Description:
Shady Figures
Shady Figures is a short student film. It features a young man who has to walk home alone at night. He is warned by his female friend to be careful, but neglects her worries. In the end, he is taken down by a shadow. The shadow follows him home, dragging away his keys when he makes a last ditch effort to escape.
The film was inspired by a conversation I had with my brother. He described not understanding the fear many women feel walking alone at night. I decided to make a film aimed at men to understand the fear of being followed or harmed.
I was very much inspired by the gender-directed scares in a lot of horror films. I was thinking of Alien a lot. In Alien, pregnancy of an baby alien is extra terrifying because it is happening to a man. The gender flip of having a grown man followed at night was intended to add a level of fear that many men otherwise do not understand.
With that, the final scene with the man having his keys taken away is significant because keys are a symbol of protection for a lot of women. Nearly every woman I talked to when writing this film described carrying their keys around in their fists when they have to walk at night. With the loss of his keys, the man loses all of his hope for safety as the final scare comes.
The shadow monster was created with clear fishing wires to pull on the scarf and keys, along with carefully placed lights. A combination of a few people played the monster, including myself for some takes of the final scene, but primarily Mark Izzo. Thank you, Mark, for being spooky.
Client:
Student Film, Narrative Film
2021
Duration:
4 mins 26 seconds
Roles:
Director, Screenwriter, Special Effects
Phoebe Bennink 