by Sean Narborough
Making your first feature length film will always be a difficult challenge. You have to make sacrifices, things like money, time, job prospects and relationships. But if it comes out well, it’s worth it and for writer/director Andrew Flynn and crew it was worth it.
Making your first feature length film will always be a difficult challenge. You have to make sacrifices, things like money, time, job prospects and relationships. But if it comes out well, it’s worth it and for writer/director Andrew Flynn and crew it was worth it.
Here on I’m With Geek, Early Bird has been a film we’ve been championing for a while. We were intrigued by the concept of a story of showing the experiences of flat sharing with a complete stranger but with the story possibly leading to a darker side. Early Bird had the different task of balancing the comedy and suspenseful horror in this dark comedy. The great news is both are effective. The comedy is probably the best parts of the film. They are very subtle and realistic and are experiences that a lot of us can relate to. Every comedic moment worked and there were big laughs from everyone every time. The horror in the film wasn’t a huge part. For the first 45/50 minutes, this film could work just fine as a comedy, but the horror that does creep up every now and again is very clever and effective. You do know there is a dark twist coming but you don’t know what will happen, which very rare in most suspenseful horrors.
The screening I went to had a lot of people there who had worked on the film, so they knew what was coming. But I was sat next to girl who was a friend of the director and didn’t know much about the film. When the twist did happen, he didn’t affect me, but maybe that’s because I know what to expect from timing in suspenseful horrors. But the girl next to me was sitting there in shock and wasn’t expecting what happened. But what I loved about the film was how the film changed and not just with the tone of the film but the message behind it. For most of the film, Early Bird shows the problems that everyone will face when they flat share with a complete stranger, problems like rules that other people have or irritations about that person that you have to put up with. But the film’s deeper message is about everyone’s view on perfection and how different it is for very person. Whether you are clean, messy, loud or shy, we all have a different view of perfection and searching for that perfection could lead you down a slippy slope you might not be able to come back from.
The screening I went to had a lot of people there who had worked on the film, so they knew what was coming. But I was sat next to girl who was a friend of the director and didn’t know much about the film. When the twist did happen, he didn’t affect me, but maybe that’s because I know what to expect from timing in suspenseful horrors. But the girl next to me was sitting there in shock and wasn’t expecting what happened. But what I loved about the film was how the film changed and not just with the tone of the film but the message behind it. For most of the film, Early Bird shows the problems that everyone will face when they flat share with a complete stranger, problems like rules that other people have or irritations about that person that you have to put up with. But the film’s deeper message is about everyone’s view on perfection and how different it is for very person. Whether you are clean, messy, loud or shy, we all have a different view of perfection and searching for that perfection could lead you down a slippy slope you might not be able to come back from.
A great thing Early Bird does is help promote the local area of Tooting from businesses to bands and also gives inexperience talents the experience they need. As stated in Melissa’s article about the film, 90% of crew was either students or recent graduates and they all did a good job. The sound mixing was great, the editing and titles was spot on and reflected the tone of the story and the shots used were lit and angled in the best way to mirror the mood of the scene. The acting in the film was also on top form. Some characters have great comedic moments while others have a real eeriest to them. There wasn’t a bad performance, but the standout was Phoebe Batteson Brown, who played Sasha. She enveloped her role perfectly; she was creepy at times but also showed great comedic timing (the scene with the blender is one of my favourites of the whole film).
Early Bird isn’t a faultless film though. There are a few technical and continuity issues, but you have to be a real film nerd (like me) to spot them and they don’t spoil the film. There are at times where the film looks like it could be a uni student’s final year film, but considering the crew are made of uni students or graduates and that they used similar equipment you can get from most universities it’s understandable.
Everyone who worked on Early Bird or had some affiliation with it should be very proud of what’s been made. For a first feature made on a shoestring budget, it is very enjoyable to watch. Everyone on and off screen is on top form and I will be following the film’s journey into distribution. But if you are lucky to spot Early Bird in a small cinema, festivals or in a pub basement (like I did), go grab a ticket, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Early Bird isn’t a faultless film though. There are a few technical and continuity issues, but you have to be a real film nerd (like me) to spot them and they don’t spoil the film. There are at times where the film looks like it could be a uni student’s final year film, but considering the crew are made of uni students or graduates and that they used similar equipment you can get from most universities it’s understandable.
Everyone who worked on Early Bird or had some affiliation with it should be very proud of what’s been made. For a first feature made on a shoestring budget, it is very enjoyable to watch. Everyone on and off screen is on top form and I will be following the film’s journey into distribution. But if you are lucky to spot Early Bird in a small cinema, festivals or in a pub basement (like I did), go grab a ticket, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
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