File - Film Studies

 Synopsis On the periphery of the city is an ugly isolated ‘slum in the sky’. Inhabitants trapped like rats in a maze surrounded by vandalism and decay. Inside a damp and cold single apartment a man goes about his normal routine grooming himself for work. On the bed is a perfectly laid out army uniform ‘The Rifles’ regiment. Once dressed the man assembles an army training issue M24 Sniper Rifle and aims it outside the living room window. An alarm rings and he fires at the first person that comes across the telescopic sight… Resetting the alarm the man will reload and target the sniper rifle on the hour of every hour. Each 59minutes in‐between he will continue obsessive routines around the apartment revealing elements of his personality and past. Voyeuring on different cultures inside the block ‐ the sniper rifle targeted on each person regardless of skin, colour and sex – as he waits for the clock to tick over. Arriving at the scene a Policeman will attempt to find out why he is doing this ‐ claiming the man is Roger Marshall once a private in The Rifles Regiment. But the man will not answer slipping between reality and twilight sleep ‐ in delusions of grandeur he hears voices and sees hallucinations centred around his actions. Now dubbed ‘The Rifleman’ he is famous for fifteen minutes – a media circus gathering outside. Hearing the police storming the now evacuated apartment block ‘The Rifleman’ will calmly disassemble his sniper rifle, remove the regiment uniform and give himself up. Greeted by a blinding sun and flashing lights he has one last target ‐ the audience ‐ where a shocking revelation of the man’s true identity turns everything we thought and were led to believe upside down. Directors Statement The Rifleman’ is a drama/thriller feature film. In its creative stylization and performance it adheres to originating something thought provoking, challenging and entertaining for the audience. Asking the question are we ever truly aware of the dangers across society in isolation, paranoia and social anxiety? Where a crazed romanticised notion of 'a lonely hero putting right society wrongs' with extreme measures in the hope the public will take note can easily become a reality. Voyeurism is a key theme in both the exterior and interior of a ugly apartment block which society has too easily forgotten. Playing with the concept of not everything is what it seems – we're led to believe we’re voyeuring into the world of a forgotten soldier, a war hero ‐ but in fact The Rifleman is voyeuring on us, the audience. As the sole lead we follow The Rifleman from his point of view alone inside the apartment showcasing a character study of one man and his environment. Everything outside is only seen through a sniper telescopic sight. We ourselves become the voyeurs, the loner, both the killer and targeted. “Sometimes there is no explanation for a horrific event … Only confusion” The production design, sound design and camera shots become the vocalization of The Rifleman’s mind – using a modern day French New Wave cinematic style through mise‐en‐
scene and performance. Lighting will create the different moods of realism ‐ from the darkness of the living room (where the sniper shots are fired) influenced by German noir expressionism (in a half lit face) to a sharp contrast of over‐exposed heavenly white light for other rooms and the outside ‐ creating a dream‐like surreal world. The style of editing will work in tandem with the sound design and camera shots ‐ creating an innovative way of story‐telling comparable to ground breaking edited films ‘Point Blank’ and ‘Requiem for a Dream’ through the stylized pacing of cuts. The original soundtrack score will battle the surrounding events ‐ between a contented echoing slide guitar then contrasted to speeded up drum and bass beats mirroring the panic. In its content and performance ‘The Rifleman’ is inspired by similar social isolation themes in movies like ‘Taxi Driver’ and 'A Prophet' and French New Wave directors Godard and Melville by using minimal dialogue where the frames mise‐en‐scene tells the complete story. Main Crew Matthew J Gunn, Writer & Director Matthew’s commissioned credits include TV movie / festival feature 'Sleeping with Fishes, Italian TV film ‘Trilogy Room 237, short films ‘Generation Britpop’, ‘Condimental Love’. Award nominated stage credits include Beckett’s 'First Love’ (Europe), 'Transfer Deadline Day’ (London Courtyard) and musical ‘Hot Pants and Flares’ (New Victoria). As well as published novels ‘Britpop’ & ‘Stinkin Thinkin’. Current features in development include apocalyptic thriller 'City of Shadows’ (Film Factory Pictures),‘Break In’ (White Lantern Films) and 'The Return' (Animus Pictures Ltd). Ben Richards, Producer Ben Richards is Managing Director of Animus Pictures Ltd, which successfully produced his début feature film, ‘TRAVELLERS’. This was released theatrically in the UK and Germany 2011 and led to a further three completed features as producer. 'Gridiron UK', 'The All Dayer' and 'Emotion Remains' are all set for release in 2013. Ben is an accomplished producer of various television programs including 'Up The Fan'. He has established working relations with distribution companies including Universal. Matt Lane, Associate Producer Matt started his production work in mainstream television on Spitting Image, The Bill and Holby City. Later moving onto high profile acclaimed serials including ‘Collision’ and ‘Vexed’. In recent times Matt has been working on UK features films ‘The Sweeney’, ‘Weekender’ and ‘Pimp’. Matt runs Film Factory Pictures, whose growing credits include South American mainstream television commission for the documentary serial ‘No Vale das Palmeiras’ and starting pre‐production on feature ‘City of Shadows’. James Player, Location & Production Manager James has done Location and Unit management on high profile UK features ‘Cockneys vs Zombies’, ‘Comedown’ ‘The Wee Man’ and Hollywood blockbusters 'Good Day to Die Hard' and 'Fast and Furious 6'. Continuing the linked collaboration of core personal James has worked alongside Matt Lane on ‘Weekender’ and co‐produced Matthew J Gunn’s London stage‐play ‘Transfer Deadline Day’. Stephen Murphy, Director of Photography Stephen is an award winning Director of Photography. A huge CV of work from TV, shorts to features including The Guard, Whistleblower, Murphy’s Law, Sherlock Holmes, The West Wing and most recently two award winning shorts that have now been green‐lit to be turned into features, 'Coward' and 'Mrs Peppercorn and the Magical Reading Room'.
