Tired and despondent with her everyday life, a young woman succumbs to a new virtual experience.

Directors Statement

The genesis of this film came about in a couple of ways, one being the desire to create something (in particular narrative work) whilst I pitched on music promos, and the other being a close friend of mine pushing for me to create a short 90 second film on 100ft of 16mm that he had available.

The project became so important to me personally because it gave me an opportunity to put my creative energy into something practical, whilst also working on treatments or scripts that I was trying to get commissioned. The film and story it tells also comes at a time for me where my life seems to be enveloped by technology, social media and screens. This made even more so by the amount of laptop work I seem to take on from month to month. When I sat down to come up with an idea for the film, I was constantly gravitating towards themes of escapism and the desire to distance myself from technology, as well as in many ways, civilisation. Drawing on these themes as well as my passionate interest in sci-fi, I decided to try and create a story that encapsulated how I myself and many others feel time to time in a world being ever dominated by digital technology.

There’s so much amazing science fiction genre content coming out of the UK such as Black Mirror (back when it was made by C4) and the work of Alex Garland that it’s a something I really want to get behind. Grounding sci-fi in reality very much appeals to me, providing a platform to make comment on current affairs, philosophies and trends, all whilst wrapping it up in magic realism or spectacle.

This was a challenging piece to make due to fact it was a self-funded budget and we had a limited amount of film stock. Unfortunately the offer of 100ft of film fell although last minute, but I managed to get a hold of a 185ft short end which we shot on. Although this gave us a slightly tight shooting ratio, I was incredibly thankful for the experience I’d had shooting a Straight 8 in 2017 and welcomed the challenge. Our total crew, who all donated their time and work for free, numbered at six people, which was split evenly between production and post. By working with such a talented and tight team, we were able to collaborate on the piece in an efficient and fast way, taking the piece through post-production in just under two weeks. Everyone also showed their investment into making the film by going above and beyond, making sure that I wasn’t just proud of their work, but they that were too.

Although this is a micro short film, I hope that the piece still engages audiences and makes them feel something. There’s a level of ambiguity in the piece that is there to give people something to chew on after the credits roll, rather than delivering them a story that’s neatly tied up in a bow. On a level for other filmmakers, I’d for love this to be an example that no matter how much money you have or what the story is that you want to tell, you can find brilliant collaborators to get behind your vision and make something you’re all very proud of.