BLINKERS - Our first short film - Blinkers Before
VirtueMedia's first short film Blinkers is on the way, two days of shooting, three strong actors, four locations and over ten crew members. Creative Director Jordan Malonga is directing, Virgyl Sowah will be editing and Joshua Tue the Director of Photography.
Plot and Inspiration
The original idea came from wanting to shoot a short film that was current and relatable to everyday individuals. Black Mirror gave me some motivation and inspiration as it touched on points in society and then embellished them while moving them further into the future; creating a hyper exaggerated form of today's society.
I didn't want to make Blinkers a futuristic short, however I wanted to touch upon a matter that affects us all. When people have their 'blinkers' on, they are stood with you, sat in a pub or at home on the sofa, with their phone glued to their hand. This habit annoys me and I see myself as someone who relies on their phone, I don't know what I'd do without it. However, there is a time and a place, and people are missing out on important moments with loved ones and friends. People need to learn when to put their phone down and just look up. Talk to the person they are sat, rather than scrolling through social media or their phone in general.
The story follows Jacob who can't seem to put his phone down and concentrate on the 'real' world. We see his relationships and professional work suffer from this, but luckily, Wesley, an elderly gentleman sees the errors of his ways and helps him.
"Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone." Steven Spielberg
The Preparation
Blinkers shooting commences in on Saturday the 19th August 2017. (Follow us on our Instagram for behind the scenes on the day, and our YouTube for the behind the scenes video). The final touches are being put together, ie the shooting schedule, lighting set ups, camera test shots etc. Before I the pre-production for this short (which I haven't done since University), I forgot how much work goes into making something flow. Due to the nature of the script, the locations and the time that passes within Blinkers, there are so many elements I have to think about. Costume for an example; Blinkers spans roughly 7-10 days, not having a set structure but, that means we see one of our characters in over 15 different outfits.
Fortunately, we have enough crew to support the demanding days ahead. Working with friends helps too as they want to help out not only to get experience for themselves but to see this film be successful. A lot of people are behind the ethos and message of Blinkers and we are extremely grateful to all those who have donated. Blinkers was completely crowd funded and went way over its original goal.
Look out for behind the scenes by following our social channels and my 'Blinkers - During' & 'Blinkers - After' blogs coming soon.
JT