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On location with Dead In
TheWater, F a new
low-budget British thriller
irst–time feature writer- director Merlin Ward offers this handy primer for low- budget film-making: “ A small cast, one location with lots of locations within it, and no special effects.”
the plot, a nearby lake, Ward is certain- ly maximising what he describes as a “perfectly contained environment” for his debut, Dead In The Water.
“It gives me,” he explains, “plenty of scope for real suspense. But this isn’t a ‘slasher’ movie. It’s a nice, grip- ping tale more along the lines of a Sixth Sense or What Lies Beneath.” With that kind of hype you certainly can’t question his ambition as he tries inventively to juggle a budget which might be regarded as small change by Harrison Ford.
Set in a girls’ school, Dead In The Water revolves around a fatally attrac- tive romantic triangle involving the young head mistress (Sophie Ward), her American art teacher husband (George Asprey) and an “emotionally
vulnerable” 18-year-old pupil (Sophia Myles). The supporting cast also includes starry names like Michael Elphick and Celia Imrie.
“My right arm – and probably my left, too”, says Ward, “is my camera- man Peter Thornton. He knows so much about film-making and I bow to his experience. We talk about the scene beforehand, then plot it with the actors. I haven’t done a shot list so nothing’s carved in stone – which is partly to do with the fact that often the sets are only just ready each time we come to shoot them.
“I’m so lucky so have such a great team round me – from a fantastic pro- duction designer to a highly experi- enced first assistant. I’m the only novice here.”
FEAR IS THE
FEAR IS THE
Then, with a pause for extra emphasis, he adds, “Make sure you’re surround- ed by consummate professionals.”
Ward, a fresh-faced fortysome- thing, is sitting in the vast dining hall at the sprawling International University - a sometime public school in Bushey - which has become a favourite haunt for Outer London film and television production.
Using other rooms, corridors, nooks and crannies outside, surround- ing green spaces and, very crucially for
Photos: Sophia Myles and George Asprey; main: Sophia Myles and Sophie Ward; Merlin Ward and Peter Thornton; by the lake in Dead In The Water
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