So when this whole lockdown business began back in March, I figured that it would put all creative outlets on hold for some time. I buried myself knee deep in ‘homeschooling’ my 11 year old, trying to create a sourdough starter (because you can’t have too much bread) and keeping myself and 4 other members of the household sane.
Meanwhile, I watched many of my artist friends take to social media with their self penned monologues, paintings and zoom musical collaborations. When would it be my turn to create something other then a failed sourdough starter, I mused.
The call came on a Sunday evening during the Marvel marathon that I was in training for. It was from my longtime friend, director and writer Sean Breathnach, whom I’ve worked with on Beyond the Woods and Th3 Room, among many others. He had me at ‘I have an idea for lockdown short horror, you in?’
Having worked with Sean before, I knew whatever he had planned would be witty, clever and fun. He didn’t disappoint, and wrote a five minute horror called ‘Forever’ based on two characters who began their relationship just before the lockdown and how they have maintained it since. It featured real life couple Irene Kelleher and Denis O Sullivan with a cameo for me at the end.
The challenge of course is how to do this when we are all isolated. Sean got around this by asking us to record on our phones as the premise of the whole short is how we stay in contact through new media. It was a challenge that I was only too ready to accept. I began by trying to get the lighting and angles right. It may or may not have taken two hours for me to achieve the less grey less jowls look!
He sent me Irene’s recording and I timed it with my own dialogue and imagined her reactions. Sean lined it up seamlessly so it looked like a real time conversation. The end result was exactly what I imagined. The film ‘Forever’ took only a few days to complete from start to finish.
It has reminded me that no matter what the circumstances are, we can always find new and exciting ways to create. Except for sourdough bread.