​Readers of our last news item will remember that Rachel Stephens recently left City Eye to work on Phil Peel's feature film ‘Gone to Ground’.  Rachel has been updating us with news from behind the scenes.  We are a little late sharing this report from week 2 -so stand by for week 3, coming soon!   

During the week all of the crew helped to set-up another key moment of the film, involving a car accident, which took a lot of teamwork to pull off but it looks amazing and we are all really looking forward to shooting with the wrecked car in our third week.
 
This second week of production also saw the arrival of actor Alan Breck taking on the role of Guy. Having Alan here has meant we’ve been able to film scenes between two of the main characters and it has been great to watch Alan and co-star Melissa De Mol work the scenes together.
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Although there is still over a week left and more script to cover, it really feels like the film is starting to take its shape and I can see a glimpse of what Gone To Ground is going to be when production is complete.
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‘In an isolated farmhouse, an old man’s world of gardening, memories and crosswords is shattered by the arrival of an injured and traumatised woman on the run.’
Gone to Ground is an independent feature thriller from writer/director Phil Peel. www.grindstonefilms.co.uk
Rachel Stephens is a freelance filmmaker and former City Eye employee. Rachel has worked as the production assistant on ‘Gone to Ground’. www.rachelstephensfilms.co.uk
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Many local film fans, filmmakers and City Eye students will have known and worked with our colleague Rachel Stephens over the last 9 years.  Rachel recently left her role with City Eye Projects and Productions to embark on the next chapter of her filmmaking career.  Rachel is working with Southampton based filmmaker and former Chair of City Eye's Board of Trustees, Phil Peel, on his feature Gone to Ground.  We are delighted that Rachel has agreed to send back news from location to keep us all up-to-date with her new experiences.

"The whole cast & crew have also spent this first week establishing a rhythm with working together, a routine for set dressing each scene and checking props & wardrobe and a pattern for setting up lights & positioning the camera. Once we had this down, we were then able to find a rhythm to shooting, setting up & filming scenes more effectively as the week went on.
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It is a challenge to get that many people in-sync especially with all the different variables that go into setting up a shot but when we were synchronised, we achieved some great moments for the film including capturing some shots in just one take!
 
Overall it has been a busy and challenging week. I am looking forward to getting back to work this week as now we’ve got the ball rolling and are familiar with each other, we should achieve even more wonderful things for the film."
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‘In an isolated farmhouse, an old man’s world of gardening, memories and crosswords is shattered by the arrival of an injured and traumatised woman on the run.’
Gone to Ground is an independent feature thriller from writer/director Phil Peel. www.grindstonefilms.co.uk
Rachel Stephens is a freelance filmmaker and former City Eye employee. Rachel is working as production assistant on ‘Gone to Ground’. www.rachelstephensfilms.co.uk
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Exeter Phoenix are working alongside Into Film to create the first South West Showcase
– a special hour-long screening that will celebrate exceptional young filmmaking talent from across the region. South West based filmmakers aged 16-19 are invited to submit short films of under 10 minutes. The deadline to submit your film is Friday 14th December. The final hour-long showcase will be toured at film festivals and venues across the region throughout 2019.
 
South West Showcase: https://www.intofilm.org/competitions/14
 
 
Exeter Phoenix
Bang in the heart of the city, Exeter Phoenix is a vibrant, world class multi-artform venue, and home to several art galleries, a theatre, cinema, film production resources, a radio station, print workshop and recording studios, all centred around a buzzing café bar. As well as hosting hundreds of music, film, art and performance events every year, we nurture a thriving arts scene through our Creative Hub, which supports emerging artists, musicians, theatre companies and filmmakers.
 

Into Film
Into Film are a UK-wide programme designed to support teachers and educators to achieve a wide range of effective learning outcomes in their use of film. Their programme includes a network of extra-curricular film clubs, resources for use in clubs and in the classroom, training opportunities, a cinema-based film festival and our annual Awards.