Sci-fi feature film will be shot at Valley locations
FILMING is set to begin this month on a feature film shot entirely in the Valleys.
Offworld, was created by sci-fi author turned director Terry Cooper from Ystrad Mynach and producer Adam Neal from Aberdare.
It sees a group of humans crash land on and have to survive a journey across an alien planet.
On the February 24, the first stage of filming will start inside the spaceship in Blackwood but the bulk will be done in mid-April.
“We are going to have the main shoot in April but have to shoot some scenes inside a giant 10ft spaceship this month,” said director Terry Cooper, who also wrote the script.
“The bulk of the shoot will be in mid April. It will all over the valleys including Trefil Quarry that has been used in Dr Who, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Clash of the Titans. The council has been good at getting us permission to film in different places.”
If filming a feature film in the Valleys was considered unusual then the time frame they have given themselves is even more so.
Terry said: “Most feature films are done in eight or nine weeks but we are going to try and film a feature length film in six days. Industry professional are probably laughing at us.
“The actors are panicking but they have their scripts and are rehearsing and learning their lines.”
The film will be done on a shoestring budget with all the money coming from online donations.
“In September we set up a Kickstart fund and we aimed low,” he added.
“With these funds, if you do not hit your target you do not get any of the money. It did really well and we raised £10,000 from all over the world and as far away as Australia and Japan. It is a micro budget compared to most films.”
The team have been inundated with requests from people volunteering their time to act as extras in the film.
Unfortunately for budding actors looking for their big break there won’t be any need for extras because of the film’s plot.
According to Terry the film is Pitch Black meets The Walking Dead.
He wrote the script but it was tightened up and assisted by comic book writer Chris Lynch who Terry describes as an “absolute genius with stories”.
“Some 100 years from now, a spaceship is travelling to a new world,” said Terry.
“There is an accident and it crashes. There are 10 survivors who have to walk 500 miles for help.
“The whole planet is against them including themselves.
“They are up against the clock as well as they have 200 other humans in suspended animation of the spaceship who will thaw and die if they do not reach the base in time.”
When the film is complete the will be a premier at Cineworld in Cardiff with possible other showings at independent cinemas in places like Blackwood.
The team then plan to put the film on Amazon Prime.