Raindance 2019 Trailer is #Brexcellent

Here's what I've been tweeting:

What do @BorisJohnson and @Raindance have in common?

We are both coming out!

UK is out 31.10!

#Raindance is out September 18th!

No ifs! No Buts! #RaindanceMeansRaindance #Brexcellent

The 27th Raindance Film Festival is just around the corner, and that means that the 2019 trailer is here! Raindance Means Raindance is a story set in a dystopian London in 2023, a city torn apart by no deal Brexit. Only one fragment of civilisation remains in this ghost city – the 2023 Raindance Film Festival.

The initial concept was written by director Pete King, who directed the 2009 Raindance trailer (starring Dexter Fletcher). You can see his controversial festival trailer here: 17th Raindance Film Festival Trailer (2007).

The 2019 festival trailer concept is one of political satire in keeping with this year’s theme as well as “Special Guest Continent Europe”. It portrayed a dark vision of a futuristic London, with inspiration coming from classic British dystopian films like V for Vendetta and Children of Men.

The Original Treatment:

Pete King wrote this treatment on his phone walking back to Soho after a meeting with Raindance founder Elliot Grove, and with Festival Producer David Martinez:

A ragged, half torn Union Jack flutters in the wind. The camera pans down to reveal an abandoned Trafalgar Square.

The footage is in the style of urban explorers/found footage/user generated content, slightly shaky and hand held. (All shot on Lumix

The date stamp says ‘Sept – 20253.

We follow over the shoulder of a young woman as she walks through the post apocalyptic city. She speaks – French. She points out an old gift shop. In the window, Nigel Farage masks are covered in dust.

The camera operator French male, responds with an expletive.

They explore further – the whole of London is empty – everyone has left. They comment how fucked the city is, Brexit is mentioned.

The woman shouts for him to look, what’s that? Something’s happening…

He pans to reveal the cinema. He zooms in. A large RAINDANCE poster is on the billboard. It reads 33rd Raindance Film Festival 2025. The lobby looks busy.

Elliot stands in the doorway – he smiles and waves for them to come in.

Title: Raindance Means Raindance

Elliot and David loved it immediately. But Pete was called off to a job in New York. Simon Hunter, the feature film director who has helmed The Mutant Chronicles (starring Ron Perlman and John Malkovich) and most recently Edie (starring Sheila Hancock), took over as director. Simon also teaches directing masterclasses in Raindance Berlin and here in London. Simon expanded the script and created shot lists and a detailed storyboard, which can be seen here. 

Shooting the trailer

Lumix provided us with two of their new top-of-the-range cameras, the S1. The trailer was exclusively shot on those cameras by veteran DP Zoran Veljkovic. Nathalie Ishak, a Swiss actress and producer, stars as a French news reporter visiting London. Multi-media artist and performer Jon Campling with credits like Harry Potter under his belt, plays a mad British nationalist still living in the virtually empty British capital.

Simon’s vision of a deserted London demanded extremely early mornings. It’s a credit to Simon’s leadership and passion that he was able to assemble a dedicated cast and crew. A host of passionate extras played by Raindance members showed up to act as Raindance festival goers and apocalypse survivors. The shoot call time was 4:30am each morning, jumping between locations around Trafalgar Sq, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. The final scene was shot inside the VUE cinema in Leicester Square on Monday August 5th.

The rushes were sent for a first edit with Elodie at Flock Edit. The trailer demanded a great deal of VFX shots to convey a deserted and decaying London. The brilliant team at We Are Tilt, based in Brighton, took over, led by Ivor Sims, their creative producer. When the huge amount of VFX was completed, the footage was recut and then colour graded by Michael Pearce.

They always say that sound makes the movie. During the editing and VFX process, composer and soundscape artist Nick Hinton was working on the original score and sound design. The finished soundtrack was merged with the picture and finished at 2am on the morning of the world premiere.

The world premiere was at the Vue in Leicester Square was Tuesday 20th August. After screening at the Vue, it was then screened at a special soiree in front of the Olivia Colman and friends at the May Fair Hotel.

Please like the Youtube link and comment – your thoughts on our work mean a lot to us.

For a full list of credits.