Shock! A New Horror!

“Appetite” unfolds in a rural Australian town where a harrowing epidemic is spreading, turning teenagers into grotesque, undead creatures with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. These beings lurk within society, yet they are met with repulsion. A young girl named Grace, on the brink of adolescence, confronts her overbearing mother, who incessantly body-shames her and enforces strict dietary restrictions. In an act of rebellion, Grace forms an unlikely bond with one of the creatures, secretly nourishing it with forbidden treats such as meat and chocolate. As her classmates progressively succumb to the epidemic, the girl begins to experience changes within herself.

My journey as the cinematographer for “Appetite” was a transformative experience. The foundation of our narrative was built upon a big exploration of aesthetics. To develop a distinctive colour palette that evoked the mood for our film, I scoured Pinterest for images that resonated with our vision. After a collaboration with the director, Finley, we made the choice to use a contrasting combination of red and green. This decision was significantly influenced by Dario Argento’s 1977 horror film, “Suspiria,” known for its non-naturalistic use of vibrant colours. The lighting design became a critical element in conveying the story – specifically through our main character Grace. I aimed to create a stark juxtaposition between the two primary colours, symbolising the internal struggle between good and evil. Night scenes featuring the mother were deliberately filled with intense red hues, while the daughter’s presence was consistently framed with a subtle but persistent hint of green, representing her inner conflict. The selection of red and green, positioned directly opposite each other on the colour wheel, not only created a visual balance but also added energy into the film’s atmosphere. To intensify the sense of a dystopian and otherworldly environment, I incorporated unconventional lighting techniques. These choices worked to heighten the film’s mood, amplifying the audience’s immersion in the narrative.

My role as the cinematographer for “Appetite” marked a pivotal moment in my filmmaking journey. Prior to this project, I had absolutely no experience with handling a camera. The learning curve was steep, but the experience was incredibly rewarding. Through hands-on experience, I acquired a great understanding of camera functionalities and the art of shooting a short film. One of the most significant takeaways from this project was the importance of experimentation and flexibility. While sticking to the storyboard is helpful, I learned not to be afraid of deviating from it if the outcome seemed to be a better choice visually. This flexibility in creative decision-making often led to some of the film’s best moments. Additionally, I gained great insight into how to use lighting to evoke emotions and set the mood for a film. The strategic use of colour and lighting was not just an aesthetic choice but a powerful storytelling tool. “Appetite” helped me appreciate the connection between visuals and emotions. Overall, this experience has been a fun journey of growth and learning, and it gave me a chance to find my passion and love for cinematography.

Gooey follows Katy, unwillingly forced to attend a family party celebrating her grandfathers birthday. But what she learns to discover is that her family might not be who she thinks they are after all.

I have had the privilege to work with such an amazing team on the incredible film known as ‘Gooey’ as its sound designer and co-editor. The production process brought many challenging experiences itself, however in the end, it become evident that our final work represented an important aspect of adapting to the issues we all faced as a group and how each and every one of us took the time to help each other out and make sure that we were okay and on the same track. As the films sound designer and editor it became an important job for me to work very closely with our director Luciana to discover what atmosphere we wanted to capture and did so through the discover of certain sound effects and music that evoked creepy aspects of old-timey atmosphere.

What i learnt was not only how to operate areas such as sound design and the equipment that follow with it. But what was most important was how i learnt how to adapt to certain situations or issues that the production process displayed. some instances where the sound didn’t work or where some clips didn’t match each other when looking at them editing, all lead to all of our ability to adapt to these instances and work around these areas to produce the final product and we all did so amazingly.

Overall, it was a blast to be a part of this movie. The crew put so much effort and passion into making the film successful and created such a wonderful atmosphere. Luciana’s breakout role as director was fantastic, Alex’s cinematography was beautifully shot and Ewan’s Management……and acting was superb. With a few minor difficulties here and there, I believe we accomplished what we set out to do, and I will always be grateful to the actors and crew for providing a wonderful, challenging, enjoyable, and overall beneficial experience that will support my desire for a future in the film industry.

Watch Gooey here: https://vimeo.com/874001088

Summary:
“Lost in the In-Between” is a chilling journey through the mind and heart of Lily, a young Chinese girl haunted by the void left by her father’s absence. As her relationship with her mother grows cold, the film unfolds the raw realities of immigration, drawing the audience into a whirlwind of family separation, adaptation, and the internal horrors one faces in an unfamiliar world.

Creative Process & Learning Experience:
Wearing the hats of writer, director, and actor was both challenging and rewarding. I aimed to highlight the complex emotions families go through when they’re separated. As a director, my job was to visualize this, and as an actor, to express these feelings genuinely.

