Hotel Darklight

Darklight Screening @ IFI

2009-11-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Great news. Hotel Darklight, slightly more polished and than you may or may not have witnessed before, will be showing for a second time at the IFI:
Please come along and bring your family and friends and help us pay our outstanding bills. Details are below...

IRELAND ON SUNDAY PRESENTS: HOTEL DARKLIGHT

When: Sunday, December 13 @ 1.00 pm

Where: Irish Film Institute, Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin

Hotel Darklight is an exciting feat of no-budget cinematic daring created for this year's Darklight Film Festival, a full length feature film comprising ten short pieces filmed over 6 days in one location. Inspired by Exquisite Corpse, a Victorian parlour game where random words and images are assembled to form a surreal finished product, producers Declan Lynch and Alan Keane brought together ten writers and ten directors to tell a series of discrete tales of the paranormal which would all take place in an eerie Smithfield Hotel. The result is an ingenious, collaborative tour de force.

Lonely Hearts - Writer/Director: Ciaran Foy
Hotel Training - Writer: Maura McHugh Director: Conor McMahon
Prejudice - Writer/Director: Paul Walker
St. Mary - Writers: Gerry Creehan and Paul Markey Director: Brian O'Toole
Play Dead - Writer/Director: James Phelan
Heaven in a Wildflower: Writer: Sinead Fagan Director: Dolores Rice
Regards to the Chef - Writer: Eilis Mernagh Directors: Kian Petit and Ewan Petit
Noughts and Crosses - Writer: Barry McLoughlin Director: Alan Brennan
You Beta Your Bollix -Writer: T.C Director: Ian Whelan
Better the Derval you Know - Writer: Paul Markey Director: Brian O'Toole

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with several of the filmmakers.

Tickets for this screening are priced at €15.

The proceeds will help offset debts incurred by filmmakers and by Darklight in the making of the film.

More info here:

http://www.ifi.ie/cinema/dispfilm_07.asp?filmID=6644&Date=25/11/2009&PageID=15

Hotel Darklight Returns

2009-11-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hotel Darklight will be showing in December in Dublin. More Details to follow.

Missing Props

2009-09-30T04:28:00.000-07:00

Whatever happened to the red boa and the nightdress?
It was safely brought to and received at room 217, Esplanade Hotel.
Alongside a couple of junkets of cheap New Orleans necklaces in a laundry bag.
The curtains lay closed, a large camera fixated over the double bed, as shadows emerged from the corner. The door slammed firm SHUT.
That was the last I saw of the props.
Throughout the day loud and soft noises seeped from the nineteenth century room.As the odd hotel guest paused to wonder, but knew and respected that the door was to remain shut.They walked on down the long corridor, from some a nervous laugh escaping from inside, others in disbelief but not totally traumatised!
The door opened slightly at one stage for a brief ten seconds! The 1st AD reached out his hand to take a sound device and at that point I saw him- the actor, shirtless, and I looked away embarrassed as if I had stumbled onto something that was not mine. And the door shut again.
After fifteen hours of shooting, near midnight,the runners tore through the building carrying lights, cameras and leads.I wandered into 217, but it lay bare, apart from the five flies circling the bedroom light who seemed not to care and two towels strewn over the bathroom sink.
All week, non stop filming as people came and went, the props never appeared. The last day of shooting came to a close and it all went quiet thereafter. I pleaded with reception that if they found a red boa and a nightdress that it was mine- and they assured me that they would let me know amid awkward glances.
In bed on Tuesday morning, asleep I get a call from the producer. Can I go to Chapelizod and collect the lights to bring to Ardmore Studios?, 'Oh and by the way, I got your kettle it's in the suitcase!'- Well thank god for that- I awoke- 'that's my mum's!'
I drive down towards the Phoenix, and arrive at Chapelizod Industrial park, so old it is. I pass an old man wearing a skirt, and another man nearly drove into me because it's my fault for driving down a one way street- as if I knew- where's the sign?,like I had lived here?- even more disturbing were the numerous black and blue bruises on his face- where has this man been???
As I approach the recording studio's I bang on the door. 'Hi I'm Marie, I'm a friend of Alan's, I'm here for the lights'. He removes his hat and I walk straight through, even though I wasn't asked. We find the lights and the flags, and I decide not to take the smoke machine, is this ours?
I leave, and only as I reach the Phoenix park, I remember....The damn suitcase, so all the way back I go, into the industrial park, past the man in the skirt, he's also wearing black knee tights and to Muzzle Music again. 'Hi, I'm Marie and I left a suitcase behind. It has a kettle in it.'Yep there's a suitcase here, with a kettle inside', as he looks at me. 'Thanks' and I walk off. I place the suitcase on the passenger seat and like a person possossed I try tenderly but feeling manic unzip slowly as a mass of red feathers appear in front of me- the missing props!!!
All week, the damn props lay sleeping in a suitcase with no name, and no owner.
Now they rest under my bed waiting for their next adventure.

Hotel Darklight: diva demands

2009-09-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Plenty of friendships
were ignited in make up room 223,Esplanade Hotel.
Ham, cheese & banana sandwiches washed down
with freshly picked pears.
Needles, pins, big bens and turtles
decorated the walls,
a wardrobe full of clothes.
Crew and cast sat on the bed's
as the directors stood by the door.
Each person contemplating their role,
with hope and passion in their soul,
towards a film with stories to be told
each person playing an important part in
'Hotel Darklight's' rise to life
and it's mission to devour lots of media hype!

