The faceless heroes of filmmaking: the Post-Production Team

The singularly most defining moment in the moviemaking process is capturing the performances by the cast during the shoot. This is the heart and soul of the movie.

But the creative processes that shape the film are far from over after you shout: “It’s a wrap, people”. Many of these post-production processes involve decisions to focus the material, stripping it away from distractions and supporting the footage. The people involved in making this happen are the oft faceless heroes of filmmaking. Their craft is honed towards elevating the film to all it can be.

Cut after cut, the edit was carefully crafted by our editor George Clemens, a filmmaker in his own right, who - with his brother Samuel - made the very successful horror short film Surgery (2015), garnering recognition and awards across the globe.

Because of his background in choreography the director decided to involve the composer Jan Borré unusually early, in the script development stage. Over time and through the different cuts of the film, Jan developed his score to the sublime work it is now. Finding a perfect balance between supporting the story, the characters and their emotional journeys, the score has become a hauntingly beautiful composition in and of itself, recorded at Room 13 in Ghent and mixed in all its glory by Thomas Vertongen.

Whereas the film crew created many of the special effects as practical events on set for the cast to interact with, VC Studios in Belgium tackled the VFX to augment the imagery we shot in Scotland to great effect. While that was going on, Where the Skin Lies found a comfortable home at THINKNTALK for the sound post. With a musician’s ear, Greg Scheirlinckx unleashed his creative demons on the sound design. A gargantuan task in capable hands, where the set sounds recorded in Scotland, ADR recorded by Edward White at Alpha Dog Post in London, the music from Ghent, and the foley done in-house, were all combined into an engaging soundscape. Some foley sounds were built up from the ground, and while we can’t give away trade secrets, a lot of it involved the relentless mutilation of fruits and vegetables.

The final step was the grading – a process where the colours and tonal qualities are enhanced and fine-tuned. Under the skilful eyes of Hannes Bruneel at VC Studios the film solidified into an increasingly dark and tense voyage through the fragmentation of social bonds. While in the story not all that ends, ends well, we can safely say that our collaborative efforts successfully delivered a film that will keep you on the edge of your seats.

You can help us get this film released, and into the cinema, by having a look at our crowdfunding page: we’re in the final stretch of the campaign, so your last chance to get your hands on some of the goodies we have on offer!