ONE of the highlights of this year’s Revelation Film Festival is an indie-punk flick made by Herald staffer Helena Tay and her husband Richard Eames.
Skeleton Girls. A Kidnapped Society was a labour of love – it took six years to make, was self-funded, independently produced and had a micro budget.
Tay produced the film and Eames wrote and directed it.
The gripping thriller is about a young woman, Anna Kaiser, who is on the run and must survive a news cycle frenzy in order to escape a dangerous plot involving a notorious girl gang – the Skeleton Girls.
Anna eventually finds refuge within the Rat Nest, an underground community of social outcasts whose own existence is under threat.
As the world closes in on them, Anna and her new crew must decide whether to remain on the fringes of society or to finally fight for their place in the world.
A lot of micro-budget Aussie movies tend to be small in scope, like chamber dramas, but Skeleton Girls defies convention.
• Skeleton Girls. A Kidnapped Society is showing at The Revelation Film Festival.
Featuring a large ensemble cast, wide-ranging satirical themes, and a raft of punk tunes, the movie is energetic, provocative and experimental.
Eames says he played with colour and animation in the film.
“I’ve always loved the use of animation and mixed-media aesthetics in film to explore new ways of visualising narrative, Run Lola Run is a particular influence,” Eames says.
“Leveraging these influences and embracing the punk attitude of the film, I wanted to embed an agitational quality to the visuals via animated sequences that reflected and dissected the overwhelming media/information saturation/manipulation of today.
“I also devised a colour wheel to map out the conflict between groups – groups in direct conflict sit on opposite sides on the colour wheel.
“The Skeleton Girls (green) vs. The Mainstream (red). The Passive Spectator (blue) vs. the Fed-up Active Spectator, the LOUT’s (orange).
“This informed costumes, props and particularly the lighting.
“When you make a feature with your own resources you have to think outside the box and find inventive ways to overcome the inherent limitations.”
When Tay’s not producing films with her husband, she’s a talented illustrator and works in the production department at the Fremantle Herald.
She has self-published illustrated books and has served as producer and production designer on all of Eames’ films.
But she says Skeleton Girls – six years in the making – was the biggest challenge she has ever faced.
“Although we had a small crew it was entirely upon Richard and I to have everything organised; locations, people, costumes, props, sets, catering,” she says.
“We shot the film in blocks and often it was weeks of work to prepare for just a couple of days of filming.
“Then in post production finances were very tight so we had to do nearly everything ourselves (editing, visual effects, animation, sound design) while also prioritising work and family too.
“So many people had given their time and energy to make the film happen that we owed it to them to see it through and finish the film to the highest standard we could.”
The Revelation Film Festival is on July 2-13 at Luna on SX and Luna Leederville. To find out more about Skeleton Girls. A Kidnapped Society see skeletongirls.com and for Revelation details see revelationfilmfest.org.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK