- Misguided by vengeance, Jill sets out into the dangerous world disguised as a pirate.
Synopsis
The Caribbean, 1718. Jill Davey (19) is at the bottom of the food chain in the wild world working as a bartender surrounded by crazed pirates, with the only thing she can think of revenge against the one that killed her mother. As a woman, the only noteworthy thing about her is what use she serves to the men around her. Pursuing her vengeance, she disguises herself as a man named Thomas Redhook and sets out to find the man that killed her mother.
After being captured by the infamous but enigmatic Captain Blackgrave (46) on his ship, The Liberty Gale, Jill integrates herself into the crew and gains their trust. She also meets another disguised woman aboard names Abigail (20) and the two form a secret relationship. After an encounter with Blackgrave, she believes he is the man she seeks, but now finds her focus torn between leaving the past behind for freedom or becoming the very thing she hates for vengeance.
Abigail offers Jill a chance to escape. Unable to let go of the past, Jill approaches the Captain's quarters, blade in hand, and she finds it... empty. Blackgrave's voice taunts her, mocking her for leaving Abigail and what she's done, when Jill remembers that she killed her own mother. Drenched in the blood of what she's done and what she could be, she joins the crew as they dance wildly, unaware that she's even enjoying it. She is now one of them.
Directors Introduction
The destructive nature of revenge is a recurring thematic device seen in many forms of storytelling. It’s one that can allow a creative to tackle all the horrific aspects of human nature as one pursues this path. However, the big draw within Red Tidings is that, whilst first appearing to be a revenge tale, it flips the narrative on its head completely.
This is not a story about revenge. It’s a story about becoming who you truly are. And in the case of Jill, it’s to become the bloodthirsty pirate that she has denied being in her life. A woman, whose broken mind couldn’t comprehend the violent act she committed in her past. Rather she displaces the death of her mother onto Blackgrave. A despicable man who, whilst havingcommittedmanyatrociouscrimes,isironicallyinnocent of the one that connects him to our protagonist.
Although Jill is stuck in a tug of war on whether to accept this kind of life, with side characters Abigail and Crowell trying to sway her away, she can’t help but become who she truly is.And it’s a fascinating conundrum that her true nature is truly wicked yet it’s a weird sense of closure to see her feeling the freedom she so desperately needed in her life.
Brandon Preece Writer
‘Red Tidings’is Brandon’s most complex and ambitious written script so far in his craft.After being a fan of Disney’s ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’and other pirate media, the setting, characters and tone that comes with it, he wanted to try and find a new take on the pirate genre and story, tackling themes such as violence and its destructive hold over human nature.
These complex themes are an integral focus of Brandon’s style of storytelling. ‘Red Tidings’is a new kind of pirate story, that becomes less about being a pirate sailing the seas but more a human being at war with oneself struggling on the path of what we want.
Raquel fell in love with the script ‘Red Tidings’since reading the premise, she wanted to make this story become a reality on screen. As Raquel was a producer for most of her time in the three years of university in USW, she was confident she could make it happen. Raquel worked really hard to get all the locations and contacts she needed for this film to look visually amazing. After graduating Raquel wants to pursue in the industry and make her way up to become a Producer in the Film Industry. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-oliveira639a4829a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&ut m_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Jack Randall Director
‘Red Tidings’was an ambitious story Jack wanted to adapt from page to screen. Growing up a fan of different pirate media, such as ‘One Piece’and ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’, the idea of directing a pirate film was immediately an enticing notion. Having been the director of multiple short films during his time on the BA Film Course, Jack had familiarised himself with the process of directing and wanting to expand his experience by working on a film that required specific set design, period costume design and collaboration with visual effects. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-randalla19b48357?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&ut m_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Noel Simon
Cinematographer
Noel Simon is a third-year BAFilm student at the University of South Wales and was the Co-Director of Photography on Red Tidings. Working closely with the Director and lighting team, he shot a number of key scenes, helping shape the film’s visual tone through minimal lighting and long tracking shots.
With a strong interest in cinematography, Noel aims to continue building his portfolio across short films, music videos, and commercial content while developing his own visual style.
Being in third year and specialising in cinematography at University of South Wales. Harvey was responsible for the operation of the cameras. For this fiction film Harvey worked with the director in pre-production to create the shots and then worked with them on set to bring those visuals to life alongside a second cinematographer.After graduation Harvey is hoping to get a job in the film industry to further his skills and showcase the ones he already has.
Nerys Stocks is the lead actress in ‘Red Tidings’playing Jill Davey our protagonist of the narrative.Awoman navigating the decrepit landscape of the pirate world in search of a personal vengeance after the murder of her mother. Nerys was the perfect actress for this role as she physically looked the part. Nerys had really good line delivery and good emotional display.
Shannon Lancashire
Actress playingAbigail
Shannon Lancashire played the role ofAbigaila major side character who, like Jill, has disguised herself as a man to stay safe onboard the Liberty Gale. Shannon had amazing line delivery and good emotional display, she also fit the pirate character/accent very well.
Paul O’Neill
Actor playing Crowell
Paul O’Neill played the role of Crowell, the quartermaster of the Liberty Gale, an old man in a profession where you die young. Paul was the best actor for this role as he physically looked like a pirate and had amazing line delivery which meant he could do a convincing pirate voice/accent.
Jacob Henry
VoiceActor playing Captain Blackgrave
Jacob Henry played the voice over of Captain Blackgrave, a ruthless captain of the Liberty Gale. A monster in human flesh.Aman the devil would have a drink with. Jacob Henry had the best line delivery and an amazing pirate voice/accent which meant he suited Captain Blackgrave amazingly.
What were the biggest challenges encountered during production?
The biggest challenges in this production as a producer were finding good locations to fit the script. This story is based on the 1800s in the Caribbean and filming in Wales made it pretty impossible. The first location I struggled with the most was finding a pirate ship, had to contact multiple places until but kept getting rejected until I found SS Great Britain in Bristol and managed to get two shooting days for £399 which was an amazing deal as they normally charged £2000. We had the same issue with the beach location as we got an email five days before letting us know we wouldn’t be able to film there anymore which meant we had to push our shooting day back a week.
Another big challenge was communication with actors, as some actors would take a while to respond back to emails or would cancel on the day which meant we weren’t allowed to continue with the shooting day.
Where was the film filmed?
The four main locations we filmed in were:
- SS Great Britain, Bristol (Ship Scene)
- Jackson's Bay, Barry (Beach Scene)
- Bute Park, Cardiff (Flashback Scene)
- University of South Wales, Studio (Void & VFX Scene)
What was the main thing as crew we struggled with the most?
Our main crew wasn’t complete, we didn’t have an editor or sound operator, that was a big struggle for us because we had to keep asking members of the course if they had some spare time to help us when we were shooting. We struggled as well with our VFX team as they didn’t have the best communication, which meant the final product didn’t look as we wanted.
