Once Upon A Time In The Union

This short film was made for the STOIC Film-in-a-week Challenge 2010, and as you might guess from the name the challenge was to write, shoot and edit a short film in just seven days. To add an extra dimension, each team had to stick to a theme and was also given a character, prop and line of dialogue to include, to stop people cheating by doing stuff in advance. We had to do a Western-themed film and had to include a toothbrush, a chef called John or Jane Stevens and the line “only five people in the world know that”.

The plot was meant to reference/parody some of the classic Western elements: an indepedent, nomadic protagonist in the form of a cowboy, the shoot-out, physical skill with the lasoo, Western clothing and the search for justice. Imperial College references were also sprinkled liberally.

I think it turned out OK given that we went from start to finish in seven days (and also had to go to lectures etc.), and none of us know anything about making films. We were fortunate enough to win the Critic’s Choice Award, which I think is a nice way of saying “it wasn’t that fun to watch but we appreciate what you were trying to do”.