OPEN WATER
In a world devastated by climate change, a scavenger goes from island to island scratching out an existence in search of life and survival. But is he being watched and by what?
A proof of concept film by Deadman and supported by The Mike Howley Trust.
Inspired by the climate crisis, and an incredibly urgent piece for us and our generation. Using the anxieties that many of us feel to try and put together a film that imagines a world where the climactic tipping points, that are still very much on the table now, have happened and the subsequent ice melt has pushed sea levels to such a high level that very little land remains. One of the ideas that inspired it, too, was to imagine, if all this happened, what would be left of our civilisation? We thought that the tragic truth would be that it most likely would be all of the plastic and waste that are symptomatic of the crisis we are in. What would happen to the people, too? The main character the Scavenger, inspired by Star Wars, believes they are the last person on Earth and goes from island to island scratching out their existence. However, we will discover that even after an apocalypse the last scraps of land are jealously held on to - and those who own them covet them. Even now, surrounded by sea - the symbol of our destruction by greed - malignant self-interest survives. And the life the Scavenger seeks to find and preserve may be gone forever.
For the first time ever, we had a budget for a film, definitely a micro-budget but still a budget for a film. So we wanted to create something that was ambitious, and push us to our limit. We experimented with DIY CGI and extensive props and make-up (tattoos) for the character, as well as trying to make drone shots (the new de rigeur in films) as different and unique as possible. For the look of the film it was really important we had a grey, desolate location. The main premise of the film obviously meant filming in the sea. We always seem to be doing that. And this time in the middle of Winter. I trained quite a lot to be able to swim in the sea at that time of year, going in everyday to try and acclimatise to the temperature. Charlie would be wearing a full wetsuit and underwater gear for the camera. I would be wearing shorts and the bag we had designed the Scavenger to wear. However, on the day of filming, the water temperature was 8 degrees and the tide was about 5.0 and choppy. Where we were going in the drop-off was quite steep so as soon as you stepped in you got smacked in the face by the wave. I still remember the look on Charlie’s face as we were battered again and again by the waves but we survived and, I think, got some really cool shots! These are some of the crazy life-threatening things you have to do to try and get noticed in the world of independent film. Through this, we were lucky to get some key achievements:
Our biggest film festival achievement to date, winning our category at the Montreal Independent Film Festival.
Scavenger/Director/Executive Producer/Writer - Samuel Bossman
Cinematographer/Editor/Executive Producer - Charlie Price
Music - The Whip Game
Associate Producer/Graphic Design - Rebecca Kidd
Make-up Artist - Clarice Dell’Orto
Safety Coordinator - Will Bossman
Poster Design - Pui Ka Chung
Summary
Director Statement
Credits:
