A Kidnap

 Hello everybody, I was going to write my monthly blog post earlier this month. However, very unfortunate events, which are another story, had occurred to me recently, causing a slight delay. Now those who have read some of my previous posts will know that although my main speciality is writing, I possess some additional experience in other film-making roles such as editing and camera operation.

30th October 2021 was the night of the premiere for a feature film in which I was involved in the production for. The film is called A Kidnap and it was produced by Greenhough Films. It is a British psychological thriller in which an adopted brother and sister are abducted and are on a mission to escape before the kidnappers and their twisted relationships implode. Details are included in the link below;

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9863778/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

For the production, I was the sound recordist. The origin dates back to when Lee, the director, advertised online stating that a sound recordist was required for the film. I responded as soon as I encountered the message and the rest was history. 

Most of my previous credits relate to camera-operation and editing, but I had produced the sound for previous films, including a short film made as part of an eight-week film-making challenge set by Seven-Five Productions (The President Loves A Game Of Top Trumps). This particular experience proved to be a booster, one reason being that this was my first time working on a feature film, not only as a sound recordist, but in general. This is what I have always wanted to do since completing my A-Levels in Film Studies.

Another reason why I regard this experience as an essential point to my career is due to certain differences I encountered. For instance, the equipment I used was fairly new. In fact, I used a TASCAM DR-05 audio recording device for the very first time. It is of course a tradition that one is likely to come across certain difficulties the first time round and I remember when I first used the mic, I could hear thumping and rhythmic sounds coming through the headphones. But in the end, it was resolved. Other obstacles I experienced especially occurred during the shooting of certain scenes which included walking from one room to the other behind the cinematographer - I had to be mindful of the length of the boom pole and ensure the microphone did not touch any of the door frames.

The shooting took place entirely in Coventry on August 2019, with a few shots filmed in other parts of the Midlands. It was quite useful considering that the main location was a thirty minute driving distance from where I lived. The original intention was to have the film premiering sometime last year, but due to unfortunate circumstances, it had to be delayed at a later date.

It's a pleasure now to have finally seen the finished project on-screen. This particular premiere was followed by a charity auction and raffle, plus a live music act. The money was raised for the Myton Hospice.

I would like to thank Lee Greenhough and all the rest who were involved in the making of A Kidnap. Hopefully we should see the film in numerous other theatres.

And finally, may I wish you all a happy Halloween!