FILM INFORMATION
PRE-PRODUCTION
Writer Linda M James read the story of a young female artist who suddenly went blind over three agonising days, her eye sight deteriorating rapidly before total loss of vision. She was of course extremely moved by the tale and how it must have felt for the lady as well as fascinated by what coping mechanisms were employed after.
She began research into sight loss, how blind people cope with day to day life, how it affects their mental health and also extensive research into the condition that the artist finally developed : synaesthesia. Much is still unknown about this mysterious condition and its causes and research still continues around the world, including Sussex University.
When the script was completed, a script reading in Canterbury was arranged with several actors and it was here she met Leona Clarke and Felix Johnson, both of whom impressed her at the time. The script was refined and re-written based on feedback from this then the difficult process of fundraising began using marketing and crowdfunding.
Once funds were raised, a crew was sought out from IMDB and Mandy.com. Linda wanted an experienced crew who both understood and were sympathetic to the material and project. This took some time, but eventually a great team was put together and scheduling and planning of the shoot began in earnest. Shot lists and call sheets were prepared.
PRODUCTION
Filming took place over on 1st September 2025 to 4th September in four locations in and around Eastbourne, Sussex, including the fabulous Beatons Wood (which the cast and crew had all to themselves thanks to the generous owner John McCutchan). A flat was rented for a short period both to house the crew and use as one of the locations.
Exterior locations such as the woods were fairly tricky to film in due to the changeable weather. Whilst it didn’t rain, strong winds and scudding clouds made filming difficult at times for both sound and camera. Shooting was, however, completed quite rapidly due to the professionalism and talent of the crew and cast.
The attempted suicide scene at night in the kitchen was one of the more emotive scenes to film of course, with a real (but blunted) knife. Rehearsal for this shot was vital and it all passed off safely. A scene was shot on Eastbourne pier, but was not used in the end, both due to the director not entirely happy with it and running time considerations.
All in all it was a very well planned and executed shoot, especially considering it was Linda’s first time directing and the emotional strain she was under at the time. There was rarely more than 2-3 takes for each shot so the tight schedule was adhered to throughout.
POST PRODUCTION
Post production was undertaken by Andrew Marc on a high end edit suite (pictured left). As the film had been shot in 6K RAW on a Red Camera, writing at a whopping 520 Mbps to 1.9 Gbps, the video files were huge so a robust system with high storage capacity was needed. There was over 2.5TB of footage to go through in total even with a low takes/shot ratio.
Working largely off the script and with the director Linda James, Andrew spent two months editing between other jobs. He edited without proxies using the full 6K RAW footage which allowed maximum flexibility on exposure and colour grading, before rendering out at 4K high quality PRORES for the two cinema screenings (which looked superb).
The sound editing was somewhat tricky as there were a lot of windy exteriors and no budget for ADR, so a lot of workarounds and noise reduction had to be used. Some of the radio mic sound could not be used either from the running scenes due to raised heart rates! The title track was composed by the director’s cousin, and the other music licensed.
There were several FX shots in the film – the morphing painting in the bedroom, Lucy’s hallucinations and the dancing colours. The painting effect was achieved by scanning in the original painting then using After Effects and matting the FX shot back into the original. The hallucinations were AI generated initially then enhanced with After Effects.
FUNDING
Films require funding which is no easy task, especially in today’s climate and financial crisis. A pitch deck and ‘sizzle reel’ video was commissioned to showcase the planned film and a crowdfunding campaign set up. David Mannion, the late husband of director Linda M James, was hugely instrumental in this and in promoting the project.
MANY THANKS TO THE KIND FILM FUNDING CONTRIBUTIONS OF:
Mehmed Fikretov and Mem’s Weightlifting Club London (MWLC), Thunderbolt Media & Entertainment Ltd, Max Edney, Amanda Louise Bahadur – Focus Eye Centre in Hailsham, Anonymous (x3), Ken McWilliam, Andreas Loibl, Noel Ensoll, Steve Nicholls, Domuk, Andrew Whiting, Gillwj, Andrew and Trish Seaber, Susan M Schweitzer, Alison Gibbons, Maggie Yaxley Smith, Deborah Kearne, Patricia Karlak, Anita Reid, Ansy Boothroyd, Elizabeth M Pinkney, Elisabeth Knott, Alessandra Thomas, Roy Williams, Candace Egan, Peter D, Deborah Adams, Chris Rochester, Jennifer Horridge, Linda Lewis, Karla Ann Bohn, Jan Cuva Primmer, Brian McHenry, Peter Newman, Jen Thompson, Peter Taylor Gooby, Julia Thomas, Stephen Brophy, Jennifer Brown, Peter Newman, Julia La B, Chris Wragg, Paul Curry, Tracey Slanger, Kaarin L Bahjtiar, Francine J Sanders, James P McHugh, Sarah E Thomas, Simon R Daniels, Jane Roberts, Wendy Kavanagh, Michael Fields, Gavin Rodney, Susan Norvill, Sheila Piper, Gillian Ives, Katherine Pierpoint and Sonia Sorensen.