At just 3 minutes in length, brand new film short I Just Said That from Stefanie Davis shows a familiar side of the fiery temperaments of an adult relationship, and the spontaneous verbal intervention that can break the ice. “That one I wrote in an afternoon,” Davis explains, “with the line ‘romantic diarrhea’, I started with that, I don’t know where it came from. I have never said that.”.
An endearing little picture, shot in one afternoon, and the entire 3 minutes a single take, I Just Said That has a couple arriving home with tension in the air. She is personally perturbed about his salad suggestion at the restaurant, and their views on self-image (she is watching her weight) spill out. As the tension disperses, the couple are candid in their more affectionate conversing. Davis does admit she has been in similar quarrels with her partner – we all have right? “There’s a tiny piece of me in every film I make, the flow of I Just Said That is from experience, but not the content exactly.”. And it comes across well, the tone shift feels almost impromptu, and it works like that.
I was wondering if short films is ultimately what Davis wants to do, the director goes on to say “I want to do features obviously, money is the big thing. With shorts we can show what we can do, the range, the different kind of levels.”. Davis has such an extensive set of skills in filmmaking – directing, writing, casting, acting – these were traits she picked up along the way, but also to help out peers. “I made some pretty great friends. They might say ‘We need a script supervisor’, or I’m asked at the last minute if I can be an AD this weekend. Each set I am on I learn good and bad things, so I like to do it more and more – as much as I can.”.
“I love directing,” Davis declares, “It is such fun. I don’t feel like it is a real job. Way too much fun. You just assemble the right team, have a vision, clearly tell it, and watch it all happen – it is pretty amazing.”. Of her cast, who had chemistry on screen, they were performers Davis knew. “The woman [Chelsea Wolf] is from Bouncy Boxer Media my production company, the actor [Will Millwood], this was his first film, he was looking for something for his demo reel.”. Davis knows a lot of filmmakers in a similar boat to her, “we have quite a few women directors in my area, and I met a lot in New York, Atlanta, L.A. We support each other’s work. I have met a lot at the festivals too.”.
Before film, Davis worked in marketing, “and did filming when I could. I learnt a lot about marketing, and traveled, which also helps in the film world.”. Indeed, marketing, journalism, filmmaking, they seem to go hand-in-hand. Female filmmakers are certainly a popular strand of the industry nowadays – and rightly so. “Publicity is publicity. If being a woman is what gets me noticed, I am not going to be mad about it. One day, though, it would be nice to be seen as a director, and not as a man director or woman director. Now, as female directors come into fruition, making a name for themselves, it is a pretty great movement.”.
So whats next for Stefanie Davis? “I am enjoying action movies lately, with Hitman and Furious 7, I am on an action film kick. It is starting to be my thing. We did our first action comedy this summer. I would like to do a feature action film, like a superhero movie.”. A fan of mixing genres, bringing comedy to the table, Davis is dabbling with horror as her next project. “My cinematographer is a woman, and she is dying to do stuff with lighting, and cinematography tricks. We will have a little fun and make that work.”.
Plain and simple, Davis speaks about filmmaking with such natural enthusiasm, and would love to just be making movies all the time – “I just love it so much. It is not all about the money and the fame, it is for the artistic side. But if I can do it for a living, feature films, short films, web series, television, any of it, I’d be happy.”.
I Just Said That is showing on Day One of the Femme Filmmakers Festival.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAc-zNo70j0&feature=youtu.be&a
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