Cinema of Horror 2

After the last year on planet earth, humankind needs something fun to enjoy and hopefully laugh at. Welcome to Cinema of Horror 2.

The fantasy drama Cinema of Horror 2 is all about playing with perceptions as identity, a theme I really enjoy exploring, is all about perception. It is a story of cinema for those who are inspired to watch, make, learn and be part of the story of film.

In COH2 I wanted to play with preconceived notions of reality and story genre, mixing fantasy, comedy and horror to create a story world as imagined by three film students.

Our story shows the importance and influence of world cinema from Asia and the East as a hot bed of innovation and approach to cinematic story. Against this backdrop of influences, Hing asks the question, what about China? Where is its future role? Set against the stereotype misunderstanding of some of his fellow European film students. But like most film students, the weightier question of identity gets lost in the default of creating a horror story.

Filmmaking is all about creating a world ultimately seen on a screen by an audience. While our three debate cinema's future, the world of the screen invades their lives and all three end up caught within the world of the screen.

Our story jokes with the students’ ideas of the future of film and their perception of the importance of screen to story size.

The film is a quirky fantasy piece built around the mantra that horror is what drives audiences to cinemas. It is a little tongue-in-cheek in approach.

Editing played a pivotal role in telling the film's story. To help the audience get a sense of how the world imagined by our three students and seen on the screen differs from the reality of the world they occupy, we decided to play with changing screen-ratios to help convey the experience of the world we are viewing. This is something I am currently developing for use on another story.

The film explores the perceptions of reality and imagination, as all dramatic filmmaking is about creating fictional story worlds. It also teases perceptions of character. This presentation of the demonic Woman in White attributed to a lot of Asian filmmaking here becomes a Caucasian female character.

If you have ever been a teacher, then you'll recognize the film's inspiration from conversations with students. As a filmmaker I also wanted the story to make a nod to the importance and influence of Asian cinema on me; its themes, cinematography, fun with genre, story and character. An influence seen and heard across the film. The film’s main score was created by a British-Chinese composer and an original Bollywood song by British-Indian musicians. At a time across the world when Asian populations are suffering from misperceptions around COVID, I also wanted to feature China and a Chinese main character positively in our story mix.

Cinema of Horror 2, was shot on location in Leeds, Bradford, and Harrogate in Yorkshire, England.