Film: Still Waters Run Deep

Film Title: Still Waters Run Deep

Award Designation: Love Unlimited Film Festival & Art Exhibition Award Winner.

Director: Michael St. John Savva

Cast: James Rose (Lead Actor), Hannah Rousell (Lead Actor), Barry Clarke (Supporting), Nathan Ampofo (Supporting), Adrian Cline-Bailey (Supporting)

Country: United Kingdom

Category: Short Film

Short Synopsis: A wife is convinced her husband is having an affair and one night decides to follow him when he sneaks out of the house. Driving through the suburbs of London, she follows him down a dark ally to a garage. To her shock horror she soon learns that whilst he is not cheating on her, his unusual drinking habit aids his peculiar desire. This quirky short touches on a taboo subject that's all together very natural.


More Information:

Director Statement
The idea of making a taboo subject even more forbidden by hiding it away late at night down a dark ally way, when the act itself is natural fascinated me and hopefully the film shows a different perspective to the inherent act.

For the film to be convincing the cast needed to fit together; casting was as much about how the actors work off each other as well as fitting the role in my mind. Moreover being a first film for me it was important to use actors, crew and music from artists all in similar positions to myself, with the aim to create an atmosphere where we were all working to achieve the same goal and I hope this translates in every aspect of the film.

The aim of the film itself is not to sicken or shock but create a sincere relationship and make an unbelievable situation convincing. Being able to create a 12 and half minute film in which an audience can feel suspense, mystery, drama and be able to laugh or chuckle along the way was my ultimate goal, if the comedic element didn’t achieve its purpose then the rest of the film would not translate to any audience as a serious drama.

Production Notes
"The Water Boys"
The characters of Dominic, Dean and Phil were never set in stone. Days were spent auditioning different actors with different accents and different looks. The idea behind the secret group is that they are not close friends outside of this world, they may know each other and may discuss families and life but they would rarely socialise or meet each other’s partners. Having met online and finding someone else that had a similar passion was enough for them. The characters needed to be different; fetishes or quirks are not defined by race or age, however the situation needs to have element of social believability.

The mix of different characters helped define the dynamics amongst the ‘secret group’. Dean (Nathan Ampofo) has done this all before and knows the longer you hold it the better it is; whilst Dominic (Adrian Cline-Bailey) is obviously new to this, he’s fresh and eager wanting to get to the best part as soon as possible. Barry Clarke who plays Phil the host came to the production at the eleventh hour, due to the previous actor pulling out on a family emergency.

Barry brought an amazing positive energy to the film giving the character a new vibrancy we hadn’t explored, moreover he brought the same positive high energy to set throughout, keeping the atmosphere in high spirits and encouraging for the rest of the crew and cast.

"The husband, his wife and their silent relationship."
“James Rose was born to play Kevin” says director Michael St. John; “When I sat down to go through the character of the husband (Kevin) with James, it clicked, he understood the background of the character and conveyed that in his performance” The first section of the film has no dialogue and so James & Hannah (Wife) have to communicate the genre, style and feel of the film in the physical performances without the film turning into a slapstick comedy; this meant the actors had to look a couple as much as they did act like a couple as no dialogue happens between the two in the film.

The first we actually hear of the husband is when he is singing to himself, its part of his ritual. He uses it to get psyched up and also uses it to come down. Finding independent music that fitted was a task. Kamp David are a London based group, after seeing them perform live at Edge Bar in Soho, I felt their energy as they performed and knew it was the energy we needed the husband to feel and emote for his initial driving scene. Anna Sinfield was also an act we saw live, a UK folk singer with a grace in her voice which is in contrast to her profoundly descriptive lyrics. Her acoustic performance was calming and comforting; the perfect fit for our Husband to drive home to after his escapade.



Resume:
Michael St.John Savva: Costumer, Director, Print Shipper, Producer, Production Designer, Set Decorator, Submission Contact, Writer

Michael grew up in Edmonton, North London. At ages 8 he begun acting and continued to do so into his late teens doing various theatre jobs and small presenting jobs on TV. At age 16 Michael began writing various scripts mainly short films and sitcom pilots. After graduating in Film & Television Studies from the University of Surrey in 2006 he assisted friends and colleagues on their projects and in 2009 started work on his first short film 'Still Waters Run Deep'.

Downloads:
Official Website
Click the link to open an official Website for this project that is sanctioned by the filmmakers.http://www.stillwatersfilm.com


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