Island (2007)

Director:

Matt Palmer

Writers:

Matt Palmer
Simon Grohe

Genre:

Short | Horror

Plot:

A maritime warden investigates an unauthorised presence on a private island. |

Plot Keywords:

Cult

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bjarne Henriksen

...

Tom Jensen

Directed by
Matt Palmer

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Simon Grohe
Matt Palmer

Produced by
Alastair Clark	....	producer
Matthieu de Braconier	....	executive producer
Justin Lanchbury	....	co-producer
Rebecca Mark-Lawson	....	executive producer
Jo McClellan	....	executive producer
Rachel Robey	....	producer

Cinematography by
Bo Bilstrup

Film Editing by
Edd Maggs

Production Design by
Jess Alexander

Makeup Department
Niamh Morrison	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Simon Grohe	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jonathan Farmer	....	first assistant director
Zoe Smith	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Shona Paton	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Tim Barker	....	sound recordist
Jack Coghill	....	sound editor
Nick Cox	....	sound editor
Zane Hayward	....	sound editor
Matt Palmer	....	sound editor
Martin Thomson	....	foley editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Benson	....	gaffer
Anne Binckebanck	....	still photographer
Freddie Bonfanti	....	electrician (as Federico Bonfanti)
Chris Carson	....	electrician
Paul McKay	....	focus puller
Grant McPhee	....	clapper loader: pick ups
Mark Morley	....	key grip
Loren Slater	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Steve Knight	....	digital intermediate technician
Andy Richards	....	senior digital intermediate technician

Other crew
Kieran Hannigan	....	production assistant
Claire Hewitt	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Wellington Films

Runtime:

15 min (original version) | UK:15 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (35 mm version) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1) | Dolby SR

Filming Locations:

Inchkeith Island, Fife, Scotland, UK

Company:

Wellington Films

Fear of the dark

A warden of a private island off the coast of Scotland finds an abandoned boat off the shore. He heads to the island to investigate and finds a fire burning and begins looking for who is on the private property. His search continues as darkness falls and his knowledge of not being alone becomes more than just a matter of trespass.

Island is a simple film that is entirely built on one premise – that man needs to see what is around him and does not function well when it is dark. I do believe that a fear of the dark is one of those perhaps unreasonable things that we still have hardwired into us and this film is specifically drawing on this. It sets this up well with an empty island and lots of emptiness in surroundings and also the audio and then lets the darkness comes in. From here we get a lot of shots from the man's point of view as he looks where his torch is pointing and this worked well the whole way to the conclusion. The final short is a necessary conclusion to the film and I thought was suitable and quite clever, fitting the empty mysterious feel of the rest of the film, but the majority of the film is about the darkness.

This is shot really well, making good use of the torch. The sense of blackness is maintained while we are also able to see what is going on – not an easy feat to achieve. But it is achieved and it works for what it is. Those perhaps not accustom to short films might have a bit of a moan about how the film doesn't explain much or doesn't have much beyond atmosphere but they are missing the point. Here it is all about the dark and the sense of not being able to see what may or may not be in the darkness. In this regard the film is on the money and has a solid ending to top it off. Not perfect by any means but most of the problems come with the short film territory and it does what it does well.