the invitation

Synopsis

Candice is being chased, but by what? She runs through the night, the threat is ever present and getting closer. She finds sanctuary at home, but her mother Felicity is there, always asking questions. Meanwhile, in her heart, Candice has another secret, one which will only be revealed when she responds to The Invitation...

Credits

Candice: Clare Bowen

Felicity: Ann Burbrook

James: Scott Milender

With Mubarak Aljaidi, Emily Alwin, Skye Beker, Lucia Hayes and Georgia Holloway

Written, produced and directed by Simon Luckhurst.

Camera and editing: Keean Murrell Snape

Sound recording: Nicholas Tyrrell

Music composed by Piers Burbrook de Vere

Production assistants: Samantha Coles and Dayne Conroy

Makeup by Rochelle Kirkwood of Napoleon Makeup Academy

Budget

The budget for this film should have been considerable, however I once again received great support from Relativity Studios. On top of that Piers from Silencio created some wonderfully evocative music. And Keean is just a trooper.

Notes on the Film

I had a whole other film in mind to make this year, but, you know, things change and I got to thinking about some other stuff and came up with this. I wanted something dark and moody, and we certainly got that.

Keean shot on a still camera at 30 frames per second, for anyone interested in technical-type things. It gave us some great opportunities with both depth of field - not really an option when shooting with the video cameras we have available to us - and for using darkness as part of the light pallette without being as concerned as we usually would be about graininess when filming in low light conditions.

Both Keean and I had always wanted to use the location the opening shot is set in for a long time, finally here was a perfect opportunity.

Clare Bowen, who had just appeared in my play The War on the Hill, agreed to take the role of Felicity without realising that we would be shooting at night when eight million mosquitoes would suddenly and simultaneously decide that she was the tastiest thing in southern NSW. I myself copped a beetle the size of a small Airbus on my back at one stage.

Ann Burbrook was wonderful in that she not only volunteered to take the role of Felicity, but also volunteered her brother Piers to write music for the film. She was utterly fantastic as the slightly sinister mum.

I'd pictured someone else in the small but important role of James, but that person went and got braces on their teeth. Then I thought Scott would be perfect, but hadn't seen him for a while and didn't have his contact details. So when I went to buy the wine that was used in the film on the afternoon of shooting and saw him standing behind the counter of the local bottle shop, I knew it was fate.

Lucia Hayes did a great job rounding up Mo and the girls for their parts.

Keean's mum gave up her house for the evening - thanks, Michelle - Samantha and Dayne took on the role of production assistants with a minimum of eye rolling, while Nick Tyrell again came onboard to record the audio, although he's off to AFTRS this year so he may not be quite as available in the future. Rochelle Kirkwood did a fantastic job with the makeup, we've worked with Napoleon people a number of times over the years, they have always been great.

Watch the Movie

The Invitation on Vimeo.

Or go to http://www.vimeo.com/15043731



Images

Clare Bowen	Ann Burbrook
Ann Burbrook	Clare Bowen and Scott Milender
Clare Bowen	Clare Bowen and Ann Burbrook