Tag: Short Film

Dark Was The Night DVD

i‘ve just completed the DVD mastering and re-edit of the short film I made with a bunch of friends some 9 years back in Liverpool, Birmingham and Redditch.

Was it really that long ago?

There are some updated images on the projects page here, and also a new film clip. Dark was the night on DVD

If you’d really like to to see the film, plus associated outtakes and the all new ‘directors’ commentary, then by all means send me an email.

I’m not saying I’ll send out a DVD, but its always nice to feel wanted.

Dark Was The Night

i‘ve now updated the ‘films’ page with a promo clip from the ‘Dark Was The Night’ short film. It is quite a low quality clip but certainly an improvement over the huge animated gif that used to appear on the page. Its a RealMedia clip of about 7mb in size.*

You can view more on the films page here.

*Clearly the days of self hosting RealMedia clips on websites are long passed. Now updated with a handy YouTube link.

DARK WAS THE NIGHT

Dark Was The Night DVD chris and dani show 6 presents
a film written and directed by Chris Hathway

DARK WAS THE NIGHT

starring Daniel Mulcrone
and Emma Southwell

‘Dark Was The Night’ was shot during the autumn and winter of 1997 in the City of Liverpool, the car parks of Redditch and in the maze of motorway interchanges that come together as Spaghetti Junction.

View a short trailer for the film:

It was my vague and maybe over ambitious plan to create a modern thriller with the style, pace and cinematography of the Spaghetti Western. With a sudden snowfall just before we shot the finale the downbeat ending is closer to the classic ‘Il Grande Silenzio‘ than was planed – with all the free snow that arrived, I couldn’t resist.

Filmed without a budget, in an era before CCTV camera systems, we had the freedom to run around the terrifically atmospheric mid-winter car parks of Redditch without interruption. Friends played the lead roles and I have to say that despite his staccato dialogue delivery, slightly Michael Caine at times, Dan Mulcrone makes a great vengeful husband and certainly puts in the films best performance.

The running time originally came in around 55 minutes, however since transferring the film, originally shot on video, into digital format a tighter edit now leaves it at 35 minutes, which is hopefully a little more pacy and entertaining.

Is is any good?

Well, I think it definitely has its moments, the suspense and chase through the lifts and car park early on particularly, and Dan, I’m sure theres a hobby in amateur dramatics waiting for you somewhere, hold on, that was supposed to be a compliment you know…

If we’d shot it today, we’d certainly have cheaper and better equipment, and we’d be editing with the razor sharpness of a computer rather that the vague cut of three video recorders hooked up together, but with cheap video equipment comes cheap CCTV so what we gained in affordable equipment we’d certainly have lost in the freedom to go and shoot where we pleased. All in all I think it turned out pretty well, and if nothing else it serves to document some of the buildings and ‘architecture’ of Redditch, Bromsgrove and Toxteth circa 1997.

Thats Dan, in a car park with a big gunThose are the new titlesThats me and EmThats the carThats in ToxtethThats Dan againThats EmmaThats me on the stairsThose are the lights of Spaghetti junctionThats the car park chasethats in spooky car park 4Thats Emma with a gun as wellThats me, freezing, in the snow

All images and artwork copyright ©1998 - 2024 chris hathway, illustrator& Hathway/Creative