Working on my first short film.

This blog is written by one of our Hunnies – Lauren Brady, an emerging artist who is discussing her first short film creation with partner Eunice Gatama. The film created “I’m Board” was submitted to the Film Festival 2020 #ESFF2020 #YEGfilmfest for the 48 hour film challenge. Make sure you show your support by watching/clicking the link.

Process.

I received a letter from our art department (a couple of months ago) advertising the 48-hour Edmonton short film festival. I shared it with Eunice, and we immediately got inspired to create a short film together. I was still living in Calgary at the time, so we planned for the weekend of July 17-19 for me to drive up to Edmonton and stay at her place to make and shoot our film. We wanted to avoid making a zoom film, which is how we have primarily been making our previous video content during the pandemic.

“I’m Board” is the first short film created by Shakespeare Hunnies, so we wanted to start safe and effective, so we entered the “phone category.”

Time Line.

I arrived at Eunice’s house on Friday night, where we opened up the email and looked at the requirements for the film.

– The film had to be filmed and edited in 48 hours.
– Include a hockey stick
– Someone using hand sanitizer
– Someone saying, “I’m Bored.”

Our first reactions were to make something corky and comedic. We spent Friday night brainstorming and drafting ideas for this 2-minute short film. At the end of the night, we concluded that the main character was going to be a hockey stick and its adventure of finding love online.

Saturday, we spent the day filming and editing the video, and at the end of the day, we hated it. It didn’t make sense, and it was detached from the world – probably because it was a hockey stick trying to find love. We concluded that it was a video that we would only find funny because it was so nonsensical. The rest of Saturday night, we began redrafting the film and changing the hockey stick to a real person.

Sunday morning, we woke up early, finished drafting and tweaking our new take on the film and began shooting. It took 2 hours of filming Eunice as the videographer. And 2 hours of me editing and while Eunice did the graphic and sound design, and 2 hours of us to tying up all the loose ends, and an hour to deal with a poor internet connection. We submitted our video with 30 minutes to spare.

Take Away.

Shakespeares hunnies – Lauren Brady & Eunice Gatama

“I’m Board” is the first project Eunice and I could physically work together on. Our blog, “Shakespeare Hunnies,” was born during the pandemic. We built our company over several daily zoom calls from March till our launch date, May 11th. It was such a joy to work without barriers and being confined by our internet connection. It was truly a privilege that I am grateful for.

I’ve made dance films before, but I’ve never made a film that isn’t surrounded by movement and physical storytelling. It was such a fantastic process to explore a new medium with someone I work so naturally with, because of our history. Film, is such a unique medium with so many potentials, and I am so excited to see with Eunice, and I make next.

Show Your Support.

“I’m Board” is a 2 minute long film, and we would love your support and comments on this new journey. Let us know if you have any questions, thoughts, or feelings you would like to share. Let us know if you would like to collaborate together in the future! I hope you enjoy our first short film of many.