CLOCK OFF EARLY

An office worker from the city, Carter, finds himself unwittingly drawn into the aftermath of a botched yet partially successful robbery after stumbling on an abandoned bag during his commute. When one of the loitering accomplices, Richie, recognises the bag Carter has discovered, he frantically corners and interrogates him. Carter is inadvertently forced into a moral and ethical dilemma: to survive by continuing to live a life working for a company that engages in questionable practices, or taking the stolen money and running; in an attempt to break the cycle.

  • Harry Holyhead
    Writer
  • Harry Holyhead
    Director
  • Harry Holyhead
    Producer
  • Harry Holyhead
    Editor
  • Finn Sheridan
    Cinematographer
  • Jake Williams
    Script Supervisor
  • Ben Robinson
    Key Cast
    "Carter Enfield"
  • Peter Malasinski
    Key Cast
    "Richie Delisle"
  • Marshall (Defender) Nyanhete
    Key Cast
    "Elliot Shepherd"
  • Rio Lidgerding
    Key Cast
    "Johannes Davis"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Crime, Thriller, Crime-Thriller
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 29 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 29, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    0 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Harry Holyhead

Harry is a 23-year-old independent filmmaker and photographer, who is known for his attention to detail, long-term proficiency in all areas of production and unconventional stylistic choices within all of the work he creates. Having been raised by cinema from a young age; he strives to create the most realistic and engaging on-screen atmospheres and narratives possible.

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Director Statement

In this project, I aimed to strike a delicate balance stylistically between Cinéma Vérité and Neo-Realism. Creating a narrative that utilises the best nuances, codes and conventions of both filmmaking styles to develop an atmosphere akin to a real-time fly on-the-wall narrative, whilst simultaneously retaining all of the orchestrated beauty of scripted narrative filmmaking.

I wanted to cross-examine different individuals’ moral and behavioural characteristics in such a way as to cause an audience to self-reflect. When watching a crime thriller, it’s often unclear as to whom the audience are meant to be rooting for, comparable to the reality we live in; there are no clear-cut lines of division between an individuals’ presentation, motivations or actions and how they complement or juxtapose one another.

Orchestrating a multi-character narrative without a clear-cut protagonist, can help elevate each character to ambiguously represent different states of the human condition and social class system, whilst also highlighting how people do the wrong things and make questionable choices for what they believe are the right reasons; further allowing the characters’ to reflect and blend into the harsh, morally corrupt reality that absorbs them. Through utilising tension, suspense, and deliberately separating characters’ to fuel conflict and miscommunication throughout the narrative; the lines between protagonist, anti-hero, and antagonist, can be further blurred.

While the characters’ do have shrouded moral compasses and goals that are gradually revealed, established, and expanded upon throughout the narrative; these motivations originate from a place of self-preservation or for the benefit of family and relatives close to each accomplice involved. However, once Carter stumbles into the middle of the unnoticed turmoil, the fine line between need/greed and necessity vs excess is queried within the narrative, especially regarding the consequences of Carter’s actions and reactions in particular. Overall, this project is a study of selfishness, betrayal, opportunity, glut, scarcity, division, and crucially fundamental survival; regardless of what the consequences and costs are to the outside world.