NFTS 1st year students have been shooting a stunning Sci-Fi Drama, Dark Was The Night, on the School’s main stage, which was written by Christopher Cornwell, directed by Sam McMullen, and produced by Khaled Gad.
Film synopsis
Dark Was The Night is about a father (Wyatt) and his young daughter (Vik) who are trapped in a crashed spaceship on the surface of a dark planet, void of life and light. Nora, Vik's mother, has been missing since the crash, with Wyatt telling Vik that she saved herself and abandoned them. This begins to be contradicted when mysterious transmissions - that sound like Nora – start to come through Vik's radio, telling her to leave the ship, to go out into the darkness. Vik has to decide whether to continue to trust her father, or to follow the voice and head out into the dark void that surrounds the ship.
Director Sam McMullen explained why they chose to set the drama in space: "Even though Dark Was The Night is a science-fiction film of sorts, it's essentially about the relationship between a father and his young daughter during a time of crisis. It's about that time in one's life when we realise the fallibility of our parents, and must choose whether to toe the line against our best judgement, or to break it. The isolation of a crashed starship, much like a boat lost at sea, gave us the perfect setting to explore this relationship without reality interfering."
>The production’s Sci Fi space setting was made possible by sets designed by Production Designer Joelle Aoun, with Digital Effects from NFTS students Luke Hardisty, Tom Philips-Howard, Victor Almeida, Stevie Gill and Saruta Pisanwalerd. Cinematographer Hamish Anderson shot the film on 16mm.
Screenwriter Chris Cornwell explained the motivation behind making a Sci-Fi film: "We drew a lot on sci-fi for the story and it's a great genre to work with. It gives you the opportunity to make ideas physical, to make them dramatic and relatable. Dark Was The Night is a film about ideas, but at its heart, it’s a very emotional and human story."
Producer Khaled Gad added: “We knew from the get-go that our story required a very imaginative design, and thankfully Joelle came on board and achieved something beyond what we had thought possible. We're delighted that, thanks to great work by Hamish - our DoP - the design and detail of the set lives on in the film. We still have a lot of work to do now in post-production and little time but I'm optimistic because we have great material to work with and an awesome team."
NFTS Crew special mentions:
Joelle Aoun - Production Designer
Hamish Anderson - Cinematographer
Xanna Ward-Dixon - Editor
Tom Jenkins - Sound Designer and Recordist
Luke Hardisty - VFX Supervisor
Tom Philips-Howard - CGI Supervisor
Tim Morrish - Composer
Millie Marsh - Line Producer
Lorenzo Bertolazzi - Production Manager
Note: The production team wishes to thank everyone else who contributed to the making of this film.....................
Stills Photo Credit: Cyrille Karam website is: http://www.cyrillekaram.com/ and Tumblr cyrille-k.tumblr.com
