A YORK film company is showcasing its live action capabilities with a new short film ahead of plans to create its first feature-length production later this year.

The team of five at Glass Cannon are currently in production on a new film Holmganga, set during the 10th century Viking Age, and filmed around York.

With filming finished, and editing under way, Glass Cannon is working to finish the short film in time for submission to this year’s Aesthetica and Raindance Festivals in May.

Holmganga has been created by the Glass Cannon crew in a bid to showcase their skills in live action work, having diversified from animations two years ago.

Director Stewart Sparke said: “Our tag line for Glass Cannon is Presenting The Past. We go for live action and animation to explore some really interesting historical time periods and find interesting stories about them.

“We have always been interested in the Viking period. Vikings are often portrayed very inaccurately in films as being brutes, when actually they were very civilised people who had honour and loved their families. We wanted to portray that.

“After expanding into live action we wanted the chance to show our quality.” We really wanted a film that we could take to festivals.

“We hope it will give people an opportunity to see what we can do, and put our name out there ahead of plans to make a feature length film in the summer.”

Holmganga is filmed entirely using the Old North York language, with the Glass Cannon team working with historical linguist Lawrence Edmonds to translate the script.

The story centres on Frey, the son of an ageing Viking chieftain.

While his father fights a duel, known as a Holmganga, for his village’s safety, Frey decides to take matters into his own hands and stabs his father’s aggressor in the back, a dishonourable act that unleashes a vengeful spirit set on the destruction of Frey and his father.

Glass Cannon takes commissions mainly on historical and cultural films, and has produced work for clients, such as a short film on Norse mythology which was screened on to the walls of Clifford’s Tower to launch last year’s Jorvik Viking Festival.

Last year the business worked with 25 other film-makers in York to create a trailer demonstrating the feasibility of horror film, called Frostbite.