Shooting people Blog

Film of the Month: March’s Top 10

Posted March 24th, 2015 by Kelie Petterssen

The presence of Clerks creator Kevin Smith as March’s patron has stirred up some fiery and fierce competition in Film of the Month. SP’s social media has been going wild with filmmakers promoting their films on the leader board – which is exactly what it’s all about.

Not only is there the opportunity to win stuff, but entrants can get that wonderful thing called ‘feedback’ from leading industry figures and other filmmakers. Helping with the improving and bettering work as creatives – awesome stuff.

So here’s a little bit more about the finalists and their films:

1. Thus – Joseph Steele

Thus

Steele’s debut, zero-budget short That’s why they call it art landed him in court after the 2009 premiere was shut down by the police. Since 2009 Steele has produced a number of unreleased, zero-budget glitch films. Thus marks a new direction in his work as a film maker, and an attempt to make a total work of art. It is the product of 3 years of test shoots, draft scripts, fund-raising, filming and music composing.

Steele’s work as an artist centres around experimentation with explosives. In 2013 his work was discovered by accessories designer Lulu Guinness leading to a collaboration featured in Vogue, the Evening Standard and the Huffington Post. On top of awards from University and a year long financial sponsorship award Steele has been nominated for an Association of Illustrators award for a mural commissioned by Sage Software.

2. He Took His Skin Off For Me – Ben Aston

SkincoverSOTW2

If Ben were better at it he’d still be performing puppet shows with his grandmother, instead he now makes movie-films and dreams of the day he can make his glorious return to marionette theatre. His shorts have played at Sundance, BFI LFF, Fantastic Fest and the nicer parts of the internet. He shot He Took His Skin Off For Me in his house and set up a Kickstarter backed one-time SFX workshop in an abandoned retirement-home down the road to make it happen.
 . 
3. Nobblycarrot7 – Ben Mills
.
nobblycarrot7_ruby
. 
Nobblycarrot7 is a 15 minute film written and directed by Josh Allot and starring Verity Mullan-Wilkinson (Best Actress – British Independent Film Festival) as Ruby, a young girl who’s learnt the ways of the world through Youtube tutorials and spends her days hiding behind her computer screen. When she falls for online DJ Vinyl Lionel (Laurence Williams) she has to shut her laptop and go meet him for real.
.
4. Glasshole – Jonathan Brooks
 .
Glass Hole_Still_4
 .
Jonathan has written and directed a number of successful short comedy films. First Press (co-directed with Mat Laroche) was shortlisted for the Virgin Media Shorts in 2011. The Devil’s Apricot won Judges Commendation at the Reed Short Film Awards 2012 and both the Picturehouse Picks Award and Runner Up Best Short Film at the Cofilmic Film Festival 2012.
 .
Glasshole is about technophobe Andrew who, reluctantly, tests out a pair of Goggle Glasses with friends at his local pub. His curiosity soon returns sinister results as he is visited by a strange paranormal entity called Steve. This short horror comedy addresses the potential supernatural dangers of wearable technology.
 .
5. Cupid Dot Com Dating – Michael James Dean 
.
CUPID_POSTER_ALLNEW1
.
Michael James Dean is a young filmmaker who has worked on several short films both in front and behind the camera. He founded Posh Dinosaur Productions and Cupid – Dot Com Dating is the second film of Michael’s that has reached the final round of Film of the Month.
 .
Cupid is the first episode of an Original Series from Posh Dinosaur Productions currently available via their YouTube channel. Funny, awkward, loveable and exciting Cupid is a heartwarmingly funny comedy that will keep you coming back for more.
.
6. Breathe – Toby Meakins
.
Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 13.52.57
 .
Toby is a multi-award winning director who makes commercials, brand films and viral content but loves to make ghost stories whenever he can.
 .
Breathe is the story of a ghost you can only see when you hold your breath.   It was shot in London across a couple of very cold January days by a lovely cast and crew and has travelled to film festivals all over the world.  It was made a Vimeo Staff Pick and a Short of the Week.
 .
7. Howl – Jamie Sims
.
Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 13.55.10
 .
Howl is a short psychological thriller about a Primary school teacher struggling to protect a new pupil from a strange man who lingers at the playground fence. The film hopes to regenerate interest in the horror/monster genre through combining metaphorical parallels between a common evil within society (child abusers/paedophilia) and a traditional creature of nightmares. Using this, the film explores both adult and child fears.
.
8. Darjeeling – Jamie Montgomery
.
Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 13.57.17
 .
Darjeeling is a thriller that encourages the audience to look beneath the surface and question the importance of our decisions in life and how precious our time really is.
 .
Two men share an evening together over a pot of Darjeeling tea. Having not seen each other for some time they discuss family, travel and share old memories, but underneath every conversation lies a truth, one rarely seen. Is time running out?
 .
9. One Final Question – Corry Raymond
.
Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 14.02.12
 .
One Final Question is about a 20 something girl working at a call centre by chance cold calls her estranged father; realising this, the girl is confronted with the pain of his abandonment and the need to understand. Under the bizarre circumstances they are reunited, the girl attempts to probe into her father’s life and to ask a question which could potentially heal both their pain. The short is on an exclusive showreel, selected by Blackmagic Design, to showcase outstanding creative work shot on their Cinema Cameras.
 .
10. Order of the Ram – Jamie Montgomery
.
Screen Shot 2015-03-24 at 14.08.48
 .
Order of the Ram follows Mary, a young, well-spoken college girl who is well liked within the small town she resides. Suddenly her life is turned upside down when she awakes, bound within a dense wood, to find herself staring into the eyes of “Mother”. On the surface Order of the Ram is a throwback horror movie paying homage to cult horror from the 1970’s, but underneath the film explores the idea of blind belief within religion, the extremes one will go in the name of god and the horrifying effects extreme belief can have on the innocent who encounter such people.
.

Comments are closed.

Search

More Shooters Blogs

  • Categories