Three Oh No

“What if your dream has a deadline?”

Inspired by the announcement that Substack is for video, I thought I’d get my brave on long enough to share a couple of my short films this week. (Who knows how long this spell of bravery will last. I take zero responsibility for my nervous system deleting this at any moment. Watch it while you can.)

More details about the film below if you’d like to know some of the story behind it. (Director’s notes, if you will?) Plus, just for funsies I’m including a couple of the behind the scenes documents and production images. It was a huge effort from everyone as it was made from start to finish in 10 days as part of the film festival requirements.

Honestly, this is worthwhile viewing for Brendan Kelly’s performance alone. I wrote the part of Miles with him in mind and he nailed it.

Anyway, enjoy.

K x

Three Oh No | 2014

“What if your dream has a time limit?”

Birthday countdowns and unfulfilled dreams. The brilliant possibilities of child-made futures have lost their shimmer as Jo faces the “big” Three-Oh…

Top 12, Lights! Canberra! Action! 2014

Finalist, Canberra Short Film Fest 2014

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This film is about dreams and for my fellow dreamers. Despite the title it really doesn’t have much to do with aging or birthdays.

At the time I wrote this script, I was struggling with the idea of turning 30, but just like the character says in the film, it wasn’t ‘about being old or young’, but on being confronted with the idea that life wasn’t supposed to look like this.

Of course, 30 is still young. But growing up, I thought by the time I turned 30 I’d be achieving dreams all over the place, crossing things off my life’s to-do list with style and flair like the elegant and totally-together version of myself I created in my head.

But I was not. Not even close.

As children, we blow out the candles on our cake and we’re told to “make a wish”, we’re encouraged to dream about what we could be when we grow up and told the future is ours for the taking.

That was the wishes. The reality was my world had crumbled around me like a tower of Duplo attacked by a toddler. All the while I was chasing a creative dream that taunted me with opportunities that would vanish faster than you could say: ‘Evanesco’.

I lived with hope, I knew there was more for me. But in the months leading up to my thirties I had to let go of things unfolding the way I thought they were going to. The way I thought they should. I felt like I was on a timeline, and I’d somehow fallen off and way, way behind. Like I had failed.

Kate Winslet’s character in the movie Revolutionary Road says: “I saw a whole other future for myself, and I can’t stop seeing it.” At the time, I was the same. It was all I could see. ‘It shouldn’t look like this. It shouldn’t look like this.’ I kept saying to myself.

I saw this in my friends, around this time too. Women who were longing for children, but felt like the abandoned single sock and were losing hope, constantly told their bodies ‘only had so much time to make that dream a reality’. So I chose that dream for my character Jo, as an example for the other dreams that were harder to depict.

I wanted to see a different future, but I was so attached to this one dream turning out the way I’d hoped, in the timeline I thought it was meant to. I’d hung it up so clearly on the walls inside my mind I had no space left to allow for a different way.

Ultimately, there was no timeline. Or, as my friend Chantelle says: ‘Dreams don’t have deadlines.’

Above all, this is a story of encouragement for the dreamers: if you’re dreaming, but it’s not looking the way it’s supposed to look yet, don’t give up.

“Sweet dreams, yeah?”

K

Fun fact: the phone conversation between Miles and Jo was inspired by a friend who sent me a ‘Happy Birthday’ message at exactly midnight the night before my 30th. “It’s not my birthday yet!” I told him. “See, it happened without you even knowing it.” That part was all true. Stole it from real life.

A few pieces from behind the scenes, props, editing with Hew, red carpet fun, screenshots.

Written, Produced & Directed by Keeley Rees

Cinematography & Post - Hew Sandison

Sound Recordist - Travis Dom Sound

Design & Original Score - Fiona Bush

Jo: Keeley Rees

Miles: Brendan Kelly

Script mentorship: Simon Weaving

Copyright, Keeley Rees, 2014