Fin Groombridge

A five-minute personal documentary about my younger brother. He started surfing in Costa Rica in 2019, when our family lived there for a year, and he still surfs whenever he can, often with our dad. The film asks what surfing gives him that competitive hockey doesn't, and ends by asking the audience what they do just for themselves.

1. Research

   Three ideas, one film

   I pitched myself three ideas: my brother's surfing, my dad's work as a conservation professor, and a film about my own two screens, film and code. I chose the surfing idea because I had easy access, a real subject, and a clear message about doing something for enjoyment rather than results. I backed that message with research: the Aspen Institute's Project Play study on children quitting sport, Sport England's Active Lives survey on enjoyment, and self-determination theory.

   

2. Pre-production

   Paperwork before footage

   I wrote a synopsis and treatment, a shooting script and a visual shot list, then planned the interview set-up and eleven questions. The surf at The Wave was already filmed on Rowan's birthday trip, so the recce, risk assessment and contingency plan focus on the interview at home and the hockey training.

   

3. Production

   Interview at home, hockey in the rain

   I lit the interview with the window as a soft key at 45 degrees and an LED panel as fill, locked white balance and exposure, and sat next to the lens so Rowan's eyeline sat just off camera. Hockey was shot from behind the fence at training and at a match.

4. Post-production

   Cutting two worlds against each other

   The structure follows my treatment. The edit moves between Rowan's interview, the surf and the hockey, letting the surf sections run slower and warmer than the hockey, and it ends on a single question to the audience.

ReferencesDark Side of the Lens (Mickey Smith, 2010), Momentum Generation (2018), The Drifter (2009), Step Into Liquid (2003)

Three strangers sign up for a paid research study and are locked in a bare flat with a single housefly. They're told the patches behind their ears make its buzz fatal. One by one they collapse, until Marcus decides it's all a psychological trick and tries to prove it. The film is about the nocebo effect: whether believing something is happening can be enough to kill you.

1. Research

   The nocebo effect and Milgram

   I read about the nocebo effect, Stanley Milgram's Obedience to Authority, and research into why people watch horror. I surveyed 13 people about what makes a thriller tense, watched Circle (2015) and Black Mirror for the single-room, social-experiment format, and tested the anamorphic lens and Apple Log before committing to them.

   

2. Writing

   Screenplay

   I wrote the screenplay myself, then a shooting script broken down by location: the flat, the corridor, the laboratory and the university lecture theatre.

   

3. Pre-production

   Pitch, boards and paperwork

   I pitched the film to my tutors with a ten-slide deck, then drew every scene as a storyboard and produced recces, risk assessments, call sheets, a budget and a production schedule.

   

4. Production

   Three locations, one look

   We shot in a flat, a laboratory and a lecture theatre. I designed the flat set and lit it with practical lamps so the actors could move freely in a small space.

   

5. Post-production

   Grade and sound

   I graded in DaVinci Resolve with a node tree for each scene, used keyframes to shift the look as the story turns, and built the sound from room tone, the hum and the fly. Some dialogue was quieter than I wanted, so I raised the gain and used EQ to clean it.

   

ReferencesCircle (2015), Black Mirror, Obedience to Authority (Stanley Milgram), Severance (Apple TV)

A sci-fi dark comedy set at a teenage boy's desk between 7pm and midnight. Every time he spills, drops or mistypes something, he presses UNDO. The last press takes him all the way back to 7pm with the homework still unstarted.

1. Research

   Three ideas, one class vote

   I developed three one-minute ideas with SWOT analyses and asked my class to vote. The Undo Button won. I studied Kirk Mihelakos's iPhone shorts Unsaved and Sweet Decision for how they shoot a desk with shallow depth of field.

2. Pre-production

   Test shots, boards and a 3D-printed key

   I tested ISO and shutter speed in the actual room, drew the storyboard, and wrote a shooting schedule, risk assessment and release form. Then I modelled and printed the key.

   

3. Production

   One room, one lamp

   I shot in the early evening with my brother acting. The only light is a warm desk lamp and the monitor, so I shot wide open at f/4.5 and ISO 3200.

   

4. Post-production

   Editing in Avid

   I transcoded to DNxHD, organised bins for camera, drone and audio, marked the timeline for each undo, and layered reverse and time warp effects. I recorded the keyboard, mouse and road noise myself.

   

ReferencesUnsaved and Sweet Decision (Kirk Mihelakos)

Twenty of us on the Screen South BFI Film Academy read every submitted script, chose which could be shot in a day, and split into two crews of nine. I applied for and was given the editor role on the short film. The week also included a day at the London Film School and talks from Cassandra Roberts, Yero Timi-Biu and former BAFTA chair Krish Majumdar.

1. Production

   One day, nine roles

   Each crew needed a director, producer, sound recordist, cinematographer, 1st AD, script supervisor, editor and art department. The other crew filmed a behind-the-scenes documentary of ours.