Shooting ends at 27.09.09 at10am

2009-09-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

After several weeks of recruiting crew, casting actors, sourcing out locations and mountains of paperwork, ten individual short films were successfully filmed on a tight budget this week to be premiered on October 10th at the Lighthouse cinema in Smithfield.Expectation was high, perfection imperative and agony levels low.

Hotel Darklight QUIZ NIGHT

2009-09-22T16:33:00.001-07:00

Fans of darkness, lights and hotels,
We formally invite you all to exercise
your brain cells! Move that blood,
and burn that muscle.
Your main brain game
is to drain your veins of all that data.
Hidden inside, instead of outside!
YOUR SAVING FILM SOUL REQUIRES YOUR
COMMITMENT TOMORROW NIGHT.
23-09-09
Don't disappoint!
Le Cirk bar on Dame st...
8pm----€50/table of 5
Meet and greet the others.

Hotel Darklight

2009-09-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

TEN YEARS OF DARKLIGHT
TEN WRITERS WITH A DREAM
TEN DIRECTORS TO MAKE IT WORK
ONE HOTEL SETS THE SCENE!!

Day 2 of shooting, 5 films in the can

2009-09-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hotel Darklight filming is in control.
It's room's are being filled.
Countless characters roam it's corridors
as voices wear thin, turning corners.
Someone forgot to bring string,
so we are all wandering aimlessly
bumping into guests who walk with sticks.
Coffee, smoke and blood eat into photographs left
behind the bar. The hotel manager acts wonderfully delightful,
as his staff stare ice cold and frozen, as the cast and crew take over.....

Shoot Day 1

2009-09-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

Okay we can't give plot details but on the production side today, we kicked off with two story lines, the word from the set is SPOOKY, very spooky.

Hotel Darklight is for Sale

2009-09-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hotel Darklight
So far, we've got seven of eight scripts assigned to directors and in casting.
Some directors are casting from actors they know and work with, some are coming to our casting session in Filmbase this Wednesday.
There are a few more hanging in the balance but we are pretty close to our original goal.
We're using the Sony EX1 and we've got two great camera/DOP guys on board who will shoot for us and are looking for one more.
More tomorrow
Dec
P.S. thinking of selling film credits to raise some cash, will sleep on it.

Scripts In

2009-09-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

We've got our scripts in, eight first drafts and there are a few still "under construction".
We received over eighty outline proposals and would like to thank everyone for their time and enthusiasm.
We're in the last week of pre-production and are pretty excited about the film.
Talk more soon,
Dec

Submissions In!

2009-08-25T03:30:00.000-07:00

The Hotel Darklight Team would like to thank everyone who submitted ideas for the recent competition deadline. We're currently very busy reading them all and will be back in contact with news of who has made the shortlist very soon.

Welcome to Hotel Darklight

2009-08-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

What is 'Hotel Darklight'?

Last year, as part of the 2008 Darklight Festival, several Irish filmmakers participated in a lo-no budget filmmaking project that was know as the 'Dublin 4DayMovie'.

After the success of last year's project, this year we are attempting to do something a little different and just as ambitious. This project will be known as 'Hotel Darklight'.

Hotel Darklight - Stage 1: Conception

The Brief

In Smithfield, Dublin there is a mysterious hotel that to the casual observer might seem no more special or different than any other. Yet there is something quite strange about this place that makes it different to any hotel you've ever stayed in. Think of it as Dublin's own hotspot for the paranormal or fantastical: Ireland's own very own Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, where the magical , the impossible and the terrifying can all co-exist alongside one another.

We are looking for an initial 3-7 minute short film outlines from writers, that revolve around this mysterious location. Successful participants will be shortlisted to develop their ideas into screenplays that will then made into short films that will be shown at the upcoming Darklight Festival.

Successful applicants will collaborate with producers and directors to see their creative vision become part of a portmanteau piece of several other short films with the same uniting vein: Some or all of the story has to take place in this mysterious location. If the story does not take place directly in the hotel, than it should have a strong link to the hotel.

Genre Suggestions

Mystery, Sci-Fi, Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, Supernatural or a combination of one of the above with another more traditional genres, comedy, romance, etc. Anything weird, imaginative, wonderful or terrifying is welcome. Challenge your imagination and prepare to take your audience on a roller coaster ride into the unknown.

Submission requirements

We are not looking for finished screenplays, but instead are looking to receive brief outlines of what your intended story is going to be about. Submissions should be no longer than one A4 page. Each person/persons applying can submit a maximum of three ideas .

Please remember to supply your contact details. (email & mobile phone number) with your application.

Please email submissions to: hoteldarklight@gmail.com

While it is intended that all short films selected and produced should be able to stand alone as an entity in themselves, we also want them to be part of a bigger whole - the 'Hotel Darklight' Film.

The deadline for submissions: Midnight on Friday 21st August 2009

Rights issues

2009-01-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

All rights and potential residuals from the 'Hotel Darklight' project will be signed over to a yet to be designated charity, should this idea generate any money or residuals.

Like last year, this idea will not generate money for any party involved other than what we deem to be standard overheads and basic running costs. People who contribute to this project, like on last years 4 day movie, will be donating their time and contribution to participate in a low budget, experimental short film scheme.

The production team are currently trying to raise sponsorship to provide basic amenities for all participants involved (i.e. food, expenses etc.) from various different sources.

If you or your organisation would like to be involved or wish to become a sponsor then please contact us via email.