Tate Post, Sound Design and Grade Vanesa Tate and Dominique Devoucoux run Tate Post. There rapid success of credits includes On The Road, Hell Boy 2, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix, Sweeney Todd, The Nutcracker and Ill Manors. One of the very first projects they worked on was with Matthew and Lioness Films award nominated short 'Inside', they are looking forward to working all together again after many years. Kris McManus, Editor Kris is an award winning film‐maker. He has produced, written, directed and edited two feature films 'Dead in France' and 'Travellers' that have sold internationally. Kris now runs his own video production company Inroad Media which provides editing services, Visual Effects and Special Effects for various productions as well as Title Sequences and Project Design. Kris, Matthew and Ben have worked together on various projects, including 'Travellers', 'Generation Britpop' and is currently editing 'Emotional Remains'. Celina Norris, Production Designer Celina brings a versatile approach to design, allowing her to create both interesting cinematic sets to high end interior design. Recent successful feature credits include Tested, Wedding Most Strange, Ghosted, Baseline and Piggy. Her television design work includes the award winning soap Coronation Street. Clare Cahill, 1st Assistant Director Clare brings a broad range of people management and scheduling skills and experience to a crew, together with a strong work ethic. Described by producer Clare McGann as "a steady hand at the tiller", her impressive credits include 'Gridiron UK', 'GBH', 'The Rise and Fall of the White Collar Hooligan' and 'UFO'. Lois & The Love, Music Fronted by Lois Winstone and managed by Alice Harter (The Magic Numbers) Lois and the Love have released a successful EP with début album following at Normal Recordings. Lead Cast Darren Bransford as The Rifleman Darren's recent feature film work includes lead roles in 3 In A Bed (executive produced by, and starring, Shameless star Jody Latham), The Secret Path (directed by Richard Mansfield), and Dead In France (released theatrically in USA and France, available on DVD globally, for which Darren was awarded Best Supporting Actor at the LA Cinema Festival in 2012). Other feature film credits include Plastic (directed by A Lonely Place To Die's Julian Gilbey), Psychosis (directed by Reg Traviss), and Alpha 66 (from director Matthew Hope), The Last Post, directed by Axelle Carolyn, executive produced by Neil Marshall, and Matthew J. Gunn's Generation Britpop. Darren's television credits include a recent Guest Lead in Holby City (BBC), three years as series regular in Hollyoaks (Channel 4), The Mag (Five), Pie in the Sky (BBC), and the US television movie Esther. Darren recently starred in the West End premiere of Stephen Belber's three‐hander Tape, at Trafalgar Studios. Lucy Brooks as Janis Lucy's high profile television credits include lead guest starring roles in The Bill, Holby City, The Stepfather and Pissed on the Job. Her film credits include the award nominated shorts Inside, The End and Back Again, plus Generation Britpop and Sleeping with Fishes (where she worked with Matthew). Her stage credits include the female lead in Ray Cooney's original West End run of Caught In The Net. Lucy is also an artist and writer. Detective Sargent Callen We shall be approaching the following well known names; Ray Winstone, Paul McGann, Jason Isaacs, Damien Lewis and Paddy Considine, as the main Police negotiator. Executive Summary We are focused on producing an outstanding high concept, independent feature film. This unique and captivating thriller is set within London's internationally recognised landscape. A gripping film experience set for theatrical release. The recent revolution in digital technology offers a more efficient and cost effective means of feature production without compromising on quality. With our experienced award winning DOP we aim to shoot on 35mm or the high end digital equivalent Arrie‐Alexa. This film will have innovation, originality and marketability. We shall begin negotiation with global distribution for Box Office and DVD/VOD. We seek to raise finance through the Governments Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) so that investors should be able to obtain tax relief and other tax benefits.  The investor will receive 50% back from HMRC through the SEIS,  The investor will then be entitled to a further 22.5% loss relief, In a worst case scenario, the SEIS protects 86.5% of the investment, presenting a significantly lower risk than many other. We aim to reduce risk by 100% via the structure our accountants have been working on. We shall also be offering repayment of investments with premiums, share in future profits, and access to potential tax credits. Contact If you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss our opportunities further, please contact Producer Ben Richards at: info@animuspictures.co.uk 0797 688 3098