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Flesh Wish

An experimental horror inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, David Cronenberg and Clive Barker, this music video / short details in an abstract way the summoning of demons through a ritual performed behind the locked doors of a 1970s terraced house. Images are a combination of 8mm cinefilm, analog stills and materal initially generated with the use of a variety of AI platforms before they were brought into After Effects were they were everything was heavily manipulated, with many layers of texture, noise and grain added, lighting added or altered, images distorted and blended together and so on. The actual editing was arduous, often frame-by-frame (everything was done by hand) with images further distorted and manipulated with a variety of blending modes. It was a one-man job and that one man was very, very tired by the end of it! (please note that the encode on the FilmFreeway screener is not very good, a sharper version can be seen on the Vimeo link used as the project website below)

  • Timothy Benjamin Slessor
    Director
  • Timothy Benjamin Slessor
    Writer
  • Timothy Benjamin Slessor
    Producer
  • Timothy Benjamin Slessor
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Music Video, Short
  • Genres:
    Horror, experimental, abstract, Music Video
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 7, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    45 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    N/A
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Geekapalooza
    Seattle
    United States
    July 20, 2024
    World Premiere
    Nominated: WTF Award
  • Hollywood Blood Horror Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Winner: Best Music Video
  • Planet 9 Film Festival
    Hammtramck
    United States
    August 31, 2024
  • MotelX
    Lisbon
    Portugal
    September 7, 2024
    European Premiere
    AI Horrow Case
  • All Horror Short Film Festival
    Atlantic Beach, Florida
    United States
    September 14, 2024
    Winner: Best Editing
Director Biography - Timothy Benjamin Slessor

After completing his MA in Film, Tim embarked on a successful career as an editor, working on many high-profile TV shows and commercial campaigns but his true passion has always been for independent filmmaking.

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Director Statement

Thematically, Flesh Wish was inspired by my love of cosmic and body horror, specifically writers and filmmakers such as Lovecraft, David Cronenberg and Shinya Tsukamoto. Formally, it was also informed by the montage techniques of experimental filmmakers like Stan Brakhage, Bruce Conner, Malcolm Le Grice and many more. I have long felt that the dividing line between "high brow" art film and "low-brow" exploitation cinema is highly porous - both often exhibit an outright disregard for the niceties and conventions of mainstream narrative cinema and the discomfort this often produces is a source of great fascination for me. Flesh Wish itself is the result of a variety of experiments that I hope to continue and refine - this is just the first step. I have also been working on a longer project, 'Elliot is Here', on and off for over 15 years, with the hope that it will be finished before the world ends (I put my chances at 50/50 at present).