Peter by Chris Cronin: The Skinny Short Film Competition 2015
Shortlisted in The Skinny Short Film Competition 2015, director Chris Cronin explains the inspirations and processes behind his film, Peter
Filmmaker's statement:
“Some Children Never Grow Old.”
An investigation into the disappearance of a child takes a strange turn when a long-suffering detective finds a clue that leads him to the elusive kidnapper.
Q&A:
What do you do and why do you do it?
I am a freelance director of short films, commercials and music videos. To keep it short, I do it because I have a passion for all things cinema and collaboration. I fell into filmmaking since I was young and I fell hard!
Where did the initial idea for your short film come from?
Like all good ideas, we came up with it at the pub. A good friend of mine, Joby Hardwick, was poking around with the idea of a different perspective on Peter Pan, and I'm a fan of fables. It was originally going to be more loyal to the book, set during the same time period but focusing more on the parents and the police investigation. We even played with the idea of making it like a Disney noir, not too far from the tone of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? We never really got it off the ground as there were too many variables and we ended up having only three minutes to tell the story, so we teased this idea of a kidnapper called Peter. The idea of Peter Pan stealing children from their bedrooms is ripe with cross over possibilities. “To die would be an awfully big adventure.”
Describe your short film in five words?
It's not like the fairytale.
What excites you most about filmmaking?
At first it was the possibilities. How far could you push your imagination and then go out there and physically achieve it? Now that I'm a bit older it's leaning more towards personal journeys and storytelling. I want an audience to strongly attach themselves to the characters we create so their viewing experience is more cathartic. That's what I enjoy about watching movies, experiencing life through film. Look out for our next project for that!
What advice would you give other filmmakers?
Never let anything limit your scope and imagination. Once you have your idea, don't rush out to make it but take the time to nourish it. Not everything translates from your mind to the screen and spending weeks or months chipping away at that idea will help it translate better. Peter was a strong idea but we had less than a month from concept to get it made, which was a mammoth task! I'm proud of what we came out with but imagine if it had months of pre production?
Credits:
Production:
Director - Chris Cronin
Producer -Phil Meachem
Producer - Jennifer Molloy
Screenplay - Paul Thomas
1ST AD Kyle Brearey
DOP Sam Cronin
1ST AC Alex Stone
Location Sound - Andrew Layfield
Hair & Makeup - Mita Patel
Sound Mixed - Andrew Layfield
Additional Sound Mixer - James Rackham
Head VFX - Darren Langlands
Runner - Louis Kitchen
Cast:
David Edward-Robertson
Liam Roberts
Mia Vore
Amy Forrest
Nathan Morris
Jess Greenshields
Learn more about The Skinny Short Film Competition and watch more short films at our Short Film Competition portal, and check out the full shortlist for The Skinny Short Film Competition.