An introduction to misery
Jack is a young male student who suffers with depression. Following what is supposed to be a simple check up appointment with his counsellor, a number of dark thoughts and flashbacks are triggered, leading him to decide on taking some extreme measures. Thanks to the intervention of a wise stranger who alters his views and perspective on life, he changes his mind.
Read on to find out more about who we are and what we believe makes Misery unique.
The team behind the production
We are a group of 3rd year BA Television Production students at Middlesex University and Misery will be our final year film project. Since starting our course three years ago, the team members producing Misery have established strong working relationships. All of us have worked with each other on previous productions in some capacity in the past. This is one of the reasons we chose to produce this short film together.
Thanks in part to our strong team dynamic, we believe we can make Misery a compelling and thought-provoking short film for viewers. We are all passionate about the story line and believe it tackles important issues.
Our crew...
Zoe Drew (Producer & Director) - my major passion is bringing my creative ideas to life and when I get to depict them visually, it brings me great joy. I am excited to be creating this short film, as it is something I have been hoping to make for a while. A lot of planning and work has gone into Misery so that we can make it the best it can be. We want to produce an impactful piece that raises awareness of depression. To give you an idea of my work, here is a previous piece I directed and produced. While the production itself is very different, I will be using similar skills when working on Misery: https://vimeo.com/302268658/5ef26772e5.
Kan (Camera Operator) - I am very passionate about working as a camera operator and also editing. I always try and incorporate various manoeuvres into my camera work in order to show versatility and bring something unique to the screen. For this particular project, my objective is to capture each sequence with utmost accuracy in order to bring forward the director's vision. Here is a link to an experimental film I created last academic year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QKo1PWiJL8&t=2s.
Kenny (Sound Director) - I am a creative sound designer with three years of experience and I am looking forward to bringing my creativity to bare on this project. You can find an example of my previous work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QKo1PWiJL8&t=2s
Ikhlaq (Production Manager) - I will be looking over the production and dealing with any issues, alongside doing the paperwork and sending out call sheets. I have gained a lot of experience in this area during my time at Middlesex and hope to apply my skills well on the production of Misery. Here is a link to a previous production I have worked on: https://vimeo.com/302269866/cc1a32a410.
Samuel (Lighting Director) - Throughout my course I have become very interested in lighting and the technical aspects of being a Lighting Director. My aim for Misery is to bring cinematic lighting to each frame and to take my lighting skills to the next level. I want to create visually pleasing scenes for viewers of our film. Here is some of my previous work: https://vimeo.com/302269866/cc1a32a410.
WHAT MAKES MISERY DIFFERENT
The subject of depression is often a touchy subject that most steer away from. When it is covered, the focus is most often on the impact of depression on women. Not only will our film focus on the male perspective but we hope to depict the struggle with depression visually, not just through our story narrative. To achieve this, we have planned a number of unique and creative shots designed to show the mind of someone with depression.
Our motives for making Misery
Our reasons for making this film are varied. We hope to be able to capture what it’s like to be severely depressed and suicidal, even if only to a small degree. We want our film to engage not just those who can relate to these feelings but also those who are oblivious to what it might be like.
In everyday society ‘depression’ is often a misused phrase to describe minimal levels of stress, so we want to show the impact severe or clinical depression can have on a person.
We have chosen to focus our film on male depression, using a young male student as our central character. Studies conducted show men are less likely to admit to feeling depressed – potentially because of the stereotypical alpha male role they often feel society still expects them to assume. We hope to debunk this myth and show men that it’s okay to open up about their emotions.
This project matters a lot to us as it is not just to visually entertain but also to educate and spread awareness about severe depression.
Cast
We will be casting for actors in the beginning of January of 2019, so keep an eye out for updates in due course!
WHERE YOU COME IN
Making films costs money but we are hoping a few generous donors will give to our campaign. In total, we are hoping to raise £1,500 to bring Misery to life.
With your help, we can bring Misery to the screen, make it visually captivating and most importantly of all, portray depression in an impactful way so that we raise awareness of this important subject matter.
Our budget breaks down as follows:
- Locations (to include house/Kew Gardens/leisure centre/office/classroom/park) – £397
- Actors & Crew (lunch and travel) - £ 300. Our cast will be generously giving their time for free so the least we can do is cover lunch and travel!
- Travel (van hire and petrol for travel from Middlesex University to our locations) - £243
- Production costs (props/costume/music license/set/extras/batteries) - £500
- Printing costs (for forms/movie posters/promotional leaflets) - £60
If we are lucky enough to raise more than our target...
Any money raised above our target will be donated to charities that specialise in helping those with depression (e.g. help centres) and support what we are trying to achieve with our film.
Your rewards
In return for any donations we receive, we will be offering some rewards. You can find out more about these on the right side of our campaign page!
where YOU can find uS
We will have active Twitter and Instagram pages to keep our audience updated with the progress we make with our crowdfunding campaign and plans for Misery. Our updates will include news about any filming undertaken and special mentions for donors who contribute to our campaigns to say thank you, among other things!
Here are the links to our social media pages:
@miserythefilm on Instagram
@misery_film on Twitter
spread the word!
If you can’t donate personally, you can still help us by spreading the word about our project to your own network of contacts.
Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Twitter, Instagram, by email, telephone or in person. By helping us promote the project, the greater chance we have of turning our bright idea into reality. Your support really matters. Of course if you are also able to make a small personal donation and sponsor our project, we would be very grateful.
