Meet Sophie Kenny, a independent filmmaker based in United Kingdom and a member of the StudentFilmmakers Filmmakers Network. See Sophie’s Network profile to connect.
Directed, produced, and written by Sophie Kenny, Rose is a dream-like short film that follows the story of protagonist, Thom, whose fiancée, Rose, has been missing for several weeks with no trace. Thom will not accept that she is missing, and enters an alternate reality to escape the truth – with a twist.
Rose was shot on one Sony HDV A1E on Mini DV tapes. There were 15 crew members in total, including post-production crew. Sophie Kenny operated camera on set with Jack Brown who served as 1st AD. Grant Wilson worked on sound; Mark Kershaw has worked with the sound design so far in post-production; and a collection of composers have contributed to the soundtrack to the film.
StudentFilmmakers Magazine: What inspired the story for your short film, “Rose?”
Sophie Kenny: Rose was inspired one morning while I was travelling on the train in August 2010. I picked up a copy of the daily newspaper, “The Metro,” and was reading the inside stories. One story caught my eye almost straight away, it was very close to my hometown, so I read on. The article was about a girl who had caught a train to Wolverhampton and had not been seen since. It told of the grief of her family, pleading for her to return home, or darkly, if was the case, for the captor to let her go. The story stood out to me especially as she was local, and notably because her disappearance seemed completely unprovoked. It shocked me that she was here one moment, and then gone the next with no warning to her loved ones. Whether she was kidnapped or decided to run away was completely a mystery.
The story struck me; I wanted to create a personal film, but also with strong social context. With such a local big story I felt it was something a lot of people could particularly relate to in my area. It also fed back, coincidently to a reoccurring dream I had been having at the time of being lost – I felt a definite calling to make something out of it.
SFM: Could you describe one of the lighting setups for one of your most favourite, unique or memorable scenes?
Sophie Kenny: My favourite lighting setup for Rose was a very long shot where Thom desperately runs to try and catch up with a figure he believes is Rose. I wanted to create eerie, long drawn out shadows, similar to the effect seen in the chase scene in The Third Man. Vic Casambros, chief lighting technician on set, set up three Redhead lights at varying heights along the railway bridge we were shooting at. I was so pleased with how this turned out in edit; it To be released early 2012
frames the mood wonderfully and captures Thom’s sense of desperation.
SFM: If you could share a camera movement technique used in “Rose” what would it be?
Sophie Kenny: One feature I use frequently in my films, including Rose, is dramatic zoom. This unsettles the viewer and draws their attention. I like this element of surprise. I have a couple of dramatic zoom shots in Rose where the camera pans incredibly fast from a mid-shot of Thom, to the pupil of the eye. This is difficult to achieve accurately with camera, but with a patient actor and plenty of practice – the effects can be really amazing.
SFM: Did you ever experience Murphy’s Law on set? What was the Challenge and Solution?
Sophie Kenny: We shot Rose at Stafford train station, England, at night-time. Understandably there are endless problems with filming in such a busy place – public interference, travel announcements, passing trains, noise, etc. However, as a crew we felt organised and had planned as best we could for potential problems. All went well, until the second night of filming, when a major station close-by, Birmingham New Street, was closed due to a problem. All passengers were diverted to Stafford station. We suddenly had a huge influx of curious passengers arriving at a crucial point where the station is meant to be shot completely empty. Luckily, we addressed the curious onlookers and most left in quick time after we politely explained our time restraints and what we were filming. (Though the football fans took a little more persuading!) Problems will always arrive on set, no matter how much preparation you make. But it is having a good crew who can come together and sort out how to solve it.
SFM: What are you working on next?
Sophie Kenny: I have just started the BA (Hons) Film Production course at The Arts University College at Bournemouth which I am really enjoying, as I have been completely self taught up to this point. Rose is keeping my main focus as it is still in post-production, and I have also been busy with my first film projects at university. Rose will be finished in early 2012, after that I will be developing a couple of ideas I have had on my mind – watch this space!
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