‘Death Lies on Her’, premier screening and networking party, 14.07.16

Concept136Film cordially invites you and your friends to the premiere of the short high concept film ‘Death Lies on Her’ in an exclusive location in central London. The private screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the writer Afzaal Mauthoor and writer/director/producer Uppili Raghavachari. Please also welcome the rest of the crew and the talents Ellie Tanner and Chris Edgerley.

‘Death Lies on Her’ is an electrifying high concept debut film - a tragic Shakespearean love story with a deadly twist. I am the costume designer & supervisor – can’t wait to see the finished film.
Venue: The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, WC2H 9HQ
Time: 14 July, 2016 (18.00 – 21.00)

After Q&A session there will be a networking drinks reception for those who like to party into the night.
 Tickets are available for those who are not cast or crew: please order here

'Admiral Zheng He', History Documentary

News from the costume front: I finally received some images of a rather interesting assignment. In September 2015 I was hired to design and create 3 characters from the 15th Century Ming Dynasty in China.

Have you heard about Admiral Zheng He? He was commanded expeditionary voyages and 'discovered' new territories such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. His larger ships stretched 400 feet in length (Columbus's Santa Maria, for comparison, was 85 feet). During his first voyage he commanded 62 ships and 27,800 men! A fascinating story indeed.
The documentary inserts were created at Camberwell Studios and are going to be used as parts of a contemporary drama. It will be interesting to watch the final result in 2016...

‘Sunken Garden’, Costume Design for a 3D Film / Opera, 15.03 - 20.03.15

 

Proud announcement for the third round: the occult mystery film-opera 'Sunken Garden’ by Dutch composer Michel van der Aa and best-selling author David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) is having a come back at the Opera de Lyon. I was designing the costumes for both, the film as well as for the stage performance - the production took place from 2012 – 2013.

The event is a combination between life performance, 2D documentary style film inserts and a 3D film backdrop throughout the 2nd half of the opera. It was co-commissioned by the English National Opera, the Barbican Centre in London, the Toronto Luminato Festival, the Holland Festival and the Opera de Lyon.

Pictures from the world premiere in London (2013) as well as stills from the film inserts can be seen at this link: http://www.astridschulz.com/sunken-garden/

‘Sunken Garden’, Costume Design for a 3D Film / Opera, 12.04 – 20.04.13

Back into costume design and very proud in having been involved in an occult mystery film-opera, Astrid would like to introduce an exciting and brand new collaboration by Dutch composer Michel van der Aa and libretto by best-selling author David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas). 

 
The world premiere of the ‘Sunken Garden’ is taking opera to a new level. The show is a combination between life performance, 2D documentary style film inserts and a 3D film backdrop throughout the 2nd half of the opera. On stage, performers (Roderick Williams, Katherine Manley & Claron McFadden) skillfully interact with the 3D screen action, which features additional singers (Jonathan McGovern and Kate Miller Heidke).  

Performances take place at the Barbican from Friday, 12 April to Saturday, 20 April. Afterwards the show will be traveling to Amsterdam’s Holland Festival in June 2013 (already sold out) and in June 2014 the opera will be staged at the Toronto Luminato Festival. Further shows are planed for Spring 2015 at Opera de Lyon.

Pictures of the performance and stills from the film inserts can be seen at the link below:
http://www.astridschulz.com/sunken-garden/

'Perfect Storms' - The Varian Disaster: TV Documentary

 
The Battle of the Toutoburg Forest, also called the 'Varian Disaster' took place in 9 CE. This battle, which was lost by the Romans, probably changed history in Europe forever as the Romans were to make no more attempts to conquer and permanently hold Germania beyond the river thereafter.

Now, 2000 years later, the battle has raised interest again and was topic of major exhibitions in Germany as well as TV reconstructions.

Astrid was lucky to have been commissioned to work on a documentary by a Canadian TV company, which came to the UK for a documentary series. The battle was performed by UK re-enactors, playing Roman soldiers or Iron Age warriors (stills from the film: www.astridschulz.com/varian/).

This series of portraits was made in the forest after the battle and can be seen on Astrid's web portfolio (www.astridschulz.com/warriors).