Short film

It’s my birthday today - 34, easy ladies - which is something I don’t usually crow about, but since I’m sharing my soul with cyberspace, I thought it was something you should know. It feels like I was 28 only yesterday. I loved being 28. The perfect age where you’re old enough to know better but still young enough not to care. It was also 28 when I chucked in everything and committed myself to writing. It’s weird , the last six years have been largely spent in my flat, reading and writing scripts, where my social routine has been dramatically revamped and reduced yet strangely I feel more alive and satisfied than if I was in an office surrounded by colleagues or out on the town every night larging it up.

Today, I’m going to take a half day and enjoy myself. First up, a sushi lunch by myself (Friends: Let’s do something for your birthday! Me: Sushi! Friends: See ya.) followed by some shopping for clothes. Then maybe go to see Crash before retiring for cocktails, a curry, and Liverpool V Chelsea on the box. Not that I’m a fan of either team but it’s an enticing and unmissable fixture nonetheless (I support Nottingham Forest; woe is me).

As my birthday falls midweek and on a school night, proper celebration will likely spill into tomorrow and the weekend so blog entries may be a little thin. To make up for this, you can now view my no-budget three minute short film on line by choosing one of the links below. The whole challenge and purpose of the film was to see if I could make a short that would cost absolutely nothing to make but still tell a story with emotional resonance, a suitable structure and a definite resolution without resorting to a sketch-style short or gimmicky methods.

The result is On The Death of His Wife where a widower gives a poetic tribute to his late wife as he recalls fond memories of their domestic routine together. I'm exceptionally pleased and proud of it, and am especially grateful to Liana del Giudice (editor) and Anthony McIlhenney (sound editor) for their (free) time and help in the crucial editing stage. I hope you enjoy the film. Its running time is 3mins 25secs.

For Windows Media (recommended), click HERE
(There is no dialogue for the first 30 secs but there is definitely SOUND so adjust your volume accordingly)

For Real Media, click HERE
(There is no dialogue for the first 30 secs but there is definitely SOUND so adjust your volume accordingly)

CREDITS
Cast:
Stuart McLoughlin, Klayre Marks

Poem (excerpt):
Jesse Kersey, 1851

Recited by:
Mark Humble

Special Thanks:
Jayne Kirkham
Liana Del Giudice
Jenny Arculus
Simon Reglar
Jo-Ann Challis
Anthony McIlhenney

Written & Directed by:
Danny Stack