The White Rabbit

It's official, I'm off school for study leave! I only have to wear my uniform three more times before I'm out of it for good! Most sixth form cried at our leavers assembly, but honestly I was just counting down the seconds until the bell went. Heck, I didn't even go to the leaver's party last Saturday. Netflix in bed sounds a lot more enjoyable than pretending to like everyone around me.

I've had a number of blog post ideas stuck in my head this past week. I've wanted to share my film work with you for a while. I had planned on writing 'What It's Really Like Working on a Film Set,' but we'll save that for another time. Instead, I'm here to share with you my latest project, one I actually just completed and handed in for marking, it's my A2 final short film 'The White Rabbit.'

The idea came about last September when I was brainstorming many plots on a blank page. I was scrolling through Tumblr that same night when I came across a photographer who captured really creepy and eerie images of young girls wearing animal masks. It took me a while to understand the photographs. In one sense it was creepy and weird, but in another it was beautiful and quite innocent. It was kind of a 'EUREKA' moment when I came up with the plot line.

The story focuses around a young girl, Alexandra, who suffers with schizophrenia. On her wedding day, she is shocked to learn not a single person has turned up. No groom. No officiant. Just a rabbit mask. The short film itself is really thought-provoking, and even encourages the audience to come up with their own conclusion in regards to the rabbit mask. I can't say too without giving the story away, but I can say it is a very unique story that only few will fully understand. The overall idea was to create a short film that allowed the visuals to do the explaining, using very little dialogue throughout.

Before I knew it, pre-production was completed and we were filming on our school breaks. A crew of two and a cast of one. I think it took 6 days altogether to gather all the footage up. We worked on many locations including Belfast city centre, barley fields and even underwater at our actress' swimming pool! In the end, the short film came to 5.33 minutes in length.

I won't know my overall grade until August, which is a little daunting. I have been speaking with my teacher though, and she's dropped a few hints here and there that the film ranks in top marks. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to filming so I'm really hoping for (almost) full marks. Only four more months to wait and find out!

Below I have shared two clips relating to my final film. The first is a teaser to 'The White Rabbit' and the second is my experimental piece. I experimented with lenses and camera angles, as well as sound.

Do you study moving image arts? Or do you enjoy producing your own short films? I hope you've enjoyed this post and I plan to post more about my film work in the future (if people actually enjoy reading it, that is).

KVL xo