Written & Directed by Guy Soulsby | Produced by Jennifer Gelin
Stephen lives a solitary life. A loner. A man who keeps himself to himself and is governed by routine and order. All things have their place and for good reason as a dark secret lurks beneath his feet.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH GUY
Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background:
I am a writer and director based in London shooting TV commercials, content and short films. I've been directing for the past 17 years and have been very fortunate to direct work all around the world. My passion for short films and narrative work started as a teenager back in college in Yorkshire. I didn't know how to turn this into a job, so I ended up moving to London where I worked for various TV broadcasters directing commercials in the UK and the US. After a number of years I decided to leave and become a freelance director, which enabled me to create relationships with production companies and crew, who in turn helped me make short films.
How did you go about casting the film?
I spend a lot of time researching actors. Looking at recent and old TV shows and films. My missus also has a very keen eye for the right talent based on the characters I write, and she was in fact the one who brought David Langham (His Dark Materials, The Alienist, Doctor Who) to my attention. David is not only a fantastic actor but a lovely person. He was such a pleasure to work with from start to finish. I couldn't have asked for more and he's perfect in the role.
What obstacles did you overcome while in the making of this film?
Making a short film is always a huge task. It requires the help and support of many people. The first step is obviously to write something great but also a treatment to accompany the script so you can visually show contributors what you're thinking and how you see the film. Get a good, great producer. I was lucky to find Jennifer Gelin who had just produced a couple commercials with me. Then it's a case of financing the short, which is a big obstacle. Finding the cast, the crew and the right people who can help in post-production, and this is usually for little to no money. You have to be able to entice people and convince them that your short film will be a great piece of work and they should be part of the journey.
Your strength is really "visual storytelling". There's practically no dialog in the film, but you always keep the frame compelling. Any hacks or tips on how to tell stories visually vs with dialog?
Research is a big part, watching TV shows and films, and understanding how camera movement or the lack of it, pacing, as well as blocking conveys feelings, thoughts and emotions towards your cast and the unfolding scene. This really came together once we had the location as I could work with my DOP Michael Paleodimos to construct how we'd shoot the film and use each room. We shot in two different houses and added walls in the main house in post-production to help convey a sense of claustrophobia. We used almost every single set-up in the film, and so I had to make sure the film would cut together before we shot anything. There were many discussions with my regular editor Nick Armstrong based on location photos and shot lists, which we used to construct the film before we shot anything.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences:
The film has only just been released and so I'm keen to get it out to short film lovers around the world. KINO is a great platform to do just that, reach like minded filmmakers and people who want a short snippet of entertainment.
You've had previous work featured on Alter and Vimeo Staff Pick. Congrats! Any tips for filmmakers trying to get their work on those same platforms?
Vimeo was pretty mad. I was able to get an email contact from a mate of a mate, and so I sent a note hoping Vimeo would get back to me. I heard nothing. Then I got up one morning and had a ton of email notifications. I checked my short film DEVIL MAKES WORK and there it was a “Staff Pick” rosette. I was over the moon. I think it’s now up to about 60,000 views and counting. Thanks Vimeo!
I reached out to ALTER via their submissions. Like Vimeo I hoped that they would connect with my short film GOD’S KINGDOM and they did, which was amazing. They showcased it on their channels and the film has pulled in nearly 600,000 views, which has blown my mind, and it’s still going up. Thanks ALTER!
What are you working on now?
I am in pre-production on a short film called PROVISIONS. It’s a story about an elderly woman who has a visit from a homecare nurse. He quickly realises his patient is older, in fact much older than he first thought. I also have another short film called SLEEP. It focuses on woman’s husband who sleep walks. Every night she is woken by him wandering around the house. I am always writing ideas and putting together treatments. I’ve had a couple short films get very close to being made and then for one reason or another they don’t. Sometimes things come up that were unexpected and cost too much, other times the perfect location might become unavailable. I had a short film financed a few years ago with an A list actor, and we had a tiny window of opportunity to make the film. The actor got booked on a movie and so the money pulled out and that was that. The reason I mention all this is so people realise it’s not easy but you have to keep plugging away, you have to keep trying to get things made.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
I recently watched a Canadian film called "The Decline" about a group of survivalists, which is excellent, as well as the psychological thriller 'Swallow" and the new horror film "Saint Maud", both of which are great!