This year was different from other years. Yes we were travelling again, but the Halloween film for 2023 was in pre-pre-production when we left. It was so pre-production, it wasn’t really even an idea.

Newforge Studios

Every year (almost) we have put together a short film for Halloween under the Newforge Studios name. This started with making short films for fun independently then as members of the Northern Ireland Camcorder Club. I have continued with the projects despite being geographically separated from my collaborators but over the last years we have been travelling around the end of October. Traditionally the films were made in a desperate rush just before the 31st of October, with many compromises and no re-shoots. Largely we ended up with functional films, although the editing wasn’t always easy. When we started out there were no scripts, let alone shot lists. Continuity? We suffered occasional episodes of incontinuitence. (How embarassing)

This year has been the first attempt at shooting on location. Putting together a film while on holiday was a rather stressful experience with a lack of equipment and extra hands to help. I brought along the Tascam DR-60D and Rode VideoMic to capture off camera sound as my Panasonic GX7 camera doesn’t have a microphone jack. Ideally we’d have someone do the sound with a boom as the best quality audio requires proximity, but that’s a compromise that comes with the territory of single-handed operating.

We started off with a more involved story about an evil spirit then had to reduce it to its core and work on that. There was only a limited amount of time (two nights on Zamami Island, Okinawa) and a further night before Halloween was over.

There were further challenges in travelling with a small child and not necessarily having access to a space to work in. I tried working without a mouse but the trackpad was next to useless, so another trip to Donki later and I walked out with a wireless mouse. I spent a good hour putting the final touches to the film in a Starbucks in Naha, watching the Halloween revellers go by. Naha has a fantastic night atmosphere and I enjoyed being immersed in it, even if I was task focused.

Calum McCormick provided the score as usual and this year is one of his best. Few projects at such a small scale have a the privilege of a bespoke soundtrack which I am immensely grateful for.

It was a tough turnaround, but we made it work, and I hope you enjoy the 2023 Newforge Studios Halloween film, “Oni”.

I’ll be back next time with more of Japan.