The initial concept for this story came from the writer who had the idea of watching a supposedly innocent and vulnerable character moving slowly from the light of a safe situation, in this case a countryside picnic, to a progressively more dark and sinister situation, slowly building the suspense and tension to a shocking and unexpected twist in the finale.
Is horror a genre that you feel comfortable working in?
My first feature film was horror, but as a writer I prefer thrillers, I am always striving to create unique twists and subterfuge and I don’t restrict myself to any particular subgenre. My future feature films include a Sci-Fi Thriller, a 1970’s Spy Heist Thriller and we are also working on TV show, a Surgical Thriller. It’s always fun to create more short films along the way too.
Tell us about your cast.
Aurora Fearnley, who plays Rosemary, the lead, is also a TV director. She has a great understanding of her craft and was a pleasure to work with. Tarik Badwan gave a great performance as the sinister boyfriend, Greg, and I would be happy to work with him on a bigger project in the future.
Tell us about your production team.
This project was created with a team from BAFTA Crew, we had not worked together before but the two day shoot was so efficient and professionally executed, covering many locations and getting some great shots. Two notable examples were Edmund Curtis, our Director of Photography, who thought nothing of balancing precariously in a fast flowing stream to get the perfect shot under the bridge and James Warburton spent ages recording the sounds of the countryside to create a great sound track and unique music score.
Where did you shoot and for how long?
The location was around farmland in North Oxfordshire and an old Papermill, hidden away there. It was a very special location complete with all its original workings including the waterwheel and looks great on camera. The shoot was 2 days but there were a couple of prep days to design the set.
Tell us about the make-up effects on the film.
The special effects make up was done by Hazel Fearnley, we also utilised some left over props from my previous feature film Bite. It looks very effective and gruesome but is also used for a more lighthearted gag too (not wanting to give anything away here).
Who and what are your key cinematic influences?
I try to draw inspiration from a wide range of films and directors. I love unique and gripping stories, beautiful cinematography and unusual and impressive production design and with care and attention we are right to aspire to this even with micro-budgets. There is a long list but some notable directors that influence me include Del Toro, Anderson, Tarantino, Meadows and Abrahamson.
What issues and themes are you keen to explore in future work?
I used to say I just want to have fun creating entertaining stories and I have several in development. With my surgical background I am very excited about a thriller I am currently writing, about a rogue surgeon, but issues like A.I. and global warming are of serious concern and I can see myself exploring these in the future.
Would you like to expand on the themes explored in this into a feature-length script?
I think Huntsman is an isolated piece of work but I have entertained the idea, I think it could be the making of a serial killer.
Finally, what are you most proud of about this short?
I think fundamentally I was most proud of the overall achievement of the team in such a short space of time, from conception of the idea to delivery was less than four weeks.
