Prime Focus London Grades Gritty Urban Brit-flick Shifty

Shifty, Eran Creevy's much anticipated debut film, has been post produced by Prime Focus London.
The Between the Eyes production, which was made with a budget of just £100,000, has already collected five nominations for the British Independent Film Awards.
A sharply scripted, witty thriller, Shifty follows a charismatic young drug dealer over the course of 24 hours in a tale of love and friendship in an urban location.
Set on the outskirts of London in the fictional town of Dudlow, Chris, played by Daniel Mays, returns home after a lengthy absence to catch up with his old buddy Shifty (Riz Ahmed), who's dealing drugs.
Over the course of the day both friends are forced to confront the ghosts from their past, but can Chris save Shifty from his present situation as the pair re-discover their friendship. The film is, as writer and director Eran Creevy describes it as "a fight for Shifty's soul".
Prime Focus London's Richard Fearon graded the film and Ben Pugh, Shifty's producer was delighted with the outcome. Ben said: "Richard Fearon did a great job for us. Working with Ed Wild, the DOP, he provided a sophisticated look that supported the film's story. We chose Prime Focus London because of Richard's working relationship with Eran and his passion for the project. It proved to be the right decision."
Richard Fearon initially experimented with a stylistic grade before going with a more naturalistic feel for the film to suit the location in which it's set. Richard said: "The grade develops as the narrative unfolds, beginning in a calm naturalistic way and intensifying throughout. As the film progresses so to does the intensity of the grade to match the significantly heightened drama. I enhanced skin tones, and raised both saturation and contract, particularly in the subway scene and night-time exterior shots."
Shifty was shot in 18 days, using 17 locations with a 30-strong production crew. Te film was selected as one of two projects to go into production as part of Film London Microwave, a unique micro-budget feature film scheme which challenges London filmmakers to shoot a full length feature film on a maximum budget of £100,000, with cash and in-kind support.
(KMcA/BMcC)