‘Sapling’ - short film

The Brief - I submitted a screenplay to the Northern Ireland Screen short film funding call and was successful. As writer, director, editor and producer, I had to assemble a crew on a small budget and I also had to act as location manager. I love doing this and I location scout informally, everywhere I go. I was fortunate to get two great lead actors in Jonathan Harden and Caolan Byrne. The crew was made up of ten professionals in total. Cinematographer, Thomas McKeown shot the film, we had one meeting prior and I sent him my gothic mood board, filled with images from Bergman films, Mike Leigh’s ‘Naked’ and Edward Hopper paintings.

The Method - Shot on the Arri Alexa XT with Zeiss Super Speeds over two long and intense days. It was necessary to shoot in the depths of winter as it’s very much a winter story but this never makes things easier, especially given how much was shot outdoors. I cut the film over a period of weeks and Chloe Dalzell at Yellow Moon did a great job in post with the sound design, whilst Ross McKinney helped bring out the cold, naturalistic look. Despite courting various composers, the film seemed strongest without a score and I’m delighted with the silence throughout the film. Sapling screened at various festivals throughout Ireland and won the Best Short Celtic Film Award at the BAFTA qualifying Carmarthen Bay Film Festival.