Bareface

If life is characterised by a series of choices then it is the sum of these choices that defines the person we become.

We found this notion to be a powerful one and was a driving force in the creation of our short film Bareface, where the choices made by our protagonist across the course of a single night have the potential to shape his entire future.

The idea of a young man’s future resting so delicately in the balance was important to us, and we found making this film to be a personal and insightful journey. It forced us to examine our own lives in a personal way and how the decisions we had made had shaped us as people. For us this proved to be enlightening as well as confronting. We found through this process we were making Bareface with younger versions of ourselves in mind. As such, it was paramount that Bareface was a story told from a youthful perspective.

We grew up in a small town on the east coast of Ireland. As with any small town, prospects were limited and the future seemed brighter outside the town’s borders. But the choice to leave the life you know isn’t always an easy one. There are many factors to take into consideration, many influences at play. Bareface focuses on two opposing influences in the life of Sam, our main protagonist.

The influences at play in Sam’s life are that of nature vs nurture. We wanted to capture the blurred lines of adolescence while making this movie and explore the positive influence portrayed by Sam’s mother (nurture) and its polar influence portrayed through his peers (nature).

For a young person, making the right decision is often harder than making the wrong one. Social pressures, oftentimes underestimated, can take their toll. Bareface aims to instil the feeling of anxiety many young people face and hopefully give them a story that will inspire growth and self reflection in their own lives.