NIGHT FEED, 1min., UK
Directed by William Allum
Late one night a baby is terrorised by a monster in their room.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

My wife and I had just had our first baby, and the country was just about to go into lockdown with COVID.
After many sleepless nights, and no family able to visit, it was just the three of us in a very small flat.
Locked in with this tiny screaming thing, I wondered what it must look like from her perspective, maybe I am some kind of scary looming thing for her.
The shoot was very quick, with all the post work taking "a bit" longer, it was a good project to take my mind of things.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

Filming with my daughter was very quick, it only took 20-30 minutes. With setup and breakdown of all the equipment, maybe a few hours.
I filmed my reaction the following weekend, and then I spend around two weeks completing the majority of the post.
A little later Damon Baxter and Si Begg composed the sound track, and Claire Bilyard completed the sound mix.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Flipped perspective

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

There were two major obstacles that really fed into each other. First of all our flat was too small to get any interesting angles, other than close ups of our daughter. I could not dress up any of the background to make it work within a scene, there simply was not enough space, and too much stuff in the way. So, I knew from the start that I would have to replace all the backgrounds.

Secondly, if I was going to replace all the backgrounds, I would have to recreate them. This meant recreating them all in 3D, including her cot, and making them match the live action footage. This was a challenge to match and blend all these elements. It was also a challenge practically as at the time I was using an almost 10 year old computer (although with an updated GPU), and had decided to complete everything in 4K, even the 3D graphics. Everything was painfully slow, but it was definitely all worth it in the end.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I was very happy to hear everyone's reactions, it put a big smile on my face. It seems like they really got what I was trying to achieve with the film, and it was interesting to hear how people picked up on different parts. In the past I am not sure everyone understood why the title of the short appears within the real space of the intro scene, so it was really nice hear someone's thoughts on this, and why it worked for them. Even for such a short film I wanted to create something that was driven by atmosphere, and feels like a complete story, and thankfully from this feedback it seems like this paid off.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I think I first realised I wanted to be involved in films when I was 10 or 11, although originally, I wanted to be a stuntperson. Once I hit my teens and started filming short films with friends, I realised I was more interested in directing.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

That would probably be John Carpenter's The Thing, although it's hard single anything down to one film, there are so many great films I have watched, and rewatched over the years (Alien(s), Day of the Dead, Blade Runner).

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

Networking is something I always struggle to do more of. It would be good to be put in contact with producers, actors and anyone else who is experienced in a certain area.
The same with any funding opportunities, or people looking to put together new projects.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

It's great! I use FilmFreeway all the time, it's my only choice for submitting to festivals really.

10. What is your favorite meal?

As an indecisive eater, I genuinely love the simplicity of a sandwich, but that's not to say I don't enjoy a good bowel of ramen, burrito or curry.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

Yes, I have quite a few projects I am trying to progress. The main one is a 15 minute short called Black Cat, this is cutdown version of a feature script I wrote with a friend. It is based around a well know myth in the UK of panthers living in the English countryside. Once the short is finished the plan is to enter it into festivals, and hopefully raise enough interest to then make the feature. I also have two more short films I need to complete the post on, and a script I wrote recently called The Unforgotten which has done well in festivals and received good feedback. I am hoping to raise funding for this as well, and shoot it next year.