Things Visible and Invisible
A horror short with Coronation Media
Don’t make your first short film a period piece. This is something I learned in film school, but the team at Coronation Media said to hell with that and went for it anyway. And honestly, I think it ended up great. "Things Visible and Invisible" is a proof of concept short film produced by Coronation in their hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It garnered local interest and was featured in ten film festivals both nationally and internationally.
While the film was a first for Coronation, it was my fifth short film to produce, and definitely one of the most challenging. The period setting, number of actors, location, and relatively inexperienced team all contributed to the complexity. It took a lot of conversations, hyping of the internal team, and negotiating with contractors and locations.
One of my favorite parts of working on the film was figuring out how to manage one of the small but significant stunts in the film, and then executing it myself. It took several in-office tests with the director to prove that some well-secured fishing line and some muscle could make a chair turn quickly and suddenly.
Here’s the gist of the film: After the turmoil of the Civil War, grieving families sought spiritual connections to their departed loved ones. Certain clairvoyants claimed the ability to photograph the dead. "Things Visible and Invisible" explores this eerie practice. The film was showcased at Filmquest Film Festival, Blow-Up Arthouse, Film In Focus, Alexandria Film Festival, Strange Days Horror Fest, Bucharest ShortCut, Miami Short Film Festival, and premiered online on Omeleto.
