John - 9 Minutes - 2010
John's life is bleak and beige. He decides his only way out is through his bathtub, where finds himself in another world. A girl leads him from one realm to another, which John cannot escape from. But who is this girl, and where is she leading him to?
Awarded the Margaret Lawrence Social Justice Fund Scholarship 2010
Written and Directed by Sophie Hayward
Cinematography by John Maloney
Production Design by Hannah French
Sound Design by Rachel Robertson
Featuring Olaf Savage.
John is a short film that deals with themes of guilt, frustration, loneliness and loss. A research project that has spanned 2010, it gradually developed into a character study consisting of many layers of woven narrative.
The film, shot on 16mm, explores John’s world. His bleak and beige existence, post-loss, he veers towards death. He chooses his bathtub, and transfers himself to another realm. This realm holds for John a plethora of memories, both good and bad. Here he is content. A visitor, a girl. She leads him from realm to realm. A web of confusingly beautiful worlds, that John cannot escape until the very, very end.
Through this project I wanted to explore what loss and guilt can do to a person, and their everyday struggle to cope. Drawing on my own previous experiences, as well as my research, I created the character of John. He is driven to the edge, becoming nothing more than a creature of habit, a man just making it through life. Through his own decisions, he creates for himself a new path. The audience must question John’s sanity, as he drives himself to the edge in order to feel alive again.
My research consisted of two paths that I discovered interwove frequently. Firstly; serial killers with a focus on John Christie, and secondly; mental illness, specifically depression and schizophrenia. I became fascinated with Christie, and many other serial killers that appeared quite sane to the public, but in private were far more complicated creatures. I discovered many serial killers lived with schizophrenia and depression, which often contributed towards their behavior and crimes, and only became public once they were convicted. I also became interested in mental illnesses, and how people living with them dealt with both everyday life, and more dramatic events.