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Ascent - Directorial Debut

Ascent follows three intertwining stories; an artist, struggling to gain inspiration and formulate her ideas onto the page; a young man, feeling the pressures of his work; and a young woman, battling alcoholism and undergoing counselling. The story is grounded by one painting, representing navigation and the marks we leave on each other’s lives; Ascent explores the desire to access something higher and out of reach.

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The film features several award-winning venues such as the Condé Nast Johansens 2019 and 2020 "Best UK Wedding Venue" The Deer Park Country House, and the Thelma Hulbert Art Gallery

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The film surpassed its initial £1000 crowdfunding goal within 48 hours, currently sitting at 258%.

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Ascent also features an entirely original score with a live orchestral recording.

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The film has finished production and will have a private premiere on 25th September, 2021. 

Skills

Creative Direction​

Production

Cinematography

Editing

Color

Strategy

Brands

Deer Park Country House

Thelma Hulbert Art Gallery

Team:

Director / Producer / Editor: Daiki Shinomiya

Director / Writer / Editor: Leoni Fretwell

Director of Photography: Alex Giles

Assistant Director: Charlotte Weston

Assistant Director: Isabel Harrison

Audio: Adam Clark

First AC: Deniz Akbayir

Original Score: Robin Wright & Alexei Peters

Musical Director: Chris Sampson

Soundtrack Mastering Engineer: Johnny Hurst

Soundtrack Mixing Engineer: Daiki Shinomiya

Sound Design: Leoni Fretwell & Daiki Shinomiya

Cast: Angus Thomson, Julia Vredenberg, Anna Goodmaker, Lauren Ewer, Sian Ostler

Casting Directors: Roisin McCay-Hines & Ray Koh

Colourists: Leoni Fretwell & Daiki Shinomiya

Therapy Consultant: Nik Sutherland

Artists: Laura Garratt and Laura Moody

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Deer Park Contact: Mark Godfrey

Thelma Hulbert Staff: Ruth Gooding & Anna Aroussi

THE CHALLENGE

To provide students with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the film industry

Not your ordinary "student film"

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The ultimate aim of this project is to connect young creatives and produce a meaningful piece of cinema that lasts long in memory. This also aimed to enable students at our non-arts university to pursue a career in film. 

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The majority of the cast and crew came from diverse backgrounds seemingly unrelated to film – from me pursuing a degree in Psychology to the composers pursuing engineering and biochemistry. This film was produced and filmed completely independently from any university or course. 

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In the end, we managed to produce a film that enabled students at our non-creative university to land previously unattainable roles in the film industry, from working at a post-production house to helping out the production on a Netflix series. 

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BRANDING & SOCIAL MEDIA

Crowdfunding 100% of the goal in under 48 hours

I designed the brand identify of the film to reflect the elegance and subtlety of the story. 

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This served as the backbone of the social media and crowdfunding campaign, elevating its production value. 

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Elegant and eye-catching graphics paired with a high-quality video greatly contributed to the success of the campaign.

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The brand design added to the professionalism of the film, separating it further from a typical "student film".

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