Tight Five

A passionate comedian becomes obsessed with an audience member who does not laugh, and goes above, and too far beyond to elicit a genuine laugh from her.

  • Saxon Wright
    Director
    Tether - Heartless (Music Video), Web Rumors - We Don't Need a Hero (Music Video), Clive's Den (Web Series)
  • Kevin Nguyen
    Director
    Clive's Den (Web Series), The Pitch (Short Film),
  • Saxon Wright
    Writer
    Clive's Den (Web Series), Web Rumors - We Don't Need a Hero (Music Video)
  • Kevin Nguyen
    Writer
    Clive's Den (Web Series), Mouse Box (Short Film)
  • Finnian Williamson
    Producer
    Dinner For Two, Patrick's How To Be The Best At Everything (Web Pilot), Dear Mum (Short Film)
  • Kevin Nguyen
    Key Cast
    "Lucas Lee"
    Dinner For Two (Short Film), Uphill (Short Film)
  • Marian Byrne
    Key Cast
    "Marian"
    FiXeD (Short Film), Patrick's How To Be The Nest At Everything (Web Pilot)
  • Codie Sundstrom
    Composer
    Tether (Lead Singer)
  • Jordan Martin
    Cinematographer
    Badmen (Short Film)
  • Saxon Wright
    Editor
    Guy Pearce - His Body (Music Video), Southern River Band - Second Best (Music Video), MIA (Short Film)
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 5, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    20:31:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Saxon Wright, Kevin Nguyen

Saxon Wright and Kevin Nguyen are a sketch comedy duo who recently began collaborating in film. After meeting while interning at Mad Kids Productions, they started their sketch comedy group, Clive's Den. Clive's Den has given them opportunities to write and direct on a small scale, performing a successful run in Fringe World Festival Perth 2019 and 2020. Kevin comes from a performance background, recently accepted into a theater diploma through the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Saxon comes from a technical background, with extensive experience in the camera and post-production departments. They have combined their knowledge, and explore their creative direction further, with their short Tight Five.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Lucas Lee is a young, up-and-coming comedian doing regular spots in his local comedy scene. He is incredibly insecure, and latches his insecurities onto a patron who refuses to laugh. The film explores how far he’ll go to get a laugh.

The idea for Tight Five came from our experiences performing comedy, and our own insecurity on the occasions we don’t get a laugh.

The main theme of Tight Five is insecurity. This is what drives Lucas to go as far as he does. It puts an incredibly incompetent individual into a situation where he should be intimidating, but is exposed as simply pitiful. Insecurity is the driving force behind the downfall of Lucas. Had he just accepted that sometimes people don’t laugh, he’d be just like any one of us.

The score was used to hint that there is something off; with Lucas, his mindset, and the entire situation. We worked with the composer to give Lucas the motif of heavy synths, and Marian the motif of light bells. These two motifs contrast heavily, and conflict with each other in the score, highlighting the conflict they have on-screen.

Tight Five was made because we wanted to create a film that would challenge us on a technical level, while also delving into subject matter that we know. Between the two of us, we have around ten years of comedy experience, and we wanted to condense the highs and lows of it into this film. We think we’ve captured those feelings, while also delivering a satisfying story.