The cinematic short film “Deeper Than Dishes” follows a girl who struggles to order her ideal dish as she navigates through a cycle of dates at her go-to diner.
Director Naomi Christie explains: “We gathered some friends and produced a super 8 short film for the Straight 8 Film Competition. The contest encourages analogue lovers to make a film with no retakes, using just a single cartridge of film, without any editing or second chances. In essence, each pull of your camera’s trigger is a make-or-break moment. The challenge was to shoot a roll of super 8 film and send it off to the contest without the chance to develop it, edit it, or even preview it. We were working blind, without any clue what our film would look like!
I co-directed this project with my boyfriend, Jamar Harding. The concept of showcasing the ‘abundance of choice’ in dating culture came from one of our brainstorming sessions. I wrote a simple script that allowed me to include many of our friends as fun characters. Our friend, Danny Weekes, a super 8 enthusiast and a fantastic Director of Photography (DP), agreed to join us. We also collaborated with our talented production designer, Faith Ivory, who transformed my dining room into a classic diner. Thanks to Danny and Faith, my dining room was converted into a vibrant and cinematic location. Despite the nerve-wracking pressure of every person having just one take, our friends delivered stellar performances. I initially thought the process would be easier than it was. This type of filmmaking is laden with challenges – one mistake can ruin an entire roll of film. But we pulled it off and made it into the contest’s top 25!”
