Directing Fantasy
Short Film #8
Dear Reader,
December 13th I directed my 8th and final short film for 2024. I am a huge fan of fantasy, but since this genre requires a lot of specially made costumes, prosthetics, and props, I wasn’t sure if I would have the bandwidth for a full fantasy short film. And then “Rebellex Pre-Dominus, Office Manager, Damnation Corporation” spilled out onto the page in full force.
“Rebellex” is “The Devil Wears Prada” meets “The Screwtape Letters,” an idea kicking around in my head for about five years. This story is about Satan’s office manager filling us in on what it’s like to work for the literal devil. Read the short story version in my September Newsletter.
Immediately knowing which actors I wanted to cast, I approached them:
Me: “Hey, I have this idea. So you’re a demon, and…”
Actress: “I’m in.”
Me: “Wait, are you sure? You’re acting as a demon.”
Actress: “I’m definitely in.”
Me: “Oh… Sweet!”
Okay, next actor…
Me: “So, I have this short film, and I think you’d be great as Satan… I mean, I think you’d bring something really special to the character… I mean… Are you in?”
Actor: “Yes!”
To my delight, every actress and actor I approached said “yes” right away. I then reached out to the crew, and that all fell into place surprisingly quickly. Anyone who has ever tried to crew a short film with low/no budget understands what a gift this is. I am beyond grateful to every single person who believed in me enough to invest their time, talent, and energy in my vision. God bless the creatives who are just down to make art together!
In Pre-Production, everything is always happening at the same time: casting, crewing, and finding a location. Peerspace has been my go-to resource when I’m looking for the right set. And then: ordering props, wardrobe, makeup, prosthetics, and so on. As this story is a fantasy, there was A LOT to order.
On every single short film project, I have failed in some epic way. This leaves me smarting, and promising myself, “I’ll do that better on the next one.” On this project, it was ordering all the props, set-dressing, and prosthetics in a timely manner. For example, the horns I ordered on Etsy came in days after the shoot. Unsurprising, given they were coming from the UK, even though I ordered 2 weeks in advance. Thankfully, my special-effects makeup artist is a creative genius with no hang-ups about doing things the second she hears the need, so we still had horns on all the appropriate demons.
Unfortunately, the laser-engraved nameplates, which I custom-ordered for this short film, just… disappeared. USPS tracking said they arrived, but they hadn’t. I called the company, I called USPS, I talked to the mail carrier, I did EVERYTHING I COULD. No nameplates. And so, even though I spent $60, and technically they had arrived, I was left with no other choice, the night before filming, but to make nameplates with paper and tape.
PAPER AND TAPE!!!!!!
Maybe someday I’ll laugh about this, but today is not that day. I almost texted my DP to let him know about the nameplates, just cause I wanted someone to vent to, but I convinced myself he wouldn’t notice or care. That it wouldn’t bother him…. Folks, if cinematographers are passionate about one thing, it’s the details on the screen. Of course, he noticed it, and of course, he gave me grief about it.
DP: “What is this, Shayla? Paper nameplates? PAPER?!”
Me (grumbling darkly): “Don’t even get me started.”
DP: “There’s no way this was your first choice.”
Me: “It wasn’t!”
My big takeaway from this short: order everything the second you know you need it, WAY before you actually need it. Allow enough time for international travel, and for the mail carrier to misplace your package days before the shoot.
This was my biggest set by far. 15 crew members, including yours truly, and 7 actors, including background. A set of 23 people. Being a bigger set, and since this was also the first fantasy project I had written and produced, I was nervous. But when I picked up my head and looked around the set, I realized people were smiling. People were relaxed. Everyone was working, doing their job, and we were right on schedule. With the number of shots needed, it was definitely the most ambitious one-day shoot I’ve ever directed. But thanks to everyone’s hard work, we finished on time.
2024 in Review:
In 2024, I set an overly ambitious goal to write and direct 14 short films. At the time, I had never directed anything. I was designing my own little directing school, an incubator. In my opinion, the best way to learn is by taking as many shots as possible.
14 short films in 12 months is more than 2 short films a month. As I was also the producer on almost every project, I learned very quickly how long pulling together a short film actually takes. Two months is barely enough time (assuming you already have a script) to find actors, lock in location, assemble a crew, run rehearsals, obtain props, recast actors you thought you had, gather the correct wardrobe, design a shot list… and so on.
Thus, writing and shooting 8 short films in 12 months, I am deeply proud of what I and my collaborators accomplished. While I am a storyteller and an artist, I am also a numbers gal, so let’s review the time score for 2024:
In summary, over the course of one year, I directed 74 pages; 74 minutes of narrative screen time. With a 9th short film in development for 2025, it will become 90 pages, the length of a feature film. 2025 will be focused on taking these projects through post-production; cutting the footage together, fixing the sound, adding a score, color grading, and many other steps. Once these stories are as close to perfect as I can get them, I will send them to the festival circuit.
The whole purpose of this year's training as a director was to eventually direct features. I am pleased to say that my first feature film is now officially in development.
Adventure Awaits,
S. C. Durbois Newsletter
1st Saturday every month: a new original short story.
3rd Saturday every month: a writerly check-in with updates.
BTS Photos by Chris Carter. Chris is a professional photographer who currently lives in Los Angeles. You can follow his photography on Instagram @chriscarter_photography.
You are marvelous 🤩 You are the bees knees 😃 This is very inspiring. In this world of digital, you need to print this email and put it in a custom frame to always remind yourself and others how great a creative you are 🥰