Derek's first ever 16mm film finally restored and remastered for it's 20th anniversary.

This is the Indiegogo financed 20th anniversary digitally remastered version of Derek Boyes' legendary 1993 fantasy epic DRAKKON, an ambitious short film shot on location in West Burton and Harrogate, North Yorkshire over six days in July by a rebel crew of 16 students and one crazy Media Production tutor. It was Derek Boyes' first 16mm film.

The original negative has been digitally scanned at 2K to produce a cropped 16:9 1080p HD image. To find out more about the film's history and its near fatal production, visit our Facebook page where you will find an array of behind the scenes anecdotes, stills and video content, including 20th anniversary content: www.facebook.com/drakkon20th

Drakkon - The Making Of A Fantasy

Well here it is, the definitive behind-the-scenes making of Drakkon, the ambitious epic fantasy short film shot on location at West Burtom falls in North Yorkshire way back in 1993. Having been through the video 8 footage several times to make this new version, 20 year old memories now seem like yesterday. I can literally smell the 1990's.

A big thank you to Shirley Hopkinson, Mike Joslin, Ritchie Wilkinson, Katherine Franks, Simon Franks, Philip Slocombe, Nicola Goss, Oliver Kneesbeck, Vicky Bywater, Gareth Unwin, Chris Eldridge, James Gibson, Isobel Thomas, Laura Anderson, Jim Loomis and Susan Hopkinson for some wonderful memories!

Support the Indiegogo Campaign to restore Drakkon for it's 20th Anniversary

Well finally it's here, my first crowd-funding campaign! I thought I'd start small, see how it all works first before I launch anything too ambitious, so what better way than to raise £500 to remaster my very first 16mm film Drakkon for its 20th anniversary.

Please take a moment to check it out on Indiegogo and also share it with your friends. All the tools are there. Get perks, make a contribution, or simply follow updates. If enough of us get behind it, we can make the remastering of 'DRAKKON' happen!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/424230/emal/3449576

20 years since the making of Drakkon

We are now well into 2013 and in a few months it will have been a whopping 20 years since I made my first 16mm film on location at West Burton Falls in North Yorkshire. Drakkon was an incredibly ambitious first film filled with stunts, explosions and special effects puppetry.

The final results may not have been up to Hollywood standards, but they were certainly no worse than Peter Jackson's Bad Taste. For a crew that were mostly made up of national diploma media graduates from Harrogate College, who had never made a film before, it was an impressive feat in 1993.

On the surface the short is now construed as a rather embarrassing and somewhat amateur attempt of filmmaking, but for myself and many of the filmmakers involved, it holds a much deeper sentiment.

Peasant (played by Derek Boyes) being confronted by Drakkon (notice the Alien 3 homage).

We were very inexperienced at the time, attempting something far more ambitious than most other beginner filmmakers. To our Media Production course leader, we were seen as egotistical mavericks who were heading for failure, yet through naivety, passion and sheer stubbornness we proved him wrong.

The experience bonded many of us at a pivotal moment in our young adult lives. It symbolised our hopes and dreams for the future. It was a time of innocence and optimism, when anything seemed possible. I look back on the whole experience with great fondness and despite all its faults, I am still very proud of the short film we made.

Twenty years later, it seems Drakkon has made a lasting impression on our middle-aged lives, so much so that on Saturday August 10th 2013, nine (maybe eleven) out of seventeen original cast a crew members, will be heading back to the enchanting waterfall in West Burton for a 20th anniversary reunion - can't wait!