DESIGNATION: Limbo (A 1950s Espionage Short Film)

Aim

An espionage thriller short film based on an interrogation in 1950s. A man pleads for his life, and only he can prove himself innocent.

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• “Answer The Question. Tell Us The Truth.”

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What is DESIGNATION: Limbo?

‘Limbo’ is an espionage thriller short film based in Oxfordshire, England, 1952. Christopher Oxley, an average academic, sits in an interrogation, trying to prove himself innocent to the stoic British Intelligence Officer, Agent Sullivan, in spite of all the evidence pointing to him as a traitor of the state.

The story centres around the interrogation as we observe the way Chris reacts to and answers the unreadable interrogator’s sharp questions. Chris’ responses unfold his tale; from an intense chase through a steam train station, to an exchange at a glamorous jazz club. We also bear witness to a continuous struggle in identifying between supposed friends and enemies.

The film depicts how the British Intelligence operated towards the dawn of the Cold War from the perspective of an outsider that has been unexpectedly pulled into a situation that he has no control over.

‘DESIGNATION: Limbo’ is part of a collective passion project for its producer and director Callum John. This venture is not only his dissertation film, but it is also the opening instalment to a planned anthology series set during the Cold War. With a planned length of 20 minutes, this project will amalgamate the emotion and tone of the film noir, alongside the tension and style of the modern period thriller genre.

Think “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” meets “North by Northwest”. 

In order to achieve this, the film’s mission is to take the values of a high-scale concepts and subverting them to fit into a contained narrative and scope. This provides the audience with a more intimate interaction with the protagonists, while the excitement of ‘set-pieces’.

• Where The Funds Will Go:

As always in any film project, the production can be costly due to the film’s nature and style have some particular requirements. An emphasis in production for ‘Limbo’ is providing an accurate presentation of its time period through the chosen locations, costume and researched plot details, with therefore accumulate towards the target goal for the budget.

 These Costs Includes:

- Production Equipment Costs

- Location Hire Fees

- Period Costumes

- Props

- Cast and Crew Costs

- Travel Expenses

- Set Design Costs

- Catering and Accommodation

- Marketing and Publicity Post Production

- Film Festival Fees

The Team: 

CAST:

NAME: Chris Weeks
ROLE: Christopher Oxley 

Christopher Weeks trained at the Oxford School of Drama. Since graduating in 2017, he has originated the role of Johnny Gustafson in the UK Tour of 'Cilla the Musical', played Guy Haines in 'Strangers on a Train' at Frinton Summer Theatre, played Edward Wells in 'The Martian Invasion of Earth' for Big Finish Productions, and Will in 'For the Time Being' for BBC Radio 4, among others.
Chris also works as a session musician, composer and arranger for screen and stage.'

NAME: Ben Readings
ROLE: Agent Albert Frost 

Ben Readings is an IT engineer by day & an actor by night, whom has been performing since 2012, and has been on stage and involved in local film projects since then. Ben has had notable roles as Robert Toogood in ‘The Hunt’, Dmitri in ‘Seeing Grace’ and others Deadly Game IV, Dinosaur Britain as well as lots of extra work.
He has also trained in several martial arts, pre-hospital emergency medicine, an expansive knowledge of films, geek culture and gaming that he presents on ‘Nerdemic’.

CREW:

NAME: Callum John
ROLE: Producer, Director, Writer and Editor
Callum John is a filmmaker and director based in Oxfordshire.  Through years of experience in the areas of film, theatre and performing arts, Callum has built up a plethora of skills in multiple areas of productions. With previous directive work in both commercial and narrative, he strives to bring his audiences an entertaining and emotional experience.
His motivation and dedication to his work allows Callum bring his passion of the medium of film to life.

Previous Works:
- ‘One New Message’ (2016) - Producer/Director/Writer/DOP/Editor - (Short urban fantasy sci-fi drama)
- ‘Deception’ (2017) - Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor - (Short thriller film)
- ‘I Did A Terrible Thing’ (2017) - Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor (Short psychological thriller)
- ‘The Spoils’ (2018) – Producer/Director/Writer/DOP/Editor - (Short post-apocalyptic VNF)

NAME: Ben John
ROLE: Unit Production Manager
Ben is a determined and highly focused member of the team. His time management and technical knowledge allows him to keep the project on schedule and to the standards it deserves. With a degree in multimedia systems, Ben is multi-talented and always willing to also get hands-on with any task.
Previous Works:
-  ‘I Did A Terrible Thing’ (2017) - Producer
- ‘Nerdemic’ (2015-2018) – Associate Producer
- ‘Fenmore’ (2018) – Unit Production Manager

NAME: Christopher Cosby
Christopher Cosby is a filmmaker & photographer with over ten years of experience. Chris spent most his time refining his camera operation and cinematography skills working with a diverse range of equipment.
Chris’ natural tenacity to learn about camera tech and techniques lead him down the path of lighting, audio, editing (for film and photo), rigging, and grip work allowing Chris to work fluidly as a freelance filmmaker.
Previous Works:
- ‘SAE Live Lounge’ (2017-18) – Photographer/ Videographer
- ‘Should We Do It’ (2018) – Cinematographer/Grip/Gaffer
- ‘The Hunt’ (2018) - VFX Artist/ Gaffer/Grip/BTS Photographer
- ‘Tommy’ (2018) - BTS Photographer

NAME: Leanne Wallace
ROLE: Make-Up Artist
Leanne Wallace is a graduate makeup artist based in Swindon. Alongside having a national diploma in media makeup under her belt, she also has an art and design at foundation degree and a BA Hons degree in Specialist Hair & Media Makeup.
Her best skill set is within makeup and hair history, allowing her to pick up anachronism in period TV and films.  She is alo skilled in working with special FX and prosthetic makeup.
Previous Works:
- ‘Legally Blonde’ (2017) – Makeup and hair – The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham
- ‘How Pretty’ (2018) – Makeup Artist – G7 Productions
- ‘Breathe’ (2018) – Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist – Stray Cat Productions
- ‘Way of the World’ (2018) – Makeup – Crescent Theatre, Birmingham

NAME: William Henley
ROLE: Sound Mixer
William Henley is an independent producer composer and sound engineer from the east midlands. He has experience with up to date digital audio workstations His previous works include writing a soundtrack and foley artist for the short film “Night Walk,” as well as producer for the soundtrack of “Playing on the Pinn.” His realistic approach to film scores and sounds, can create quite intimate atmospheres as well as, emotional moments in scenes.
Previous Works:
- ‘Night Walk’ (2018) – Composer and Foley Artist
-  ‘Playing on the Pinn’ – Producer, Sound Mixer, Recordist

NAME: Alex Keith
ROLE: Costumes Designer
Alex Keith trained in prop and costume making at Bath Spa University and now works freelance making, designing, and styling. With a great eye for detail and a creative spark, Alex has credits across both film and theatre, including working on multiple productions.
Previous Works:
- Urinetown: The Musical
- Christmas at Newton Park
- Woyzeck
- The Wind in the Willow

NAMES: Max Pulham & Max Riches
ROLE: Sound Recordists 
With backgrounds in music production, live sound events and theatre sound, Riches and Pulham have more recently been focusing on audio production for the film industry.
Previous collaborations have involved short foley and sound design projects, however, the primary area of work has become location recording.  
Previous Works:
-  'No Code’ (2018) - Boom op - (Short drama)  

- ‘The Great Charade’ (2018) - Sound Recordists - (Feature length Thriller)
- ‘Onus’ (2018) - Sound Recordists - (Short film)

This project successfully funded on 16th March 2019