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Plot

A young Girl is tasked by the Great Spirit, whose power binds the world together, to awaken the elemental Spirits and restore power to the seal keeping an Evil Man at bay. The Girl sets out with her companion, Shade, a sardonic shadow-being with a tragic past. Together they journey to the Spirits Altar, where they can complete their task. Along they way they meet a traveling Merchant, a lonely Musician, and a mysterious Cowboy. The Girl has to make her way through fields and forests, solving a puzzle or two along the way, but the biggest challenge might just be her conflicted companion, whose ties to the Evil Man are deeper than she can imagine.

Development

The idea for Spirit’s Requiem took root in December of 2009 when writer/director Peter James wanted to make a movie starring a child. Initially the film was to be about a young girl spending time out in the countryside with her family, featuring only a few unreal elements. As development progressed, however, the story became more and more fantastical. The script was completed in April of 2010 and filming was to commence in June with Aster Coyle starring as the Girl, but due to a smorgasbord of production problems Spirit’s Requiem was shelved until the following year.

Pre-production restarted in February of 2011. Aster Coyle was brought back to play the Girl, and Bill Finkbiner, who had been cast as the Evil Man in the original production, rejoined as well. The search for Shade took two months before Elyse Bertani was cast in the role. Elizabeth Mara Finder and Haley Kloess joined the cast in April. Walt Marts and Tim Kidwell were the final additions to the cast, joining just after the start of production.

Filming

Filming began in late May of 2011. All scenes were shot in eastern Missouri, with the primary location being Kingsdale Farm in New Haven, Missouri. Shooting lasted for 12 days spread across May through August.

Production primarily took place during the two hours preceding sunset in order to capture the golden light present during the late summer afternoon and prevent the need for artificial lighting, which would have been difficult to utilize in the rural locations.

Music

Jonathan Peros was selected from a list of nearly a dozen applicants to compose and produce the music for the film. Much of the music was not synched to the film, instead it was produced very much like video game music, composed to match an emotion rather than written to match the specific action of a scene. A digital download of the soundtrack is available for sale by the composer at Bandcamp.

Post-production and Release

Editing took place simultaneously with filming, allowing a rough cut of the film to be completed only a week following the end of photography in mid-August. Difficulties with the audio led to the final cut not being finished until early December. Spirit’s Requiem premiered on December 10th, 2011 with a private viewing for the cast and crew. On March 23rd, 2012, the film was released online for all to see. So why don’t you see it?

Further Information

Articles – Columns featuring in-depth looks at various aspects of Spirit’s Requiem.
Interviews – Inside information from the cast and crew.
Production updates – Track the progress of the film from start to finish.
All Spirit’s Requiem news – Every write-up on the website relating to the movie.