Running Time: 09:06
Genre: Psychological Horror
Release Date: December 2011
Cycle 3D on IMDB
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Our first ever live action short shot in Stereoscopic 3D was an original psychological/supernatural drama inspired by the likes of "The Twilight Zone" written, produced and directed by Andrew Murchie. The film was shot in October 2011 with post production done over the following three months and completed in late December 2011.
Having taken "The Writers’ Factory Intro to Screenwriting Express" in early 2011 at Screen Academy Scotland, Andrew wrote his first short film scripts. Two potential scripts were completed with a view to shooting one before then end of 2011. The initial preference was for a script called "Sweets" and a IndieGoGo campaign was launched to raise some funding to cover production expenses. The IndieGoGo goal wasn't quite reached so after careful consideration it was decided to switch to "Cycle" as it was a less complex script with an easier location and an overall easier production.
Following a very speedy audition process Lisa Glen and Gary Lind were chosen to star and having met at an "Electric Man" screening Andrew approached Doug Russell to play the role of the eccentric estate agent (Realtor for our American friends).
Filming was done at Andrew's home, in the Cramond region of Edinburgh, which had most of the furniture moved out to the garage to try and make the place look deserted - not so easy in an active family home. The film was shot over one weekend on an all-in-one 3D Camcorder Sony HXR-NX3D1 which Sony had very kindly donated in lieu of a prize offered for winning a 3D Animation Contest.
This model is the prosumer version of the Sony TD-10 which allows for 24p shooting (a must have for 3D Blu-ray production) and professional XLR audio inputs on the camera.
Editing and additional post-production was done in spare time over the ensuing 3 months with most shots being tweaked for optimal 3D and there being a fair number of FX shots required. Even on a simple short like this there were a fair few FX shots for example where the mysterious helmet wearing man appears to walk through the house hunter. Or in a shot where the couple enter the house with the estate agent a 3D lens flare to appears giving a clue that there was something changing; lens flares aren't really practical in native shot 3D so this was actually added in post production. These types of simple additions in 2D were considerably more time consuming and complex to undertake in 3D.
A shot of milk and blood rolling across the road in the intro sequence couldn't be shot in 3D due to proximity to the camera with a fixed interaxial so this was shot in 2D and converted using a basic depth map displacement technique in After Effects.
The editing was done in Adobe Premiere Pro with FX and compositing done in Adobe After Effects.
OUTLINE
Following a motorcycle accident a dazed and confused bike driver returns home to find his house empty, desolate and for sale. Little does he realise the truth of the young couple looking to buy his house, nor the cyclical nightmare that unfolds.
CAST
Gary Lind played the central role of Rip and without wanting to deliver any spoilers let’s say he got the biggest challenge in the amount of work he had to do. Apart from Gary’s stunning audition he really impressed with his performance in an earlier short – The Confession that you can check out on YouTube – it’s well worth watching.
Lisa Glen played Victoria, Rip’s wife and is central to the romance as she and Rip look for a house suitable to become a family home. Lisa is an experienced actress with a wide range of experience from stage, TV and film.
The rather eccentric estate agent showing them the “house of their dreams” was being played by Douglas Russell who was recently seen on the big screen in “The Batman” and in the last season of BBC's "Peaky Blinders". Doug has also starred in a large number of other feature films including “A Lonely Place to Die” & “Electric Man” and TV shows such as Taggart and Rebus. It was Doug’s performance in “Electric Man” as a somewhat beleaguered police man that inspired the development of the of the estate agent as a more comedic character, and it’s great that he joined the cast to bring it to life.
CREW
The fantastic crew on the shoot were incredibly supportive and did a phenomenal job.
Andrew Murchie – Director, Producer, Stereographer
Janeanne Gilchrist – Director of Photography
Elliot Cambell – Camera Assistant
Rhiannon Grist – First Assistant Director
Jack Coghill – Sound Recordist
Neil Warden – Music
Austen McCowan – Production Assistant
We also had a great team of helpers including:
Rosie Murchie – Catering
Kevin Greig – Fixer
Graham Murchie – Transportation
Guy Roemmele – Motorcycle (Fife Bike Spares)
IMAGES
The Collection 3D Behind The Scenes Images on Flickr.
FESTIVALS
August 2012 – Deep Fried Film Festival (Scotland)
December 2012 – LA 3D Movie Festival (USA)
December 2013 – Z Awards (USA)
AWARDS
December 2012 – Director’s Choice Award, LA 3D Movie Festival (USA)
April 2013 – Best Live Action 3D Short, Z Awards (Las Vegas, USA)