Arcane


Sylvia, a young mother recently kicked out by her family, takes shelter sharing a house with Remy, a lonely widower. With no other choices, she lives in constant unease because of the elderly man’s behaviour, but is determined to keep a roof over her daughter’s head. Stranger things await...

  • James Voller
    Director
  • Bilawal Atta
    Writer
  • Leyla Alizada
    Producer
  • Bibi Lucille
    Key Cast
  • Tony Parkin
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Horror, Horror Thriller, Mystery, Chiller
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 26, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    1,100 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Saffron Screen
    Saffron Walden
    United Kingdom
    March 13, 2017
    Saffron Screen (Community Cinema)
    N/A
Distribution Information
  • Youtube
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: Internet
Director Biography - James Voller

This is one of James’ first professional projects as a Director. Although James has worked on previous projects in college and university, Arcane was the first film he was able to fully collaborate on, taking pride in the work. James has previously directed an advert for Teapigs, which he worked on with Rosie Millar and Clemens Binder (also part of the Arcane crew) and he has worked on a music video called Fever as Producer.

Arcane was a script with huge amounts of potential, and James has worked endlessly on his craft to achieve the best performances from his actors. He is passionate about storytelling, and Arcane is a perfect example of his work as well as a promising start to his career.

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Director Statement

One of the main reasons that I picked Bilawal’s script was because I fell in love with the story. As soon as I read it for the first time I loved it, and wanted it to be mine so I could explore it visually.

My key influence was The Boy (Bell: 2016). I loved this film for it’s narrative and it’s visual tone.

​One major thing that helped me visualise the script was my Director of Photography Harold, he helped me greatly as it was our first time properly working together on something creative.

Another was Bilawal, he helped me visualise everything that was happening from the moment I picked his script and we worked well together to ensure the original narrative was maintained.

One challenge was Rose, our child actress. She was an absolute wonder to work with, but the scheduling around her was a tricky. As we had little budget and time to film, we had to use all the time with the actors we could get and had to schedule around Rose on set. Luckily everything came together in the end, and she looks just as cute on camera as she did in person. Probably my favourite actress I’ve ever worked with…

If I said my favourite moment then I would be spoiling stuff… But, it involves steadicam and stairs.

​People should watch 'Arcane' because it’s my baby… I joke, it was my first attempt at anything half serious within the film industry and I would love the feedback and (hopefully) compliments.