Our second big ‘Intermission Feature’ Part of our live show: The Coalition: Almost a Sitcom at Norwich Playhouse in 2006
Get Lost
“What I wanted to do was create a funny homage that really pushed the boundaries of what we thought we were capable of with our filming. Most of all thought I wanted it to be enjoyable for lovers and haters of Lost alike – a good piss take has to be done with a bit of love.” – Tom.
In early 2006, after having put together the mammoth massive cast and crew for Coalition of the Ring, the AoE boys realised that they had a lot of talented friends with all sorts of film related expertise. On top of that, Tom had just completed his first ‘proper’ job in the TV industry (getting paid £100 a week to do Art Department on the Secret Of Eel Island 2) 2 things came of this: One was that Tom now had the addled notion that he knew how to write and direct stuff for film, and the other, far more important element was his friendship with Mike Stiff, then in his second year of Filmmaking Studies at Stafford Uni. and stunt coordinator on Eel Island.
Tom helped Mike put together his ambitious short film, Blue, and in return Mike agreed to shoot and edit the next Coalition half-time show. While Tom wrote this piece and gave some rather woolly camera directions, most of the quality you see in terms of shots and editing was due to Mike’s sharp instinct and rapidly increasing technical skill.
With access to better cameras, the assistance of long-time friend and makeup expert Lucy Harvey (nee Burton) and another Eel Island mate, soundman and filmmaker Liam Davies, AoE took their first big leap in production values and shot this quality homage to the fabulous TV series Lost. The production quality was pushed on every level. This film features the fantastic ‘Hatch’ set piece – so realistic looking people have since asked where they can find it on Mousehold Heath, where the film was shot – built by prop-maker extraordinaire Nigel Clegg. Simon ‘Tarn’ Jones, who did the lovley FX tweaks on Coalition of The Ring, pulled out every stop for AoE to create quality grades and affects for this film, special mention going to the famous ‘Smoke Monster’ which, if we say so ourselves, looks almost as good as the original.
Finally big thanks must go to Jenny Kirk (BBC Look East presenter), friend of AoE and splendidly baffling plot twist!
AoE – 09/06/09
Tags: axis of evil, coalition axis evil video norwich, comedy