Witten and Directed by
Alyssa Murphy

Broken Vessel

Feisty teenage girl Brooklyn emotionally struggles with constant bad decisions, impulsive escapism, and drug use; she makes the decision to change when she realises she is losing the people that really matter.

Produced by
Joshua Kent
Junxi Cao

Cinematography by
Caleb Gilbert

Starring

Ella-Rose Murphy

Rubens Prisco

Brooke Mellsop

I wanted to create Broken Vessel because thinking about my own teenage years, it is complicated, emotional and confusing being a teenage girl in this era, and I wanted to explore this interesting time through Brooklyn who is the rebellious type of girl who thinks she is tough and has to stick up for herself in the world, after having relationship problems with her mum, and her mums angry boyfriend.

Creating Brooklyn and her world was very special to me as Brooklyn was acted by my younger sister - Ella-Rose Murphy, and working with Ella-Rose and seeing the character come alive through her was very exciting. Brooklyn is for all the girls who feel or felt misunderstood, who felt they had to have a shield of confidence up when they were at their most vulnerable time and for the girls who couldn't figure out why everything felt so frustrating in a world full of problems, bad influence and looking to escape.

Alyssa Murphy, Director

I was only able to bring the script for Broken Vessel alive by the help of so many talented people I got the privilege of working with. Caleb joined the process early on as cinematographer, he helped bring the film alive through the camera and always petty lighting setups. The producers - Josh and Junxi and along with the rest of the crew were so helpful and I loved having them all a part of making this film.

As director one interesting part of the process for me was making the decision to include a fight scene. As I made Ren's character do Kungfu, the fight was choreographed by Zac Song with Kungfu versus karate style.

Why Kungfu as a theme at all? I was inspired because for the last year I have been taking Kungfu lessons to pick up a new sport, which is where I met Zac, and have learned a few things about Kungfu I was able to have knowledge about going into creating the film. I liked the contrast of the feisty, rebellious Brooklyn, versus the calm, relaxed, Kungfu character - Ren, like ying and yang.

I was super excited for the stunt sessions as I was very eager to learn how to practice stunt work, and how to shoot a fight scene! Woking with Zac, and the stunt actors - Xavie, Austin, Rubens and Ella-Rose taught me so much and was one of my favourite parts of creating Broken Vessel.

- Alyssa Murphy

Words from the DOP

Broken Vessel was an incredible project to be a part of. Working with Alyssa allowed me to express my voice as a cinematographer, and pursue interesting and exciting avenues for helping to tell her story.

I was drawn to Broken Vessel because I felt it had a distinct visual style, and with Alyssa’s clear directorial voice, I feel that we were able to get the best out of her script and approach shooting this film in a way that made the shoot incredibly enjoyable.

Caleb Gilbert, Director of Photography

Producer Statements

I am very grateful to have worked on this project with Alyssa Murphy to achieve her vision.

I admire how Alyssa strived to do her very best for her project from getting funding from Boosted and the Christchurch Casino to recruiting an effective crew to carry out her work.
Broken Vessels is an inspiration and example for those that want to make a film can succeed through hard work and perseverance.

Junix Cao, Co-Producer

Broken Vessel was such a joy to work on. Giving a genre a New Zealand twist is something that I think sets this project apart from many others. The project has a distinct voice and I am glad that I had the opportunity to produce it.

Another point of difference that Broken Vessel offered was the opportunity to work with local stunt performers. Rubens and the other trained professionals showed such an eagerness towards the film and went above and beyond to make the action authentic and believable.

Joshua Kent, Co-Producer

Introducing The Characters

Brooklyn

Ren

Amy

Brooklyn is the heart of Broken Vessel. She is a troubled teenage girl struggling to find her place in the world. Brooklyn is fierce, bold and confrontational, but on the inside, she is just a girl who grew up in an unstable home, who had to protect herself and had to advocate for herself because she had no one else; under her tough exterior is a girl who just wants to be heard and understood.

Ren is Brooklyn's long tie best friend, they balance each other out like ying and yang. Ren is dedicated with his Kungfu practice and Chinese philosophy. Ren lives a calm, responsible life, with the daily cup of tea. Ren's favourite pass time is painting plates which he encourages Brooklyn to try too.

Amy and Brooklyn have a very complicated mother daughter relationship. Amy raised Brooklyn alone, with multiple different incoming men throughout Brooklyn's childhood. Brooklyn following the path from Amy, who also has problems with drinking and drug use. Amy cares for Brooklyn, and wants the best for her, she is just not sure how to do this, however she is trying to make an effort with Brooklyn now.

The Crew

Director – Alyssa Murphy

Writer – Alyssa Murphy

Co-Producer – Joshua Kent

Co-Producer – Junxi Cao

Co-Producer – Alyssa Murphy

Executive Producer – Jim Marbrook

Director of Photography – Caleb Gilbert

Assistant Director – Caoimhe Hungerford

Location Scout – Alyssa Murphy

Casting – Alyssa Murphy

Continuity – Ayesha Downes

Camera Assist – Ranger Leary

Camera Assist – Natdanai Varnakomala

Gaffer – Jack Robinson

Gaffer – Declan Lang

Gaffer – Ben Dykes

Gaffer – Brodie Simpson

BTS Photography – Edison Halliday

Sound Recordist – Jacob Webb

Studio Voice Recording – Jigs Ibarra

Stunt Choreography – Zac Song

Stunt Supervisor – Susan Sun

Production Designer – Alyssa Murphy

Set Dressing – Freya Carson

Set Dressing – Anh Nham

Props – Freya Carson

Props – Anh Nham

Props – Kerry Murphy

Props – Julian Murphy

Props – Margaret Brown

Props – Julie Wright

Props – Ella-Rose Murphy

Props – Hikurangi Maikuku

Makeup Artist – Alyssa Murphy

SFX Makeup – Siobhan Hoare

SFX Makeup – Lucy Wills

Costumes – Alyssa Murphy

Boosted Mentor – Poe Tiare Tararo

Editor – Alyssa Murphy

Composer - Dylan Jonkers

Sound Mix – Dylan Jonkers

Colour Grade – Caleb Gilbert

The Cast

Brooklyn – Ella-Rose Murphy

Ren – Rubens Prisco

Amy – Brooke Mellsop

Stunt Man 1 – Xavier Boose

Stunt Man 2 – Austin Cook

Kevin – Danny Rey-Conde

Kid 1 – Sandi Buwanayake

Kid 2 – Radin Buwanayake

Thankyou For Your Help

Thankyou to the people who gave us your locations

Felicity Burt The Miller Bar The Karo Flat

A special thankyou to all our donors who helped

us too create this project, we couldn't have done

it without you.

Christchurch Casino

Julie Wright, Jacob Webb, Israel King, Karen Scott

Hikurangi Maikuku, Michelle & Todd Mqueen

Amie Gould, Meg Armstrong, Alice Tiso, Shiv McCann

Malkiah Williams, Kerry & Julian Murphy

Huw Collins, Vanessa Murphy, Owen Murphy

Sarah Lawrence, Helen Murphy, Maddison Entwisle

Leigh Payne, Jaden Salkeld, Neil Wright, Judy Deans

Thomas Cardno, Karen Gilbert, George Smith-Kolff

David & Bindia Kolff, Anni Kolff, Angus Leung

& Katelyn Henke

@brokenvessel.film

A film made at the University of Canterbury, as part of our honours year final project