Black Black Hills - The Celebration

We've just Written, Directed & Produced this Short Film/Music Promo for Black Black Hills’ debut single ‘The Celebration’. 
Upon hearing the track we immediately felt inspired to create something that was firmly rooted in British folklore. 

Black Black Hills’ single ‘The Celebration’ is available from itunes and Amazon now. Check out their Facebook pagefacebook.com/blackblackhills and their Soundcloud page soundcloud.com/blackblackhills


'The Celebration’ is a thematically and emotively dark sounding song. Because of this we wanted to tell a simple but very cinematic and gripping story focusing on the atmosphere of the track without being a literal translation of the lyrics. 

As the track is so evocative, we felt that to do the song any justice we needed to tell a story. We also purposefully wanted to create something that subtly blurred the boundary between ‘Short Film’ and ‘Music Promo’. 

The outcome of our efforts was a unique take on the idea of a modern gothic thriller. A story that combines the sort of imagery familiar to ancient folklore, pagan-esque ceremonies and the creepy stuff of ‘pulp literature’ style ghost stories. ‘The Celebration’ purposefully sets out to embrace the notion of a ‘British Mythology’. To create a contemporary fable that celebrates the mystifying forces of nature which lie deep within the ancient woodland and forests of rural England.

The film itself tells a tale of the furtive exploits of an illegal metal detectorist (a ‘Nighthawk’) in a rural English landscape as he sets about trespassing and plundering secluded parts of the land with dire consequences. This allowed us to build a narrative foundation with which we could turn the everyday, the idyllic and the quaint into something far more sinister.

We wanted to teeter on the brink of the unknown and play with the primal instincts buried deep within the collective, evolutionary psyche.

The shoot:

As this was a self funded by us (Blac Ionica) for Black Black Hills, we had a very limited budget which in turn dictated what format we could shoot on. We knew we wanted to shoot something very cinematic but it had to be on a budget, so in light of that and after extensive discussions with the D.O.P. we decided to shoot on a Canon 7D with a steadicam rig and Anamorphic Prime lenses. 

We shot for two days in two separate locations with a fantastic cast and crew. The first day of shooting was slightly thwarted by our unpredictable ‘British summertime’ weather, but in the end it actually worked in our favour, as it helped to create an additional overall ‘moodiness’ that we hadn’t bargained for at this time of year. 


Post production was handled by ourselves with the help of our excellent team of freelancers and compositors. All of which was further enhanced through the grade which was kindly provided by the Moving Picture Company, London.

A little bit about the Directors/us: 

We are a Film Directing trio called Blac Ionica, we are based in London and we also shoot Commercials and make Title Sequences. In 2009 we were nominated for a UK Music Video Award.

To find out more info about the Promo or to contact us 
web: blacionica.com 
email: info@blacionica.com 
follow us on twitter: twitter.com/BlacIonica

 
Credits: 


Directors: Blac Ionica

Production Company: Blac Ionica

Story By: Blac Ionica

Producer: Blac Ionica

Production Assistant: Millie Marsh

1st Assistant Director: Isusko Garcia

Director of Photography: Will Bex

Focus Puller: Eva Arnold

Steadicam: Rob Hart

2nd AC/DIT Tech: Lami Okrekson

Casting Director: Jane Frisby

Location Manager: Ben Carter @ Lovely Locations

Stylist: Adelaide Turnbull

Make-Up: Jo-Jo Copeman

Art Department / Props: Rebecca Todd

Art Department Assistant: George Evennett

Catering day 1: Sasha Turnbull

Catering day 2: Ambassador Catering

Runners: Jess Bishopp, Chris Shooter, Daisy Gatehouse

Pre-Production:

Storyboards: Sally Pring

Post Production:


Editors: Alec Rossiter, Leanne Welham

Head of Production, MPC: Jonathan Davies
Colourist/Grade: Steve Gatti @ MPC

Producer for MPC: Glen Purcevil

VFX: Blac Ionica

Additional VFX: Barnaby Hewlett

VFX Compositing: Barnaby Hewlett, Jamie Howlett, Kooch Chung

Sound Design: Blac Ionica

Cast:


Metal Detectorist: Frank Jakeman

Woman: Helen Terry

Police Officer: Lee Harris

Shadows: Arno Baernhoft, Christopher Beck, Riyonn Farsad, Michael Tomlinson

Special thanks to Ben @ Lovely Locations, the wonderful Turnbull family, Jane Frisby, Sam Lawson & Another Film Company, Will Bex, Rebecca Todd, Jo-Jo, Barnaby and his alter ego Barnold Shwarzenegger aka the Barnicles, Kooch & Jamie, Ambassador Catering. Jonathan Davies, Steve Gatti & Glen Purcivel @ MPC. Frank Jakeman, Helen Terry and all of our exceptionally talented cast and crew.