The Inuring Casestudy: The Filmmaking of James Hughes

Date: 03 Apr. 2018
Case Study: The Making of The Inuring.
Interview: James Hughes, Writer, Producer, and Director of The Inuring.
Type: Dramatic Feature.
Director: James Hughes.
Producers: James Hughes, Emily Haigh.
Budget: £5000.
Financing: Self-financed.
Production: Sunset Aperture.
Shooting Format: 4K.
Screening Format: Apple Pro Res, DCP.
World Premiere: Silicon Beach Film Festival April 2017.
Awards.
– Best Narrative Short.
– Best in Show.
– Best Director.
– Best Producers.
– Best Production.
– Best Actress.
– Best Actress.
– Best Actress.
Website: The Inuring.

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James Hughes is a multi-award-winning Director. His debut short film is The Stars & the Stones (2005). It was an official selection of several Oscar qualifying festivals. Such as the Calgary International Film Festival and the Raindance Film Festival.

The success of this short led to him being hired to direct Global Revolution (2006). Which was performed in front of a live audience of four thousand in Tuscany. Simultaneously, it was broadcasted on Italian television. James was hired to speaker for the Screenwriting Expo in LA. Where he taught a popular class on short filmmaking, working alongside such luminaries as William Goldman.

The Inuring is an award-winning film that stars Emily Haigh and Sarine Sofair. It is on release across the festival circuit and has won 8 awards to date. The Inuring also screened at the Oscar qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival.

indieactivity: What is your film about?
James Hughes: The Inuring is a story I felt compelled to bring to the screen. After researching the many cases of bullying that are unfortunately rife in society. In these numerous cases the victims found it hard and also humiliating to share their experiences with their family members. They would endeavor to bottle up their emotions in a code of silence. To shield their shame from those closest to them. These true life stories broke my heart. I became determined to shed a spotlight on the subject of bullying through fiction. And create a story that resonated long after the end credits.

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indieactivity: Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
James Hughes: The Inuring is currently on the film festival circuit. And has been accepted into over 40 film festivals to date. During this time it has picked up 8 awards and 22 nominations for Best Short Film. Our lead Emily Haigh has won three Best Actress awards for her emotionally gut wrenching performance of Aleisha. Along with this it has won Directing, Producing, and Best Film awards.

indieactivity: Give the full official synopsis for your film?
James Hughes: A bullied teenage girl finally confronts her sister to drag their fractured past out into the light. The Inuring tells the story of Aleisha. An eighteen-year-old girl who shares the family home with her twenty-five-year-old sister Claudette.

Ever since their Father passed away three years ago, the rift between the sisters has grown wider. Aloof to the outbursts and moods of her troubled younger sister. Claudette has instead turned her focus to transforming the once modern home with a vintage decor. She has one room left to infiltrate with her passion for nostalgia, Aleisha’s. But that room is already consumed by nostalgia, with Aleisha’s ache for the protective Father they have lost. Having raised his girls alone Aleisha fends for herself with local bullies and has been losing the battle.

After years of avoiding Claudette’s remonstrations, Aleisha reluctantly opens up. Their fractured past is finally dragged out into the light.

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indieactivity: Development & Financing?
James Hughes: I spent six months perfecting the script until it became a locked shooting script. Once it was at this stage I approached the only two actors I wanted for the roles. Emily Haigh as Aleisha and Sarine Sofair as Claudette. They both loved the script and signed onto the production immediately. I worked successfully with Emily Haigh as Producers on my other short film. So, Emily also came onboard The Inuring as my fellow Producer. Our first meeting to discuss the project was at the BFI. At that stage we had no crew, locations, or finance in place. And, yet just seven weeks later we were on set shooting.

indieactivity: Production?
James Hughes: The seven week pre-production period was hectic. As we needed to build a set and find the perfect studio in London for our shoot. Fortunately through our DP we found Cherryduck Studios who were keen for us to shoot there. So we booked their largest studio for our production.

We worked with our Production Designer and Art Department. over the course of the pre-production. This culminated into building our set from 8am to 6pm on a Saturday. The following day, we turned up at 8am with the full team and shot the whole film in one day. It was shot in 4K on an Arri Amira. The very nature of this story demanded restraint in directing. It was critical to allow the performances of both actors to engage the visual. The camera can get in the way of a story. A Director can loose sight of the greatest visual of them all: an actor’s face.

Watch Official trailer for The Inuring Directed by James Hughes

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In The Inuring, I took the decision very early on in pre-production that the camera would be the audience. Although a classic one-act play, the reactions of Emily and Sarine had to remain the focal point of the frame. This approach allows for exceptional performances of Emily and Sarine. They dominate, they turn The Inuring into a powerful performance it is intended to be. Within a few weeks of the shoot, the footage was passed to our Editor. Erline O’Donovan worked on the edit for a full month with the Producers. They ensure the final film had the rhythm required for it to work.

Once we locked the cut, I began working with Amie Doherty. Our Composer in LA to create a score that utterly encapsulated the tone of the film. This involved frequent meetings and musical inspirations for the key moment in the film. I had been hearing a score in my head during the writing of the film and shooting. So, I did everything possible to convey that score to Amie. Consequently Amie wrote two stunning compositions for The Inuring, the latter of which was performed live by a 40-piece orchestra. Upon completion of our score, the film was then graded at Smoke and Mirrors in London. At these grading sessions, I worked with Jonny Tully. Our colorist to perfect the exact look I wanted for each room in the film.

Such was our attention to detail during this grade that it took four weeks before the grade was complete. The film and WAV files of the dialogue and score were passed to Greg Claridge. He is our Sound-Mixer at Silk Sound. Who used an array of techniques to mix The Inuring to an exceptional standard. As this final mix is happening I worked closely with our title designer in LA. He designed the titles I always wanted for the film.

At the end of this eight-week post-production process we finally had our film

indieactivity: Festival Preparation & Strategy?
James Hughes: We initially used press releases and social media to build a presence for The Inuring. But, soon word of mouth took over, and the film garnered a reputation on the festival circuit. It is playing at Oscar and BAFTA Qualifying film festivals. It is this word of mouth that has propelled The Inuring to such a degree. And, that it screens at a film festival somewhere in the world on average every five days since its release.

indieactivity: The Release?
James Hughes: Using the various festival platform websites, the film was released across the festival circuit.

indieactivity: Advice from the Filmmaker?
James Hughes: It is easy to rush into production and realize onset or in post the story is not working. This is invariably because of the script. No amount of finesse in the grade or tweak in the sound-mix can fix bad dialogue. Therefore, it is imperative that you work hard on honing the script. Your short film will be to the highest standard if you can. If this means entrusting colleagues to gather story or character advice then I implore you to do so. A strong script leads to a strong film. You will also attract the creatives and actors you want for the production.

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