Shrine (2023)
October 19, 2023
On the eve of her 18th birthday, Natalie is held hostage and haunted by her teenage bedroom following the sudden breakdown of an intense friendship.
A teenage girl’s bedroom is the window to her soul. This film takes place entirely in one location that’s almost a character of its own; the protagonist’s bedroom. It explores themes of girlhood, coming of age, growing up and the intensity of female friendships. As a teenage girl myself, these themes deeply resonated with me. Since I could relate to the protagonist, I was drawn to the role of designing the set of her bedroom.
Most of the things I incorporated into the set design for this film I drew from my own experiences and my own bedroom setup. A lot of the pictures that are on the wall are ones I brought from my own bedroom. Reading and re-reading the script and trying to put myself in the shoes of the protagonist helped get a sense of what her room would look like. My creative process involved drawing a lot of inspiration from my own life.
I thoroughly enjoyed the process of working on this film and working with people who have more experience in making media than I did. I learned a lot on set about continuity, production design and sound. I learned the importance of time and how essential it is to plan ahead. Dressing a set takes a long time, and I now know to dedicate more time to that in future productions. It’s also extremely important to be organized and prepared for any potential setbacks and always allow for extra room in the schedule so the production doesn’t run behind.
Watch Shrine here.