Ashley

As the gang she has been a part of for many years begins to collapse, a young woman, Ashley, seeks refuge with an old friend.

Ashley  is a short film that is connected to a current work-in-progress, Loose Ends, which I am working on with the same production crew.

Our intention with Ashley  is to showcase the tone and stylistic approach that we wish to take with Loose Ends itself. Whilst the events of this film are not seen in Loose Ends, many direct links are established, with two of the characters from this short making appearances in the main project, with the other character being mentioned. Our hope is that Ashley, which is far smaller in scale than its counterpart, can be used to promote the crowdfunding efforts of Loose Ends, whilst also serving as it's own, standalone creation - one which expands upon and provides context to the world that myself and the crew are trying to create.

One of the highlights of working on Ashley  was having the chance to reunite with many of the crew members I worked with on the two BFI Film Academy shorts, Unfiltered  and The Last Day of Winter. Having only worked with them in an online setting beforehand, it was great to be in the same room as them on a project that we were all passionate about. 

However, there is no denying that the production stage of the project wasn't without it's challenges. For example, having lost our second shoot day last-minute, and with no opportunity for reshoots, the entire film had to be captured all in one night (meaning we wrapped filming at 4:38 in the morning). This, combined with the fact that I had received my second jab of the Covid-19 vaccination earlier that day, and with said vaccine subsequently hitting me like a truck, resulted in perhaps one of the most eventful shooting dates I've had so far. Ultimately though, with only a few short-cuts and workarounds to be made, I'm very happy with the final product given the circumstances under which it was made.