The Hunt For Gollum Reaches Manchester

The magic of ‘Lord of the Rings’ has cast its spell over Futureworks, as the audio for arguably the biggest independent not-for-profit short film ever made, is being created at the city centre studios.

The Hunt for Gollum is an unofficial prequel to the hugely popular Lord of the Rings trilogy and has been made by a cast and crew of over 100 enthusiastic film makers and fans of the film. Based on the original characters and stories from the books and Hollywood blockbuster series, The Hunt for Gollum focuses on Aragorn – also known as Strider – and his search for Gollum and the ring.

Mysterious sounds and epic music scores have engulfed the Manchester studio as Futureworks student Enos Desjardins is part of the 5-strong sound crew that is producing the audio elements for the film. Enos is responsible for re-creating the audio for a fifth of the scenes, whilst overseeing the final mix for the entire film at Futureworks.

The audio production element is a three month process that sees the original sound recordings, captured during the filming, erased and new voices, sound effects and music scores created from scratch and added to the visuals in post production.

Commenting on his role in the production Enos said: “It is fantastic to be involved with such a huge production, the film has already received more interest than we ever imagined so it is such an honour to be able to put my name to it. The quality of the audio production equipment in the Futureworks studios has allowed us to create a high quality professional sounding feature film that rivals those made in Hollywood.”

Rob Magoolagan, head of audio at Futureworks, added: “We are very proud to be part of a truly inspiring film, unearthing new talent is what Futureworks is all about and this film demonstrates the wealth of talent that we have in this country. It is a magnificent production that takes low budget independent films to the next level; the dramatic sounds and effects that Enos and his team have created here will really capture the audience’s imagination.”

Over two years in the making and only costing £3,000, The Hunt for Gollum is holding its premiere in London on 1st May, after which the film will be available to download for free from www.thehuntforgollum.com

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