Short Sharp Shocks!

I am Bob Hartshorn, a freelance artist based in Leicestershire. My skills span filmmaking, music, art design and comic book creation. Most recently I have drawn on all of these to make two short films, Pet Sounds (2019) and ParasomniaX (2022), for which I wrote the scripts, created the storyboards and directed. I provided the art direction, designing and building costumes, sets and props, as well as writing, performing and recording the music scores.

In 2019 I was hired to work on a short children’s film The Silent Protector, for the education charity Into Film, directed by established Leicester filmmaker Keith Allott. For this I created the storyboards and a superhero comic book, which was a central motif in the film. I was awarded with an Into Film certificate for my contributions.

Previous involvement with film making has included working with others to make short films using Super-8, 16mm and co-directing a music video - Sympathy for the Devil - on the discarded set of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Full Metal Jacket’.

I was storyboard artist, location scout, and boom operator in the making of a short horror film Squint (2018), as well as writing, performing and recording the music score.

In 2023 I wrote, produced, directed, and scored a special intro film for Short Short Shocks! - a short horror film showcase event that, as of December 2022, takes place two to three times a year in Leicester.

In 2024 I wrote, produced, directed, and scored a fake-trailer for a 'movie' called Destroy All Pumpkins, which was screened at Short Sharp Shocks in the same year.

I am open to work across multiple genres and believe I would be a major asset to any size production. However, my favourite genres are horror, science fiction and dark fantasy, as it is here where I feel my vivid imagination is most at home and my creativity most unleashed. I am available for the following: concept art, storyboarding, art direction, set and costume design, sound recording e.g. boom operator, music scores, special make-up FX, and for the right project, script writing and directing.

I am currently in post-production on 'wild-west' horror short QMS - my most ambitious film to date which I have written, produced and directed, as well as designing the costumes, props, set-design & art-direction, special make-up FX, and sound-design & music score. The film is scheduled to have its world premiere in Leicester June 2025.

In addition to this, I was recently involved in a comedy short Lunch Hour produced for the Popcorn Funnies showcase at the Phoenix Cinema which was part of Leicester's 2025 Comedy Festival. My duties included special make-up FX, music score, and slating the shots.

My most recent credit to date, has been designing and building a set of antlers for a short film from Leicester's Apollo Productions, screening in late 2025.