The poster created by John Mundy using stills taken by Julian Bajzert.
The Trailer
A film made for Directors UK Alexa Challenge 2017.
The film itself.
Online 17/18 December.
The official award laurels
Programme notes from the Imperial War Museum Short Film Festival
The winners at the Imperial War Museum Short Film Festival 2018 (Photo IWM)
Recognising the work of composer Henry Bird and sound designers Mahoney Audio Post.
Emerging from the fog of war.
Poet Edward Thomas who loved and lived on the Hangers in Hampshire.
Alex Bartram portrayed Edward Thomas. Photo by Paul Smith.
2017: this project is selected as one of the six winners in the Directors UK Alexa Challenge on the theme of Anniversary. This film marks the centenary of poet Edward Thomas' death in 1917.
The prize included the use of an Alexa Mini camera and a set of anamorphic lenses plus additional bursaries for hire, insurance, location and transport.
Having secured permission to film from Hampshire County Council, the shoot took place on 14/15 March 2017.
The film was completed on 27 April 2017, and screened at a Directors UK/ARRI event on 8 May 2017 alongside the other five winners.
The cast & crew include:
Edward Thomas: Alex Bartram
Writer, Director: A D Cooper
Producer: A D Cooper & Kate Rowland
Casting Director: Annie Rowe CDG
Cinematographer: Candida Richardson
1st Assistant Director: Steve McCarten
Focus Puller: Chris Hayden
Steadicam: Rob Hart
Make Up: Sarah Grundy
Wardrobe: Eve Oakley
Smoke Effects: Will Glancy
Editor: Gary Tobyn
Sound Design & Foley Artists: Mahoney Audio Sound
Voice Recording Engineer: Michael Bennett
Composer: Henry Bird
Colourist: Jon Dobson
Stills Photographer: Julian Bajzert
Costumes provided by Hampshire Wardrobe
Filters provided by Tiffen
Other camera and lighting equipment provided by AimImage
Many people helped with this project and we’re enormously grateful for their wisdom and support. These include Donna Cooper, Johnny Griffith, Gillian Tully, Martin Brierley, Michael Shelton, Paige Chaytor, Rupert Baker, Guy Fairbank, Sarah Culverhouse and Bob Boyle.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6845200/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Home-to-the-Hangers-1061915540620406/
Recognising the work of cinematographer Candida Richardson. The festival created this award for the film.
Is he a deserter? Is he shell shocked?
Photo by Julian Bajzert.
Official Selection. Screening 14 November 2023.
Screening 25 Feb. Received an Honorable Mention.
Second Lieutenant P E Thomas on embarkation leave in early spring 1917. Looking older than his 39 years.
Photo from the Edward Thomas Fellowship.
The 1,000 yard stare.
Photo by Julian Bajzert.
Recognising the contributions of Eve Oakley.
The Rackham-Like tree.
Photo by Julian Bajzert.
“It is strikingly beautiful and Alex Bartram portrays and reads him wonderfully. A refreshingly hopeful reading of ‘Lights Out’ too, and I loved the attention to the small, intimate parts of his life and landscape together with the spaciousness of the vistas – both very much part of his symbolic topographies.”
Julia Maxted of the Edward Thomas Fellowship,
and Edward Thomas' great granddaughter
The chalky pool in the River Ash. Photo by Julian Bajzert.
Connecting with nature. Photo by Julian Bajzert.
It is not spring yet. Spring is being dreamed…
Sarah Grundy, make up artist, muddies up actor Alex Bartram. Photo by Julian Bajzert.
A sense of the terrain and the army of helpers and carriers needed for the location in the aptly named village of Steep.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Home-to-the-Hangers-1061915540620406/
Twitter Hashtag: #HometotheHangers
This is a link to the Directors UK website with information about all six winners in the Alexa Challenge and how they approached their projects. https://www.directors.uk.com/news/challenge-alexa-2017-directors-talk-to-us-about-their-experience/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Announcing%20A%20New%20Chair%20Of%20The%20Board%20Challenge%20ALEXA%202017%20%20Interview%20With%20The%20Directors%20BAFTA%20TV%20Craft%20Awards%20Directors%20UK%20Inspire%20Lime%20Pictures%20Emerging%20Directors%20Scheme%20Are%20You%20Going%20To%20Cannes%20Directors%20Digest%20DocDispatch%20%20more&utm_content=Announcing%20A%20New%20Chair%20Of%20The%20Board%20Challenge%20ALEXA%202017%20%20Interview%20With%20The%20Directors%20BAFTA%20TV%20Craft%20Awards%20Directors%20UK%20Inspire%20Lime%20Pictures%20Emerging%20Directors%20Scheme%20Are%20You%20Going%20To%20Cannes%20Directors%20Digest%20DocDispatch%20%20more+CID_cbc295b7bb5bee74524d9ceec4613bb9&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software
Watching the action on the monitor. Photo by Julian Bajzert.
The weary camera crew at the end of the second day after lugging kit up the hill again.
The cast & crew at the end of the shoot. Stills photographer Julian Bajzert holds yet another smoke bomb aloft.
A unique quartet of musicians create the atmospheric sound track written by Henry Bird. A sample is next on this page.
Actor Alex Bartram records the voice over of the poem “Lights Out” by Edward Thomas with Michael Bennett at the sound desk at ID Audio.
Local news coverage of the shoot published 22.3.17.
The article itself on Page 3 of The Petersfield Post .
The DVDs using designs by John Mundy and stills by Julian Bajzert
Listen to the Exit 6 Film Festival talking about this film's premiere, featuring an interview with the director followed by a review of the film:
The relevant bit starts at 7 minutes in. https://soundcloud.com/exit6filmfestival/exit-6-podcast-ep4
As a double award-winner in the Blissfest333 Poetry in Motion Film Festival, there's a showcase of all the winning films at this event in Colorado Springs on 8th Feb and 8th March 2023.
Read their review: https://movingpoems.com/2020/10/lights-out-by-edward-thomas/
Part of the review from Moving Poems.