The Soldier
Film Background
The concept for "The Soldier" began in 1997 with Shaun Robert Smiths' student film "AWOL to Horror".
It depicted the idea of the un-dead taking over the world during the Vietnam war.
We were supposed to produce a 5 minute video for our final project, I had just graduated as a SFX make-up artist the year before, so I wanted to impress. My 5 minutes turned into 30!
- Shaun Robert Smith (Smudge Film Productions)
In 1998 Shaun decided to produce the second installment to "AWOL to Horror", entitled "The Twitching Dead". Although never completed, the scenes they did shoot will soon be seen on the future DVD.
Over the years the story evolved, but it wasn't until 2007 that he decided to ressurect
the idea and give it a more professional edge. What better way to do
so than at the 2 Days Later film challenge, a competition whereby contestants are
asked to produce a horror film in 48 hours and on a shoestring.
Shaun re-enlisted the actor Clayton Fussell, lead in "This Place", to play the lead in
"The Soldier".
The short was produced in 46 hours and on a budget of £500!
... it looked fantastic & was a very professional, strong piece of work. Can't wait to see what Smudge Film Productions comes up with next!
- James Moran (Severence, Torchwood & Dr. Who)
The film went on to win 'Best Film', 'Best Cinematography', 'Best Visual FX',
'Best Editing' and was nominated for 'Best Sound' at the 2 Days Later Competition.
"The Soldier" also made an appearence at The 5th London Short Film Festival
gaining a nomination for the 'Dead by Dawn' award.
In December 2007 "The Soldier" hit the homepage of Youtube gaining thousands
of hits in a single week, now totalling over 50,000 views, "The Soldier" continues to impress.
Interest As A Feature
Shaun has been working hard on a feature length script of "The Soldier", of which the script is now complete and has gained interest from the film industry. For now that is all we are willing to divulge, but we will keep you posted!
"The Soldier" was very impressive, especially given its compressed production time.
- Kenneth J. Hall
(Night Visit, Halfway House, Evil Spawn & Puppet Master)
The Future DVD Release
The up and coming DVD of "The Soldier" will contain the full length short film, and will be packed with features, including "AWOL to Horror" and the finished scenes from "The Twitching Dead".
Those of you who are on the social networks can visit Smudge's Myspace page or join our group on Facebook for more reviews, interviews, comments & pictures galore, from this and other productions.
