Director Statement

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The Girl and the Red Dress’ follows Shaun MacArthur, a socially inept, adolescent writer endeavouring to create his best story to date. His source of inspiration eventually comes from a rebellious, unsuspecting schoolgirl smoking in the local park. Shaun develops an infatuation for the girl, causing him to romantically fantasise about their life together. He gathers his thoughts in a scruffy notebook and decides to confront her as he truly begins to lose his grip on reality.

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The suspenseful and dark-natured narrative is heavily influenced by the works of both Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock, specifically ’The Shining’ and ’Psycho’.

’The Girl and the Red Dress’ is a short psychological-thriller film conveying themes of obsession, motivation, family dynamics and isolation.

I aimed to create a character study focussing on the protagonist's motivations, obsessive tendencies and emotions. By using little dialogue, originally composed music by the talented Adam McDougall, long takes and montage-based story-telling techniques, we attempted to visually communicate the struggles of the protagonist. Exploring key themes, especially obsession and isolation, remain relevant to many young people as they continue to fall victim to overthinking, anxiety and depression in this current climate.

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The idea of following a main character fixated on generating a concept in which he deems valuable to the point of obsession has always fascinated me. By putting characters in uncontrollable situations, I hope the spectator feels a sense of relatable isolation which eventually causes Shaun to act uncharacteristically, resulting in regret and despair for not only himself but the people around him.

I was incredibly fortunate to have a great team of creative individuals working alongside me for the duration of this short film production.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to our fantastic cast and crew, especially producer Robin De Vernon Ryding and Cinematographer/Camera Operator Pablo Martin. Using 3 locations, we shot the 12-page script in 5 days.