Balancing these roles was no easy task. I had to keep shifting between the clear vision of a director and the depth of emotion as an actor. My own experiences helped guide the authenticity of the film.

One big lesson from this project was the value of working together and communicating well with my crewmates. We realised how crucial it is for everyone to be on the same page. Also, I learned about the importance of matching our production goals with the resources and skills we have. It’s something I’ll keep in mind for future projects.

The Key Takeaway:
Good communication and teamwork make a huge difference. And sometimes, it’s best to adjust our ambitions to fit what we can realistically achieve with the tools and skills at hand.

Embedded Link: Lost in the In-Between 

Lost In The In-Between is a psychological horror with elements of family-drama and thriller, centering on Lily, a young Chinese girl grappling with her father’s absence, which leads to a strained relationship with her mother. The film serves as commentary on the hardships of immigration, delving into the complexities of family separation and adaptation to a foreign land.

I was initially assigned the role of sound designer and lighting assistant, although as the film developed, my responsibilities shifted towards solely focusing on sound design. Given my relative inexperience in this field, my preparation entailed a lot of studying and practical experimentation, just gaining familiarity with audio equipment to ensure I wouldn’t disrupt the workflow during production. In this role, I was responsible for creating a comprehensive sound list, detailing the necessary sounds to be recorded, specifying when, where and how they should be captured. Also, I was to source a score for the film, this task involved discovering a variety of tracks, particularly, string/piano that fit with the film’s themes and tone. Given the film’s genre-blending nature, sound was critical in establishing its presence as a horror, creating an eerie ambience, building suspense, and evoking fear, all of which required meticulous planning and coordination with the director.

Through this endeavor, I’ve learnt the importance in effective communication and time management. While the experience of being part of a relatively large-scale production was valuable, it also presented challenges in terms of my creative involvement during the actual production phase. In retrospect, I recognize that clearer and more frequent communication, perhaps, would have facilitated a more seamless collaboration. Additionally, our struggles with time management, often falling behind schedule, stemmed from an oversight in our approach to the project. Improved planning and a realistic schedule would have ensured a smoother production process.

Watch the film here

‘Appetite’ follows the story of  Grace, your average high school girl living in your average Australian town, apart from the flesh-eating teenage zombies around. Grace is burdened by her mother’s body shaming and dietary restrictions and soon discovers an unexpected connection. She befriends one of these creatures in secret, providing it with the sugary food she is banned from eating. Grace senses a creeping change within herself as the epidemic claims more of her classmates. The classroom empties with each passing day. Inevitably, tension escalates at home…

My crew member role on Appetite was Assistant Director and Project Manager. This involved ensuring the smooth execution of various production tasks, from scheduling and coordinating cast and crew to managing the logistics of the project. I was responsible for briefings, actor coordination, and ensuring everyone’s needs were met. Simultaneously, in my capacity as Project Manager, I organised essential aspects like equipment, catering, and showing appreciation to our dedicated team. In this role I learnt the importance and power of communication, whether this is in an email, chatting with actors to ensure their comfort, or checking in with your team. Being AD is all about communication.

You can check out our finished film soon!

By Saskia Velcek

Lost In The In-Between is a horror short film that explores the trauma of a dysfunctional home life and the loss of someone close to you. The short film follows Lucy after the disappearance of her father, along side her abusive mother, who is struggling to cope with her mental health. The story follows loss, grief and insanity and builds tension for the audience as the film progresses.

As the designated cinematographer for the film, I along side a few others worked to create innovative and creative shots in order to portray the feelings of hardship and grief in every scene. The role was for the most part, challenging but proved to be rewarding and exciting as we discussed how we would be able to shoot a scene for every part of the script. We scouted different locations around the house and messed around with different types of angles and lighting in order to see what would be best for the final product. Lots of collaboration work was done with the director and other members of the camera crew as our creative ideas were thrown around and mixed in order to creative something that was representative of what was wanted from Lucy. We had heaps of lights and many different types of lenses that were all used in unconventional ways that allowed us to explore different ways of filming. One thing that I learnt while creating this film, is that there is more to shooting a scene than just putting up a few lights and getting the angle right. There are many steps including lens changing, adjusting the camera settings and other miscellaneous tasks such as adjusting props in frame that all affect the final shot.

link to the film

Lost in the In-Between is a psychological horror and family drama that tackles and explores the struggles of relationships, divorce, loneliness, and mental illness. The short film follows Lily, a teenager experiencing distress over the disappearance of her father, who lives in China, and her emotionally and physically abusive mother, who is struggling to cope with her mental health. The story builds tension and suspense as the audience is taken through a tragic story of a mother’s health decline as she deals with divorce.

