Today I uploaded a short film I made back in 2007 called ‘Regret’, which was the first short I ever created.
‘Regret’ is a short film about a girl that kills her boyfriend by poisoning him for the “things he’s said and done” (No idea what that meant though?), which she later regrets.
I made this film, because when I applied for my university course ‘Media Production’ they wanted to see a portfolio of past work from either college, or personal projects I may have under taken in my spare time, showing my skills, potential and why I should be accepted onto this media course.
Unfortunately I had not been to college or created any of my own films that I could show in the interview, which meant I had to pull a film together in less than two weeks if I wanted to have a shot at getting on this course.
Seeing as I had never made a film before, and I hadn’t learnt how to shoot, direct, or edit either, I thought it would be a good idea to first spent my time watching short films that the university had made in previous years.
I looked at the story and structure of their short films and what topics and genres other people had chosen, to help me decide what I should make myself.
Like a lot of student films at the time the themes that mostly appeared were dark dramas about someone killing someone else for no real reason, other then to provoke a reaction from the audience. At the time, this seemed like a great concept, as it worked for them so it would work for me.
Like everyone when starting out, I had to make do with what I had, which wasn’t much. I had a Panasonic NV-GS300 camera, which I used for messing around with my mates at the time and a copy of Premier Pro 2.0 to edit with, which I found online.
Also having no cast or crew meant myself and my girlfriend at the time, Charlie Truman (Who later starred in my short film ‘One Night Stand’) had to star in and shoot the film by ourselves.
Looking back on this film now has really made me realise how much I have learned over the years, both from Media Production, and my projects since. It’s also made me see how well I did to produce a film that might not be amazing to watch now, but at the time I think was a great achievement! I had never made a film before, and I decided to go out and shoot it with what I had around me and believe in myself. This has made me realise that this attitude got me into university and through to the other side. If I’m intending to make it to the next stage of my life making films then I have to apply the same drive and passion when making new films in the near future.
Below is the film. Please give it a watch and don’t feel bad to have a laugh at how bad it is! Please feel free to share your best/worst bits of the film in the comments below the video.
JT
