This very editor has had countless conversations with young graduate filmmaker, Gabriela Routledge, over the past few months. Not only did she submit her short film, Pink Eye, to the 10th Femme Filmmakers Festival, but Gabriela also lent her creative talents to much of the graphics promoting the event you will have no doubt seen across social media. As well as creating the official program herself. So as well as allowing us to screen her terrific short film, I owe Miss Routledge plenty of gratitude for the work she has put in.
When did the penny drop about loving film? And when did you know you were going to study and pursue it?
I can’t pinpoint an exact moment that I realised my love for film. I have always been fascinated with visual aesthetics, and the different ways of creating an image. I started using my mum’s old camera when I was about 11 or 12, and have been hooked on photography ever since.
I would say the COVID lockdown was what really confirmed my passion for film, leading me to go on to study it at uni. My family and I watched a film every single night during lockdown, it was kind of like a movie education. I had always loved films, but that period of time was when I realised it was what I wanted to pursue.
Tell us about your experiences studying film in terms of your role as a woman. What challenges or achievements stand out in this respect?
I think creating my film stood out as an achievement as I was initially quite doubtful of my idea. I think when I would explain it to people I would struggle not to sound too cliché, but I actually think a lot of amazing concepts stray from clichés! I think when I had a finished product I felt much more accomplished, knowing I had found it so difficult to get my point across before.
How was Pink Eye conceived? How much of it was based on your own life or from other people’s lives you know?
Pink Eye was conceived from a feeling I couldn’t shake. Since I was a young teenager, I felt as though I was being surveyed. Not literally as such, more as though I was watching myself from above. I would be alone in my bedroom, looking back at a male figure from the window opposing mine. I imagined him watching me within the place that was most personal to me. Though passive, the presence felt intrusive, it was taking something that should be mine. The surveillance I sensed was so unwavering that it walked through life with me.
This manifestation of a man may embody the lover, the father, and the god, undertaking the patriarchal gaze. Despite adopting a male lens, this surveillance is a product of one watching oneself. While this encroachment can feel claustrophobic, ostracising and disconcerting, it can also celebrate sensuality, and be comforting in its companionship.
The male apparition meddles with security, flitting between validating and rejecting the conscious self. The subconscious gaze not only surveys oneself. It can take on a woman’s perception of other women, causing tensions and complexity amongst women and their dynamics with one another.
In addressing this cerebration of the internalised male gaze, I envisaged a visual translation of this presence, personified by a physical, male character. I aimed to illustrate the persistence of the male gaze without necessarily encouraging a commentary on its negative nor positive impact, rather to establish a feeling. I intended to create something that, although abstract, people could resonate with, using visceral, evocative images to curate an experience.
There’s clearly a pink aesthetic here. Please tell us about the title. But also how did you bring those pinks hues to the screen – lighting, props, costumes etc?
I really wanted to emulate a sense of femininity using colour in Pink Eye. Obviously on a student film budget it was lucky that most of my things are decorated in pink anyway. But I wanted to bring in the colour in a variety of ways, making the pink hues as persistent as the man’s presence. I think the sense of hyperrealism created through the film’s pink colour palette further depicts Eve’s deluded state, blurring the lines between the real and the imagined.
The title came to me quite randomly, it was the first title I had thought of. I really like exploring a female grossness and perversion, so it was quite fun to name it something like pink eye, which brings to mind an infection to the eye, something Eve is also experiencing in some way. It felt like that title could be a nod to the film’s exploration of an obscured gaze, as well as the use of colour.
What were you trying to convey with the timely edits and very focused cinematography? Especially given the majority of “quiet” moments.
I wanted to create a rigidity that felt uncomfortable for the audience. Eve is trapped, unable to stop performing for this unrelenting presence. And I wanted the audience to have to sit with her through that. I have to thank the amazing cinematographer, Finn Hartnup-Williams, who understood the vision I had for the film so well and was integral to making that come to life.
What films inspired the look, tone and narrative of Pink Eye? Tell us some of your favourite films.
Some films that inspired Pink Eye include Fish Tank, by Andrea Arnold, who is one of my favourite directors. I love the way Arnold is able to create intimacy within her films. Often using a one character perspective to prioritise character actions and close-ups over the vast landscapes they reflect. Sofia Coppola and the feminine havens she creates. I love how she creates affinity in the frame through colour as well as her use of commodified objects which I took huge inspiration from.
David Lynch’s absurdity is so influential to me and most filmmakers, I believe. Ana Lily Amirpour’s tensions created in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night were really influential to the dynamic established between Eve and The Man. I am also hugely inspired by the films of Julia Ducournau, in her exploration of lurid imagery and autonomy.
How did you cast the film? And what were some of the most satisfying collaborations with the crew?
I got super lucky casting the film to have my two incredibly talented friends, Isobel Kelly and Sam Reese, as the main leads in the film. They were so integral to creating the film and I am still in awe of their performances. For the actors of Eve’s friends I held auditions through a casting call. Each actress brought a vibrancy and something new to their characters, and it was so much fun to eventually see all the girls come together and for the friendship group to come to life. I loved collaborating with Finn as cinematographer, and I had a small, but amazing crew with Gia Thater as sound mixer and Michael Johnson as Gaffer.
What branches of film interest you the most? And what are your future ambitions in the field?
I love being creative and creating images that speak to people. I really would love to direct things that build a world, whether it be more vibrant and extravagant, or rawer and realer. I love finding the right moment and presenting it in a way that makes sense to me. I am interested in so many branches of film, from indie films to chick flicks to reality tv to music videos. There is so much I am eager to explore. Right now I’m doing work as a production runner and camera trainee and am loving gaining experience on set.
Finally, tell us a little bit about your role at the Femme Filmmakers Festival?
When Robin first reached out to me about the Film Festival, I was eager to get involved in any way possible. I knew I could help by creating more posts to promote the festival, and it has been such a great experience to witness so much talent and be able to promote it through creating social media posts and the film festival program.
