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.
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.
The film surpassed its initial £1000 crowdfunding goal within 48 hours, currently sitting at 258%.
Ascent also features an entirely original score with a live orchestral recording.
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
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"
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.
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.
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.
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.
This served as the backbone of the social media and crowdfunding campaign, elevating its production value.
Elegant and eye-catching graphics paired with a high-quality video greatly contributed to the success of the campaign.
The brand design added to the professionalism of the film, separating it further from a typical "student film".
Social Assets
ORIGINAL SOUNDS
Crafting an immersive sensory experience through sound
We knew from the beginning that we wanted to have 100% original music. Never could we have envisioned bringing on board a live orchestra from Wellington School to record real instruments for the soundtrack.
Leoni and I worked alongside our talented composers to craft a soundtrack that fit the exact essence of the film, down to the beat. My background playing in an orchestra (flute & bassoon) helped in communicating with the musicians to achieve as close of a sound to our vision as possible.
I mixed the audio tracks, blending physical and virtual instruments using Logic Pro and Abelton Live. The tracks were then mastered by our mastering engineer.
We also recorded bespoke foley for our sound design, ensuring exact precision and accuracy for a totally immersive experience for the viewers. I mixed and mastered the sound design in both Logic Pro and DaVinci Resolve.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
If you have enough learning curves, you'll eventually make a circle
It was a fulfilling experience taking what was just a simple idea into a real production from scratch, through the power of creative collaboration and ambition.
Although this is not a perfect film, it was a great achievement – creating art and collaboration entirely from scratch.
I hope that this demonstrates how capable students are when they work together on their passions – regardless of what degree or background they have.
Stay tuned for updates!