Being a production manager and an art director for Lost in the In-Between proved to be a very challenging and work-intensive role. My responsibilities were mostly significant to the making of the short film during the pre-production stage. This included organising and making documents and folders in our Google Drive folder to make the workflow as efficient as possible for our team, taking meeting notes to make sure we were on top of every assigned task, creating Excel spreadsheets containing designated tasks and when to complete them, releasing actors release forms, completing shooting schedules, creating prop lists, and finalising call sheets. All these documents and scheduling played a part in reaching deadlines with heavy time constraints due to the scope of the project and assignment due dates.

What I learned from this studio and being a production manager is how significant the role is and the mental fortitude it takes to make all stages of production as efficient and effective as possible. It requires you to make sure tasks are completed by crew members and manage others, like being the glue to group members communicating their works as smooth as possible. This was my first time being a production manager, and while it was challenging throughout this project, it was a major learning experience that I will take into my future projects.

“Lost In The In-Between” is a story that describes a strange emotion between mum and daughter, however everything is because of “DAD” who is never shown in the film but the most often mentioned.

My contribution as the continuity person was marked by my dedication to maintaining the visual and narrative consistency of the film. I worked closely with the director and the rest of the crew to ensure that every scene we took is the same which writing in the call sheet and the overall scene continuity remained intact throughout the shooting process. This not only contributed to the professional quality of our film but also helped in post-production, making the editing process smoother.

Secondly, as an editor, I have the privilege of shaping the raw materials into an engaging story. This involves making creative choices in lens selection, rhythm, and visual effects to bring our vision to life. In the early stages of filming the movie, I need to combine all the materials and sounds that I have produced with a single comparison based on my track record, filter out the discarded materials, and then combine the sound and video materials. Secondly, adjusting the framework of each video is also something I must do. I made creative choices to enhance the storytelling, including music, sound effects, and visual effects. I found that editing is where the film truly comes to life, and the choices made during this phase greatly influence the audience’s experience. When editing, I need to maintain a smooth narrative at all times, which is crucial for any successful movie.

I have learned that actively communicating with others and clearly knowing the director’s ideas is the most direct and fastest way to solve problems

Watch Lost In The In-Between here: https://vimeo.com/876628069?share=copy#t=0

.

Appetite is about mother-daughter relationships, diet culture, and flesh-eating creatures. It explores the horrors of being a teenage girl in a world that is obsessed with controlling what you eat. This gory short film is about Grace, a girl whose mother projects her own insecurities onto her daughter while a zombie apocalypse rages outside, threatening to break both the peace of their sleepy, conservative Australian town, and Grace’s self-control.

During the making of this film, I took on the role of writer and director – the script for Appetite was based on my own teenage experiences and was quite personal. It was my first time directing a short film, and worked closely with the actors onset to help them understand their characters and my vision for the film. I wanted to explore feminine rage in horror, inspired by works such as Jennifer’s Body, Raw, Teeth and Ginger Snaps, and encouraged the actors to let themselves try different ways of expressing, or repressing, their characters’ anger. However, I also had the unexpected responsibility of sourcing/making props and costumes for the film, as well as being the makeup artist. Over the course of Appetite‘s creation, I discovered a great passion for SFX makeup artistry – making our zombies looks bruised, sunken, gaunt, crusty and bloody was incredibly fun, and I would love the chance to do more makeup work in the future. I believe that the effort my team and I put into the makeup and costumes was really outstanding, and it looked fantastic on film; I’d never known that SFX makeup was something I would love so much, and I’m pleased that I had the opportunity to discover that passion because of Appetite.

– Finley Stapleton-Hamilton

The Newsroom follows Sarah O’Donahue, a young and successful news anchor before the morning news broadcast. After an eventful night and a chance meeting between her and famed politician James Baker, Sarah is haunted by her actions. The film comes to a boiling point when Sarah is visited by the apparition of  James live on television. The film explores themes of misogyny, assault and victim blaming.

My role in the production of the film was writer and director. Whilst these were my designated parts, I definitely worked across all points, from filming to editing. My creative process started with refining the script and imagining what I wanted my film to look like. This involved storyboarding, mood boards and lost and lots of meetings with cast and crew. The hardest part of the creative process was bringing my ideas from a thought to a tangible end product. Whilst I am proud of the final product, it is definitely a different end product to what I initially envisioned.

Through this studio I have learnt so much! coming into the studio I never would have imagined producing a final work to the quality. I am most proud of the technical abilities I’ve accrued, be that camera and lightening work, editing or working with actors.

Watch the film here!