Bombshell (2020)

Inspired by Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry shorts of the 1950's, this comedic film mimics the style of that era, telling a classic tale of boy meets girl... with an explosive twist. 

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Commentary

I wanted to direct a film due to my positive experiences working on student films while at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). I loved working on a crew, and helping others to achieve a goal they could not complete on their own. Well before I started pre-production, I asked all of the directors I had worked under (and professors too) to give me advice on what they learned when directing their film. The advice and guidance I received was invaluable, without learning how to be an effective leader I don't think I could've gotten it done.

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Unfortunately, when the time came to pitch my idea for Bombshell to the professors, to hopefully get my film accepted into the senior capstone project, I was not picked. 30 other films got to move on, they all had a full crew and the professor's assistance, with SCAD helping them get the films into festivals. I was faced with a choice, go independent with my film (make the film on my own, no professor, no school support, no dedicated crew) or give up. The idea of me giving up and tossing my dream of making a film into the trashcan of "failed goals" haunted me. So days after the list of films had been announced, I had asked one of my long-time professors why my film didn't get picked and what I could do about it. He simply said, "do not give up, you should make your film." I knew then I had to make it, no matter how hard or how long it was going to take.

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In pre-production I was spending all of the free time I had on putting up posters, trying to find crew members, and making drawing guides for the future animators, as I was going to get this film done. Slowly but surely, I found a good number of artists who wanted to work on this film. Most of them were underclassmen who had never worked on a film before and it was a wonderful opportunity to help direct them to make their work the best that they could make it. Although we tried our hardest, as the school year went on by, and classes got harder and free time was hard to come by, we were not to complete our film by the time I graduated. It was about 70% completed, I had to finish everything remotely when I moved back home. The final few steps were all on me and they took the longest, as I was busy having a life and enjoying what I learned was called a "weekend". After all the animation was done, I was responsible for the final composting/visuals, and some minor sound effects. So eventually, two years after I started pre-production, I finished the film. No one ever said it was easy...

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Huge thanks to all of the talented crew who worked on Bombshell, I could not have done it without them. Thank you to my concept artist and producer for helping me get started when I was trying to find my footing. I'm very happy with the final product and it was a great experience!