Sleep Awake

A short Sci-Fi/Horror film about a girl with some sleep troubles.
Turn your lights off and your sound up!

  • Brandon Vallee Ross
    Director
  • Brandon Vallee Ross
    Writer
  • Nicole Vivona
    Key Cast
    "Lead Character"
  • Jessy Van der Vaart
    Gaffer/BTS Camera/Production Assistant
  • Nicole Vivona
    Hair & Make Up/Costume Designer/Set Decorator/Production Assistant
  • Brandon Vallee Ross
    Director of Photography/Camera Operator/Sound Recordist/Editor
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, Horror
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 9 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 14, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    1,200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Blackmagic Design
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Brandon Vallee Ross

The magic of the movies found me at a young age, forever impacting the trajectory of my life. As a movie lover, the only interest that made sense to me when exiting high school was a career as a filmmaker. Films have always been a way for me to process, reflect, and relate to my personal experiences and to provide fuel for my overactive imagination.

Over the years, I've gained experience as a Video Editor and Assistant Video Editor for reality, factual, and documentary formats on shows ranging from "American Pickers" and "Big Brother Canada", to "Brother Vs. Brother". With narrative filmmaking being my passion though, I've begun the journey of transitioning my career towards writing, directing, and editing narrative projects.

I plan on shooting a series of short films to further develop my skills, with the goal of working my way up to more ambitious and complex projects, and eventually directing a feature film.

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Director Statement

My goal with this film was to keep it short, simple, and budget friendly, as a way to continue building my portfolio as a writer/director/editor and honing my skills wearing the many hats that one does when delving into independent filmmaking.

Classically, I chose to write a "bottle" script with one character, set in a single location, and with no dialogue. I also still wanted to challenge myself as well, so I tried to make it look as good as I could with my current skill level, and with such a small crew (3 people total).

The main challenges were shooting realistic night scenes without relying on a cheap blue filter, and the need for a light to be shone through a second story window from the outside, 20 feet up! I'm quite satisfied with the solutions that our team came up with to address these challenges.

The original idea for the short came to me when I was staying overnight in the room that the film is shot in. I noticed headlights on the wall as cars drove by and wondered what else I could think the headlights might be if I didn't know what the source was, and I just let my imagination run with it!