Private Project

Cake

Grace has baked her dearest friend a birthday cake. However, when Grace’s gesture is not appreciated, her generosity takes an obsessive turn.

  • Essence Aikman
    Director
  • Rebecca Schott
    Writer
  • Rebecca Schott
    Producer
  • Freya Ingram
    Key Cast
    "Grace"
  • Lula Marsh
    Key Cast
    "Olivia"
  • Callum Burbidge
    Key Cast
    "Luke"
  • Jayden Crooks
    Editor
  • Mel Branca
    Production Designer
  • Jayden Crooks
    Director of Photography
  • Keaton Boucher
    Composers
  • Dan Egdell
    Composers
  • Jayden Crooks
    Sound
  • Lui Bauer
    Sound
  • Luca Testa
    Sound
  • Luke Griffiths
    Sound
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Drama
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • A City Seen / The Next Generation @ HOME Manchester
    Manchester
    United Kingdom
    April 30, 2024
    Premiere
  • Showroom Shorts - South Yorkshire Filmmakers Network
    Sheffied
    United Kingdom
    June 18, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Essence Aikman

Essence Aikman is a Bermudan-British director and writer. She is a recent graduate at the University of Manchester, receiving a first class bachelor’s degree in Drama and Film Studies. Essence aims to create and write film that centres the stories of underrepresented individuals, with a focus of women, especially black women, seeking to question audiences, challenge expectations, and uplift overlooked voices.

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Director Statement

As a member of HOME Manchester’s inaugural Young Film Collective 2024, I had the pleasure and opportunity to direct my short film Cake with the help of other young aspiring filmmakers who were a part of the collective. The film was funded by HOME and the BFI which was a massive privilege that I and the team are forever grateful for. To work on a set with fellow young aspiring filmmakers was extremely inspiring and provoked a sense of optimism for what the future holds for the next generation of creatives.

Cake has been intriguing to me for its simplicity and implicit oddness expressed by the lead protagonist within the screenplay; Grace was a loner, in need of human connection, and deeply desired female friendship. I found that this premise, a woman in her mid 20’s experiencing an uncomfortable level of isolation, was relatable to a generation forced indoors due to covid. Her lack of socialisation, her weird quirks and inability to read the room felt extremely relatable as a 21-year-old myself. She felt familiar in the screenplay yet distinctly off, almost uncanny, which helped solidify the thriller genre and characterisation when it came time to physically shoot.

I wanted her as a person to feel off, for audiences to be positioned with her yet always out of the loop in some way. The cinematography is quite static to emphasise this; in some instances, we are close with her through distance and spacing, yet audiences still lack her inner intentions and internal dialogue. Viewers are made to feel confused and uncomfortable. This is to reflect her own internal conflicts and insecurities; why doesn’t Olivia want to be friends anymore, why are her acts of kindness taken as a joke?

This film is special to me due to the massively understood feeling of losing a friend through time, feeling disconnected with how traditional femininity is supposed to be expressed, and how gross rejection can feel.