Helping the public stay safe on the river Thames
Client: Richmond Borough Council | Director: Mat Quake | DOP: Johan Bjorklund | Sound: Ben Livingstone | Editing: Mat Quake
We were approached by Richmond Borough Council to create a drama based narrative short film that would generate awareness about how to best approach a rescue in the water. The shoot involved liaising with the CoastGuard and London Fire Brigade to produce the film in a way that was impactful but also safe.
As a director it's important to involve everyone in the creation and flow of the story. Having a team of people on the day who are all aligned with the vision and what you're trying to achieve means we'll achieve the best results.
We worked closely with the council on the script and underlying story and a lot of planning went in to making sure we could film all the scenes in a day. There were important health and safety restrictions in terms of what we could and couldn’t do with the drowning scenes. This was probably the most challenging part of filming. The water was warm enough, but not quite at the temperature we would have liked, meaning the actor could only spend a very limited time in the water.
My direction to camera was to capture it in a way that felt quite urgent and frantic. This involved a lot of zooming in and out, to make expression and emotion stand out, whilst also making the audience feel uneasy.
It’s always really rewarding to be part of a film that has a potential impact on saving lives.