Jornada Del Muerto: A Single Day’s Journey of a Dead Man.

It all started with a phone call…

On a sunny winter’s afternoon Ronnie was busy having a cup of BlackMilk Coffee when his mobile phone rang. He didn’t recognise the number, but proceeded to answer.

On the other end was none other than Garrreth Bird, one of Cape Town’s top independent film makers. He informed Ronnie that he was planning on creating a film screening event to be held within the next month and wanted to know if BlackMilk Productions had any film material that they would like to be included at this prestigious evening. The only catch was that the film should not have been screened elsewhere, thus being a premier.

“All our films have had previous screenings, but we do have a few adverts and smaller projects that could possibly meet the needs…” Ronnie replied.

Garrreth suggested that the evening should rather incorporate short films, and not adverts of any kind.

“We will make you a film for this evening…” Ronnie promised, without thinking about what he had just said.

Silence.

“That is extremely bold…” Garrreth replied.

“We will do it.” Ronnie assured him.

Click.

And so the latest BlackMilk Productions film, Jornada Del Meurto, was born.

Ronnie Belcher and Thomas Dorman wrote the script the following day and sent it to the rest of the BlackMilk team. Leon Visser and Esté Kira made it their own. Shortly after, the screenplay was written and finalized by the team. A war torn, post apocalyptic world was created, riddled with Surrealism and Symbolism, true to the nature of BlackMilk.

As per usual, the film was directed by both Ronnie and Thomas.

Esté Kira arrived on set with a truckload of props and constructed the most interesting and beautiful elements that lives within the Jornada Del Muerto world. The team trusts her unique vision more than they can express, and she never disappoints.

Leon Visser had one final look at the screenplay and you could see that behind his eyes a whole film was running silently. All he had to do was to capture it with his camera, and so he did. He is also responsible for the beautiful final touches and soul that the final visual edit provides, with Lohan Koegelenberg capturing breathtaking stills.

Thomas and Ronnie wanted to create a film that could resonate with some of their earlier works such as KiTTY KiLL, and decided to include animation that would act as ‘bridges’ between scenes. Thomas worked around the clock to mastermind and create the final animation, which turned out spectacular. These are true works of art that add another layer to the film.

“We also knew that the sound design had to be something special… We wanted to create an audible experience, as well as a visual.” Ronnie states. Ronnie was in charge of the sound design, which turned out to be exactly what he set out to do. “This film is going to look AND sound amazing on screen.” he adds.

Paul Malherbe, Sasha Perdigao, Zoltan T. Szabo, and Barend Buitekamer were cast as the characters, and they all did a fantastic job, lending their amazing talent to this production. The BlackMilk team also makes a quick appearance in one of the scenes…

Jornada Del Muerto is a classic BlackMilk Production where the whole team brought their strengths to the table to create an amazing short film. They would also like to extend their gratitude to all their friends that helped with this project.

Jornada Del Muerto will premier on 20 July 2011 at the “ON THE BOIL” film screening event at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town. See more details HERE.

All photos by Lohan Koegelenberg.