student film success

Behind the scenes look into first semester Film and TV student’s short film. By Josh Brown

Have you ever been at a party and seen someone start to walk your way, and you go to say hello to them, but you can’t remember their name? Then ‘Brain Fart’ is the film for you. From the mind of Harrison Hanley, ‘Brain Fart’ follows Charli (Chloe Flannagan) and Brain (also Chloe Flannagan) as they frantically search for clues inside Charli’s head that would point them in the direction of the name of Girl (Jada Melhem) as she approaches them at a house party. This Whitty comedic short film was shot on our own Bond University campus during the weekend of Week 10 in the FSD Immersion Labs in Building 1. The crew contains students studying the Bachelor of Film and Television, with most only in their first semester. Harrison’s stellar scriptwriting and direction were only crucial when tag-teaming with the Director of Photography and Camera Operator on the project, Sarah Larkey. Having already experimented with having the same actor play two characters on screen simultaneously, Sarah was the winner of Best Comedy in the 2021 BUFTA Awards with her film Stuck With Myself, featuring a similar stylistic concept as Brain Fart. “On my last project, which was had some similar elements, it was just me and my iPhone. But this time around I had the privilege of working with proper equipment and a crew who I got to learn from and got to share this incredible experience with.” (Sarah Larkey). Brain Fart was an excellent opportunity for the first semester FITV students to get stuck into the course, gain valuable crew experience, and get a head start on what it’s like to be on a film set. The next journey for the project, moving on from the shoot, is the post-production aspect of the film. I’m sure that the post-production team would enjoy the difficult task ahead of them, especially the Special Effects team, who have to put two of the same actor on the screen simultaneously. Nevertheless, keep a keen eye out for any updates for this film during the next semester.