined, and enthusiastic about making this film, and the opportunity it has given us students – as it gives us an insight into the media industry and the production process of feature films.
Michael Henry (Director) discussed what the pre-production process would entail, what he expected of us, and why we had been chosen. Mike ensured that we all knew about the plot of ‘SPECTRUM’, and to demonstrate how well he did at this I am going to describe it to you (I’m paraphrasing here): “There’s this bloke who goes by the name of Charlie (played by Liam Blundell) and this guy’s had the bad luck of being in a coma. Upon waking from this coma, he emerges into a world seemingly run by a corporation known as ‘Spectrum’. This surreal world allows its inhabitants to change their personalities and alter their emotions by simply paying for it.” Sounds like a pretty cool world, right? You can literally buy happiness. Who wouldn’t want that? Except, all isn’t as it seems; dark secrets lie beneath this corporation’s friendly facade.
In our work experience team we have been placed into our own little factions, dependent on what skills we have to offer. The groups we were split into were Promotion, Design, Script, Locations, Props and Behind the Scenes. As soon as we had been informed of our responsibilities, we got stuck in right away, and prepared ourselves for what lies ahead. Collectively, we discussed ideas of how to promote the current crowdfunding campaign. I encourage you, (yes the person reading this!) to help spread the word too; tell your friends, colleagues and family about this original, epic, indie film!
Once we got started on the first full session, the design team were tasked with designing some trippy posters for the film and crowdfunding campaign, starting with the traditional method for design; sketching pads and pencils. They had fun.
The script group had the awesome task of checking through the scripts and highlighting what locations there are, what props and costumes will need making, and which cast members will be needed for each scene. When asked to describe Michael’s writing in one word, the group cited that it is: “Entertaining”.
The Behind the Scenes were given the job of documenting what’s happening during the pre-production process – taking photographs of the hard work that is being done by this amazing team, and recording videos for the company’s site and social media pages. As well as this, blog posts (this) will be written to update followers of the campaign on the progress of the film. Something I found very exciting, was the fact I had the privilege of recording a video interview with Michael Henry. I won’t give anything away, but keep a look out for the video interview when it’s uploaded.
What made the session extra special was the kind words of Michael Henry when he told all the film students that: “You’ve either been chosen because you’re talented, or because I see potential in you”. This boosted the morale tremendously, as it made the chosen students feel somewhat elite. So that was week one. Come back next week to keep track of our progress.
by Declan Godfrey
Please click here for more on the crowdfunding campaign for ‘SPECTRUM’.
