'Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming' should stand as a testament to the durability, productivity and creativity of the arts during lockdown. As part of the ‘film in a fortnight’ programme, this physiological thriller directed by Lex Kaby, is about voyeurism, and popularity, relationships and lies, all condensed into an hour approx. and set within the home of Daisy (Sam Cattee) and Nathan (Matt Rawlings).
Daisy has a YouTube channel which soon becomes popular, whilst she and boyfriend, Nathan, enjoy the initial success of being popular, problems start to develop between the two when Nathan’s sleepwalking habits are exposed; however are things really all they seem?
The film is simple and effective, even if it does play its plotline safe (which let’s be honest, can I really complain about these things when I had 0% creative output during lockdown?). 'Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming' has a pretty good story and a great professional quality to it for something that was conceived and made within a two week period. There are some issues with audio here and there, and I find the night-time scenes to drag a little, but the core elements to what made a good short story/ film are definitely present. If something this well done can be made in two weeks, at home, during a national lockdown, then I would really like to see how 'Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming' would turn out if it was to be remade without the restraints of lockdown, or even on the stage.
Referring back to the previous paragraph about the plot being safe, that was my only issue with the film as I started to get an idea of what was happening by about the 33 minute mark and so the, what I imagine was a twist ending, didn’t really surprise me at all. However, for the benefit of the doubt I’ll put that down to me being good at guessing these things.
Sam Cattee and Matt Rawlings play off each other very well, they have a good chemistry and are convincing, almost like they are in a relationship in real life (hmmmmm). The house setting does not get tiresome with an array of different angles in different rooms. One could watch this and not be aware that it was during lockdown. There’s a freshness to the film, I can’t describe it any other way. This was not necessarily my cup of tea, but I was entertained throughout; and even if the night-time scenes do drag a little in an attempt to build some tension, that hour run time is just right.
You can watch 'Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming' on the Greedy Pig Theatre website or Youtube which is a plus for me, the open availability of something like this is a big tick in my book. It would be good to see what else Greedy Pig Theatre do and to keep an eye on them in the future, as I think they have the passion and talent to achieve great success in their productions.
Reviewer – Daryl Griffin
on – 16/10/20
Daisy has a YouTube channel which soon becomes popular, whilst she and boyfriend, Nathan, enjoy the initial success of being popular, problems start to develop between the two when Nathan’s sleepwalking habits are exposed; however are things really all they seem?
The film is simple and effective, even if it does play its plotline safe (which let’s be honest, can I really complain about these things when I had 0% creative output during lockdown?). 'Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming' has a pretty good story and a great professional quality to it for something that was conceived and made within a two week period. There are some issues with audio here and there, and I find the night-time scenes to drag a little, but the core elements to what made a good short story/ film are definitely present. If something this well done can be made in two weeks, at home, during a national lockdown, then I would really like to see how 'Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming' would turn out if it was to be remade without the restraints of lockdown, or even on the stage.
Referring back to the previous paragraph about the plot being safe, that was my only issue with the film as I started to get an idea of what was happening by about the 33 minute mark and so the, what I imagine was a twist ending, didn’t really surprise me at all. However, for the benefit of the doubt I’ll put that down to me being good at guessing these things.
Sam Cattee and Matt Rawlings play off each other very well, they have a good chemistry and are convincing, almost like they are in a relationship in real life (hmmmmm). The house setting does not get tiresome with an array of different angles in different rooms. One could watch this and not be aware that it was during lockdown. There’s a freshness to the film, I can’t describe it any other way. This was not necessarily my cup of tea, but I was entertained throughout; and even if the night-time scenes do drag a little in an attempt to build some tension, that hour run time is just right.
You can watch 'Close Your Eyes, I’m Filming' on the Greedy Pig Theatre website or Youtube which is a plus for me, the open availability of something like this is a big tick in my book. It would be good to see what else Greedy Pig Theatre do and to keep an eye on them in the future, as I think they have the passion and talent to achieve great success in their productions.
Reviewer – Daryl Griffin
on – 16/10/20
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