The Dud SamaritanThe Dud Samaritan was my first directing experience shooting drama on 16mm film, shot during my second year at University in just under a week. The film is a charming little comedy about a desperately lonely man who, being rescued from the jaws of death finds solace in the company of his saviour; only to be driven to despair by his would-be hero's profoundly annoying personality.
The script was based on a much longer screenplay I was developing at the time, which was subsequently trimmed and re-written to fit a more realistic five minute timeframe with the collaboration of fellow students and aspiring screenwriters Craig Heffernan and Michael Pentney.
The film was actually shot twice, due to a monumental chemical blunder at the processing stage that saw every roll of film except one bleached into oblivion in the University lab. Though devastated at first by the appauling loss of months of tireless planning and preparation, we bit our lips and shot the film a second time.
All in all, I think it worked out for the best. Taking valuable lessons from the first shoot, we went back and shot what we all agreed was a far superior film; So good, in fact, that the University are still using The Dud Samaritan as an example to future graduates of what can be done with no budget and a week's notice. |
