MattBurchfield
Member
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Hello all,
I'm new to the boards, and I apologize that my first post is of the slighty schilling variety but....
I'm pretty excited to announce the online premiere of our new Civil War short film web series "Never To Turn Back".
"Never To Turn Back" is an independently produced web series chronicling the final campaign of the American Civil War in Virginia. Each short film tells the story of the crucial moments and people in the desperate struggle in the last year of the war.
Chapter 1 introduces us to combatants as they face-off in the, "Battle of the Wilderness".
Chapter 2, which will be released online May 26th, follows up at the Battle of Spotsylvania.
Both episodes premiered theatrically at the Naro Cinema in Norfolk, VA on February 20th, 2010.
Principal photography for the first two episodes was completed at two locations, over the course of a weekend. It was a 3 camera shoot (All DVX100a). Four separate units of re-enactors (13th Virginia Cavalry, 61st Virginia Infantry, 7th New York Cavalry, and 16th Virginia Infantry) donated their time and materials to make this as authentic as possible. The generosity of the cast and crew allowed us to film both of these episodes for somewhere in the ball park of $600.
The concept of this becoming a 10 part series came about while writing the first chapter. May 1864- April 1865 were a crucial time in the history of our nation. This campaign has so many great stories that the idea of making it into a series was just natural.
Chapters 3 and 4 are written. 5-10 are outlined and laid out. Each episode covers different key moments and characters from the campaigns from different perspectives. We are also playing a bit with the concept of genre within the series. For instance, Chapter 3 tells the story of a Union regimental surgeon operating near the North Anna River. It has a strong horror vibe due to the rather gruesome nature of a battlefield doctor's work. Chapter 4 takes place amid the carnage of Cold Harbor, just when Grant thought he had broken the Army of Northern Virginia's morale...
I've been a Civil War history enthusiast well since my youth. I grew up visiting pretty much every battleground in VA. When I became a filmmaker it wasn't a matter of if I would make a Civil War film, but when.
I will point out that there were certain historical concessions made for the purposes of telling a story. Our goal was to truly convey the chaotic and desperate nature of these two batles.
The following link will take you to the series site and first episode. I look forward to hearing what fellow Civil War buffs will think.http://www.nevertoturnback.com/Episode_1.html
Thanks,
Matt Burchfield
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