After the success of the Algarve’s first English language full-length feature film ‘The Right Juice’, its director Kristjan Knigge returned home to shoot a second movie, in just six days.
He gathered a small team of professional filmmakers, three actors and a writer.
Pictured with Kristjan is the team with local residents Lesley Miller whose house was a prime location, production designer BJ Boulter, actors Trevor Herrington of the Algarveans Experimental Theatre and Jessica Mota, a young actor from Lagos studying drama in Glasgow next year.
‘Syzygy’ (the working title) is an enterprising and original project to write and to film a full-length feature in just one week.
This was an experimental process for the team as there was not a completely written script when shooting began.
The success of the filming relied completely on the professionalism and creativity of the team. They were literally writing the next day’s scenes based on what happened the day before and what ideas and concepts came up along the way.
To do this, whenever possible they shot the scenes in chronological order, which allowed them to change the course of the story as they collaboratively introduced fresh ideas.
Filming was completed in just six days. The shooting was a great success and they came out of it with 11-and-a-half hours of footage.
The challenge for Kristjan and the post production team is to bring this all down to a really compelling 90 minutes story ready for distribution in the autumn. Kristjan is convinced that they have captured amazing energy on camera. Due to the nature of the process, the actors were able to really connect with the emotions of the characters, more so than might have been possible with a traditional approach.
Follow their progress on https://www.facebook.com/longshipfilms for release info to see the movie.
Photo: Back: Marijtje Rutgers, Trevor Herrington, Knut Pedersen, Geerteke van Lierop, Sytse Faber, Marie Phillips. Front: Lesley Miller, Kristjan Knigge, BJ Boulter, Dick Merx, Jessica Mota, Gonçalo Osório and Merlin
Photo by: DICK MERX
