The Tunnel (2011 film)
Encyclopedia
The Tunnel is a 2011 horror film
directed by Carlo Ledesma, and co-written, co-produced and co-edited by Julian Harvey and Enzo Tedeschi
. The film stars Bel Deliá, Andy Rodoreda, Steve Davis, Luke Arnold, Goran D. Kleut and James Caitlin, in a documentary
-style horror story set in the underground network of abandoned railway tunnels
in Sydney
, Australia
.
financing model, as part of the 135k Project, where the film's writer-producers Enzo Tedeschi
and Julian Harvey sold individual digital frames
of the film for AUD$1, to try and raise the film's AUD$135,000 target budget. However this method only managed to raise approximately AUD$36,000, so the filmmakers exerted a certain "creativity" to complete the film with this limited budget.
Principal photography
took place in Sydney, comprising on-location shoots in many of the city's disused underground tunnels
. It was shot non-sequentially in 14 days (including pick-ups), and then edited by the writing-producing team of Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey.
. In addition to its conventional modes of release, including a limited Australian theatrical release, screenings on Showtime Australia
, and an Australian and New Zealand DVD release through Paramount Pictures
Australia and Transmission Films, the film has garnered much attention for its unconventional release through BitTorrent. The Tunnel is the first Australian film to be distributed and promoted legally through the BitTorrent internet
downloading platform, a release strategy which could potentially expose the film to tens of millions of people, for free. This free and legal online release is a cooperation between the filmmakers, peer-to-peer
distribution platform VODO
and BitTorrent Inc., which is distributing the film through an app
on its client
.
On 18 May 2011 The Tunnel had its official premiere at Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction
, at a Popcorn Taxi
screening and Q&A
event, and was also released simultaneously on DVD
, TV and BitTorrent.
Won
Nominations
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Carlo Ledesma, and co-written, co-produced and co-edited by Julian Harvey and Enzo Tedeschi
Enzo Tedeschi
Enzo Tedeschi is an Australian television and film editor and producer.Tedeschi was the supervising editor on the Australian adventure-travel series, Things To Try Before You Die, Editor of the ASTRA Award-winning children's program, Gardening for Kids with Madi, and producer and editor of the...
. The film stars Bel Deliá, Andy Rodoreda, Steve Davis, Luke Arnold, Goran D. Kleut and James Caitlin, in a documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
-style horror story set in the underground network of abandoned railway tunnels
Sydney underground railways
Sydney, Australia has several sections of underground railway. These sections of railway are extensions of suburban main line services and are not a completely segregated true metro system. The underground sections, especially the City Circle, typically have frequent services...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Plot
An investigation into a government cover-up leads to a network of abandoned train tunnels deep beneath the heart of Sydney. As a journalist and her crew hunt for the story it quickly becomes clear the story is hunting them.Cast
- Bel Deliá as Natasha Warner (journalist)
- Andy Rodoreda as Peter Ferguson (producer)
- Steve Davis as Steve Miller (cameraman)
- Luke Arnold as Jim ‘Tangles’ Williams (sound recordist)
- Goran D. Kleut as Stalker
- James Caitlin as Trevor Jones
Production
The film was funded using a crowd-fundedCrowd funding
Crowd funding describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations...
financing model, as part of the 135k Project, where the film's writer-producers Enzo Tedeschi
Enzo Tedeschi
Enzo Tedeschi is an Australian television and film editor and producer.Tedeschi was the supervising editor on the Australian adventure-travel series, Things To Try Before You Die, Editor of the ASTRA Award-winning children's program, Gardening for Kids with Madi, and producer and editor of the...
and Julian Harvey sold individual digital frames
Film frame
In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a film frame or video frame is one of the many still images which compose the complete moving picture...
of the film for AUD$1, to try and raise the film's AUD$135,000 target budget. However this method only managed to raise approximately AUD$36,000, so the filmmakers exerted a certain "creativity" to complete the film with this limited budget.
Principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
took place in Sydney, comprising on-location shoots in many of the city's disused underground tunnels
Sydney underground railways
Sydney, Australia has several sections of underground railway. These sections of railway are extensions of suburban main line services and are not a completely segregated true metro system. The underground sections, especially the City Circle, typically have frequent services...
. It was shot non-sequentially in 14 days (including pick-ups), and then edited by the writing-producing team of Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey.
Release
The film has been particularly noted for its unconventional and potentially revolutionary modes of release and distributionFilm distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
. In addition to its conventional modes of release, including a limited Australian theatrical release, screenings on Showtime Australia
Showtime Australia
For the American service, see ShowtimeShowtime Movie Channels is an Australian pay-TV movie service, available on the Foxtel, Optus and Austar TV platforms, the service consists of five original channels , three HD simulcasts For the American service, see ShowtimeShowtime Movie Channels is an...
, and an Australian and New Zealand DVD release through Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
Australia and Transmission Films, the film has garnered much attention for its unconventional release through BitTorrent. The Tunnel is the first Australian film to be distributed and promoted legally through the BitTorrent internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
downloading platform, a release strategy which could potentially expose the film to tens of millions of people, for free. This free and legal online release is a cooperation between the filmmakers, peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
distribution platform VODO
VODO
VODO is an online media distributor releasing films under a Creative Commons license using the BitTorrent protocol. Filmmakers can upload films on the site and selected works are also promoted on third-party sites and services such as uTorrent or The Pirate Bay, Mininova and OneDDL.Past releases...
and BitTorrent Inc., which is distributing the film through an app
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
on its client
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
.
On 18 May 2011 The Tunnel had its official premiere at Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction
Bondi Junction, New South Wales
Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Junction is located 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the Waverley....
, at a Popcorn Taxi
Popcorn Taxi
Popcorn Taxi is an Australian independent non-competitive film festival that presents regular screening of local and international film and television works. The unique nature of each screening is that the events provide patrons with the opportunity to discuss the film with the filmmaker...
screening and Q&A
Q&A
-General:* Q&A is a media relations technique whereby public relations professionals attempt to anticipate journalists' questions on a particular issue and provide answers in order to prepare their spokespeople for press conferences and interviews...
event, and was also released simultaneously on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, TV and BitTorrent.
Awards
Prior to its completion, The Tunnel earned an award and a nomination for its innovative online campaign. The Tunnel has continued to receive award recognition in the festival circuit.Won
- 17th Annual AIMIA Awards:
- Best Use Of Social Media, Viral Or Word of Mouth (Ahmed Salama)
- A Night of Horror International Film FestivalA Night of Horror International Film FestivalA Night of Horror International Film Festival is a genre specific film festival that is based in Sydney, Australia.There seems to be some consensus that the event is Australia's premiere, and possibly only, horror film festival...
:- Best Australian Director (Carlo Ledesma)
Nominations
- Australian Directors Guild Awards | 2010:
- Cross Platform Interactive (Ahmed Salama)
- 17th Annual AIMIA Awards:
- Peoples Choice Award (Ahmed Salama)