Case Study: The Making of ‘Beautified’ by Emily Haigh

Emily on the Set of Beautiful

Date: 05 Apr. 2018
Case Study: The Making of Beautified
Filmmaker: Emily Haigh

indieactivity: What is your film about?
filmmaker: Beautified is about three enslaved girls who are immersed in beautiful surroundings, hidden beneath this beauty lies a dystopian society pushing the girls to perfection. I wanted to highlight both human trafficking and the pressures we are put under to push our bodies to what is considered perfect.

indieactivity: Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Emily: Beautified was completed in March so hasn’t received any festival notifications yet. We have, however, received some great reviews and amazing feedback.

indieactivity: Dramatic Feature
Director: Emily Haigh
Producers: Emily Haigh, Lisa Haigh
Budget: £2100
Financing: Crowdfunding and Self-financed
Production: Siren Call Films
Shooting Format: 4K
Screening Format: Apple Pro Res, DCP
World Premiere:
Website: Beautified

Linda Louise Duan as Alice & Tahirah Sharif as Belle

indieactivity: Give the full official synopsis for your film?
Emily: Three girls, Alice, Belle and Eleanor, all differ due to their racial background; upon a closer look the girls are eerily similar with long straight hair and features that they all share. They are very well groomed; Alice and Eleanor dressed in the same dresses – a uniform, but different colours. They share a feminine bedroom, almost a setting for a Disney story. On closer inspection, this fairytale setting is no more than their prison, closely watched the girls are no more than slaves.

Alice and Eleanor prepare Belle; they groom her hair and dress her. Belle is lead off to ‘Sir’s’ room by Eleanor. Delighted with Belle’s appearance, Sir rewards Eleanor with a present and places a black box into her hands. Eleanor returns to the girl’s room with the box, she opens the box in front on Alice. Devastated with the gift, Alice gently assists Eleanor as they prepare themselves for the horrors hidden within the box.

indieactivity: Development & Financing?
Emily: I wrote Beautified whilst finishing post-production on my other short film, Run Rabbit. I then attached BAFTA Crew Member, DOP, Beatriz Delgado Mena, in September and launched an Indiegogo campaign in October. During the campaign I attached the cast and crew. It was important to get the right cast, so we were very excited to have Linda Louise Duan, Tahirah Sharif and Stephen Harakis join us. I took on the role of Eleanor in the film. I started searching for the locations in November. With just a week till Christmas we locked the perfect locations and shooting dates for the 16th and 18th January 2018.

indieactivity: Production?
Emily: I self-financed a portion of Beautified, the main funds came from the amazing support we received through our crowdfunding campaign which ran from October 2017 till December 2017. Whilst the campaign was running, I started to attach a fantastic team together and searched for the locations. The locations were extremely important, we found a studio in London for the darker scenes and were thrilled to come across Magna Carta House on Magna Carta Island, the house fitted the first half of the script perfectly. It was here, that The Magna Carta was sealed in 1215 and was a turning point in human rights.

We filmed over two days, the 16th January at Magna Carta House and the 18th January at a studio in London. Everyone worked together incredibly well, it was a true team effort; we even finished an hour early on the 16th. We wanted an almost poetic feel to the film; everything flows as the drama unfolds.

The rushes and detailed notes were sent to our editor, Simon Pearce whilst our composer, Neil Reed, set to work on the beautiful score. Once we had the final edit, the film went to our colourist Jonny Tully at Smoke and Mirrors. Finally with the finished score and graded film, Oscar Kugblenu at 19 Sound, oversaw the sound mix. I had worked previously with Jonny and Oscar so knew the film was in very good hands. Beautified was completed on the 5th March 2018.

We have started to submit Beautified into a selection of film festivals.

The three characters in Beautified – Belle, Eleanor & Alice

indieactivity: Festival Preparation & Strategy?
Emily: We have a press release we are sending out and have had a few great reviews. It has been mentioned that Beautified should be developed into a feature – I would very much like to develop it further.

indieactivity: The Release?
Emily: Currently we have sent a digital link to those who contributed as part of their Indiegogo perk, and have submitted the film to film festivals throughout the world.

indieactivity: Advice from the Filmmaker?
Emily: Don’t stop! Whatever mistakes you may make are lessons to take to your next project, you never stop learning in this business.