“A Doll Distorted” By Niall Shukla
Synopsis
Jane suffers from haphephobia (the pathological fear of touch), tormented by years of loneliness and isolation she orders a synthetic love doll online to nightmarish consequences.
Directors statement
Inspiration for the film:
There is something terrifying about loneliness and isolation. One of the scariest feelings for people who are isolated and lonely, is that in the future nothing will change. That they will be alone forever. That they’ll wake up and be at the end of their life and it never happened for them. But what is just as heart-breaking, is when they feel there is someone out there that they were meant to be with — but they are not with them. Perhaps they had a brief relationship with the person, or met them just once – but they felt so blindly that they were “the one”. I think we can all relate to these types of feelings at some point in our life.
The desire to express these ideas was perhaps the corollary to A Doll Distorted. The pain of isolation and the bitter sweet memory of the one who got away, I felt were such haunting experiences that they lived in the world of horror.
Sadly, this year, with so many people experiencing lockdown and social distancing, more people can relate to themes of loneliness, isolation and “the fear of touch” than ever before.
The making of the film:
The film was made as a 2-person crew and on a micro, self-funded budget. Originally I had planned to get funding and make the film in a traditional way with a full crew. However, I had built a set in a building that unexpectedly required structural work that would result in my set being destroyed in a few weeks (explained in the BTS). I realized by the time I organized a traditional shoot with a full crew, the set I had designed and storyboarded for, would have been torn down. Being in an area of the country with very few filmmakers around, I had nothing to lose by picking up a camera and seeing what I could get done myself before everything was destroyed. Somehow I managed it.
As a result, I ended up fulfilling many different jobs besides directing, from: writing, producing, editing, set design, sound design, cinematography, VFX, composing and others. In the end, I had only one crew member on the film (James Averiss), who was my lighting and camera assistant – to whom I’m very grateful.
Credits
Writer, Director, Editor, Producer, Set Designer, Sound Designer, VFX, Music and Cinematography: Niall Shukla
Lighting & Camera Assistant (someone I can't thank enough for helping me): James Averiss
Starring: Nicci Brighten & Cory Stuckey
Photo of Michael: Kyle James
Photo of Michael's Wife: Olivia Haart
“A Doll Distorted” was submitted to us by Niall Shukla. Have a film of your own you’d like us to check out? Click here!