Other Worlds Film Festival 2019 – This Dark Thought
While babysitting her newborn sister, a young astronomer struggles with a dark thought after encountering something eerie in the night sky.
Interview with Writer Nik Theorin, Directors Kris Theorin and Kurtis Theorin and Producer Amy Theorin
Watch This Dark Thought here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Many people loved the script and we were looking for a cool project that would be memorable and have an interesting visual style. It was a pretty unique idea with and we were all fans of the psychological horror genre. We also liked the idea of it being unclear whether the events of the film are supernatural or not.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Even though it is creepy, there is something cathartic in realizing we are not alone in our dark thoughts, even if we don't ever act on them as much as the girl in this film.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Everyone has ugly impulses and bad thoughts. Our goal was to portray this universal feeling in a unique way that was specific to this character.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
It was a lot of refining to make the story flow better and finding ways to make the characters' emotions clear to the viewer. For example, the "Hit Her" phrase was originally "Hit her with the telescope" but the logistics of that were iffy.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Well, we somewhat traumatized our grandmother with the film so... mission accomplished?
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Some people dislike the fact that it's ambiguous whether the hole in the sky is causing the character to act the way she is or if it is just her. This was an intentional choice on our part and it's interesting to see the different reactions to it.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We want to get our little creepy story out there. The world could use more psychological horror vignettes.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Anyone who could help show our film to more people would be welcome!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We want to unnerve people, but at the same time, we want to have people take - for lack of a better word - comfort in the fact that we all have dark impulses and that we don't have to act upon them. It's human nature.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Is the sky affecting the girl or the girl affecting the sky?
Would you like to add anything else?
I would like to thank everyone at Something's Awry Productions and Actuality Studios who helped make this film possible. Also would like to thank our live-action reference actress Evangeline Young and Baby Joey (who was a good sport through the whole thing).
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are developing/shopping several original/odd animated series so be on the lookout for more from Something's Awry!
Interview: December 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
This Dark Thought
While babysitting her newborn sister, a young astronomer struggles with a dark thought after encountering something eerie in the night sky.
Length: 6:55
Director: Kris and Kurtis Theorin
Producer: Amy Theorin
Writer: Nik Theorin
Looking for: distributors, journalists, film festival directors
Facebook: Something's Awry Productions
Twitter: @omethingsawryp
Instagram: @somethingsawryproductions
Hashtags used: #ThisDarkThought
Website: somethingsawry.com