Written and Directed by filmmaker David Izatt, Skinjacker is a sci-fi / thriller set on the Isle
of Skye in Scotland, UK.
The script has been in development for a number of years and finally hit pre-production in
July 2020. With filming expected to begin in April/May 2021. It will be shot in Fife, Perth
and Kinross and up on the Isle of Skye.
The film stars Doctor Who and Vikings actor Richard Ashton, Grant Robert Keelan
(Schemers), Reanne Farley (Schemers) and Jacob Anderton (13 Graves).
Thomas Dobbie (The Necromancer) is cinematographer and Khaled Spiewak (Schemers)
will be editing
ABOUT:
”One clear winter’s night, what appears to be a meteor, crashes down upon the rockstrewn
landscape of the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It sends a small, localised area into
darkness as the power lines fail along with every single electronic item. Then, somewhere
up there on the hill, there’s a screeching roar, a mechanical, unearthly gargle, a sound that
would wake up the dead and silence the living. It’s as if the power lines themselves were
crying out in pain.”
From the release:
This is a story that focuses on escape and survival of the characters within it, yet it is the stunning, bleak Scottish landscapes and the unpredictability of the story which play the biggest parts.
We will be looking towards the use of a shallow depth of field when we are amongst the cast to contrast the wide expansive landscapes that Scotland has to offer, but we won’t be restricted to this. When the moment presents itself, we will engage with their surroundings as the shadows around them grow long.
You can’t make a film without an influence from another in some way, shape or form. We draw influences from classics such as Alien and The Thing as well as the German TV series Dark and incredibly moody Scottish set sci-fi / horrors such as Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johansson.
Of course no proper sci-fi / horror isn’t complete without a brilliant ‘monster’ and Skinjacker certainly has this in it’s locker.
You can grab the original concept design for ‘The Mycelinid’ by artist John Cameron on a
t-shirt or poster as one of our exciting perks in the crowdfunder.
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
Sometimes there’s a place or a story that keeps coming back into your thoughts. The stunning landscapes of the Isle of Skye always feel like they have a drawstring attached to me. Pulling me back, whispering in my ear whenever the thoughts drift too far from view or memory.
After a couple of very brief stints filming for other feature films over the years, the island is almost summoning me to film there once more. But it’s not the only thing. I learned about the mythical beast of the Odal Pass (or Biasd Bealach Odail in Scots Gaelic) a long time ago and always wanted to write something about it, so I did. But this something is
different, it’s a very unusual take on an old tale, being a sci-fi for starters. This different take, that ‘mythical sci-fi’ soon became Skinjacker.
So the story began to form, not over a matter of weeks or months, but over the years. There was always a start, middle and end, even from the very beginning of the writing process, but it involved a slow progression until the tale itself felt right.
With the script finally complete last year, I began to talk over the style and the mood with cinematographer Thomas Dobbie. Both of us would agree, that an eerie atmosphere would be key in both tone and image. The Isle of Skye itself would play a huge part in setting up that sense of foreboding and we will aim to capture this feeling in every single frame of the film.
Skinjacker is the right film at the right time and I aim to make something beautiful, breathtaking and memorable.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/skinjacker-feature-film#/
