It's Not About Fear

Having invited a date over for dinner, James struggles to hide from her the monster that has been haunting him for weeks.

We lost our lead a week before the scheduled first day of the shoot. Luckily, I knew Joe Hassan from previous conversations about projects that never happened, and he was available and very interested. Due to the short timescale, it was impossible to get him and Anna to meet beforehand, so there was a slight worry before the shoot that maybe the chemistry I needed just wouldn’t be there. It’s not something you can manufacture. But after the first take of the first scene they shot together, I heard Jade, our makeup artist, whisper an endearing “awww”. And from there, it all clicked together perfectly.

Anna, who I’d known and directed for some time, slid into the role like a glove, and it became clear the less I directed her the better. She was endearing, strong, emotive, just great. Joe delivered on the awkwardness and the anxiety of this tricky performance, and together we found a lovely balance. In the end, they form quite a believable couple, which is something the film absolutely hung on.

The challenges came with a lot of the practical creature work, a first for me. Experimenting with the best way to light, frame and direct Rebecca’s monstruous performance was a lot of fun.

With ultimately a handful of shots throughout the film, it was clear that the less we showed the better. As the film goes on, the slow reveal of more and more details of the monster really draws the audience in, like a slow tease of the answer to a question.

It’s Not About Fear

• Starring Joe Hassan, Anna Roemcke Hoiseth, Bobby Busvine, Rebecca Parr and Damon Ravenscraft

• Written and Directed by Clement Jochem

• Produced by Kyle Borg

• Cinematographer: Benjamin Tate

Shot on Ursa Mini 4.6k and Samyang Xeens