Page 31 - Fujifilm Exposure_44 Damned United_ok

CUTTINGTOTHECHASE
MICRO-BUDGETED SHIFTY REVEALS LIFE ON THE EDGE
ominated for five British In- Ndependent Film Awards late
last year, including Best Achievement in Production and Best Director Debut,
Shifty follows the themes of friend- ship and loyalty over the course of 24 hours in the mercurial life of the eponymous young drug dealer (played by Riz Ahmed).
Set on the outskirts of London, Shiftywasselectedasoneofthe first two projects to go into produc- tion as part of Film London Microwave, a unique micro-budget feature film scheme.
Set up in partnership with BBC Films with support from Skillset,
Microwave is a groundbreaking initiative which challenges London- based filmmakers to shoot a com- plete full-length film on a maximum budget of only £100,000.
Based in part on real events wit- nessed by writer-director Eran Creevy, Shifty, co-starring Daniel Mays, Jason Flemying, Francesca Annis and Jay Simpson, was filmed entirely on location in Boreham- wood,whichdoubledforthe fictional suburb of Dudlowe.
A 30-strong production crew shot in 17 locations across 18 days: “It was a hugely ambitious undertaking,” said Creevy. “We were shooting on aver- age five pages a day which meant the
pace never let up. Our biggest enemy was the weather. We had rain, sun, wind, sleet, hailstones and back to sun again all in the same day.”
With such a punishing schedule, the production itself based itself strategically within Elstree Studios, and contained all 17 locations within a five-minute radius. “It saved us time, money and sanity, all of which were in short supply,” said producer BenPugh. QUENTINFALK
Shifty, which is released in the UK on April 24, was originated on 16mm Fujicolor ETERNA 500T 8673 and ETERNA 250D 8663
THE DP VIEW
ED WILD
Although this film is set in a
very real harsh environment, “Rani [director Creevy] and I always wanted it to have some beauty and style in the photography. Wefeltithadtobefilmandwehad to be realistic. Super 16mm would give us the freedom in shooting the style and speed we needed to do such a great script justice.
I love the way ETERNA 250D and the ETERNA 500T captured colours. There’s rich saturation without an artificial pump and deep blacks, all lending itself to a more oily palette, which I love.
The 250D is a great and versatile stock which can hold windows on daylight interiors whilst still digging deep into the shadows, which means I can use less lighting in a more subtle way without having to fight the exteriors.
The 500T is my favourite and as usual it came out beautifully even on the most testing night scenes. We looked forward to getting low light night scenes’ rushes with excitement as they just popped off the screen.
As for the quality of 16mm, I have to say I was thrilled with the end result of Shifty when being pro- jected at Leicester Square.
”
FEATURE IN FOCUS
Photo top: Francesca Annis; below (left to right) producers Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh (right); writer-director Eran Creevy and Riz Ahmed; Daniel Mays and Riz Ahmed
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