The Silent Movie Project: The Villain’s Secret

This "authentic looking melodrama" went extremely well and was a resounding success both with our audiences and with the youth members themselves. According to the Evening Telegraph review this production was, "Impressive… Terrific … {and} innovative". Members of the cast received a lot of praise for the quality of their performances.

Tim Knight's special effects created a hugely authentic looking silent film. We were fortunate enough to benefit from the musical expertise of Lee Mason, who himself added auditory effects which helped evoke the era of silent movie "flickers". A great deal of work went into this project and the group particularly enjoyed working with Hilary Cole on Victorian costumes and suitable make-up. One boy confided after he’d finished acting one Saturday, that he wasn’t going to wash his face, as he wanted his make-up to be ready for filming the following day!

A large proportion of this cliffhanger was filmed on location. We owe a huge thank you to VANEL who provided the funding, Humbria Wedding Carriagesfor the use of their horse, carriage and driver, Reverend Walker for permitting us to film inside of Old Clee Holy Trinity & St Mary's With Christ Church and to everyone at the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway.

Copies of our film are available on DVD along with a short documentary about the making of The Villain’s Secret, which was filmed by Jess Spauls. As you might imagine we had a great deal of fun making our first film as our blooper clips section can attest. We have already received many requests for a sequel and further filming projects. To learn more about these... watch this space.