In The Dead of Night was an exercise in fun film-making. Most of the time we didn't know how it was going to end, both literally and in terms of quality. But man, it was a blast. And that's what film-making, dare I say storytelling, should be about. Sure, it can be tiring. There are times when you want nothing more than to be snoozing in your bed rather than stumbling around a nursing home in the middle of the night, but most of the time, it's exhilarating.
The Idea
Chris McMahon and I have worked on a few projects over the years, mainly podcasts and music. We had worked together on Calum MacPhail's film, Blackout, but this was the first time we attempted putting a film together from scratch.
Chris came up with the initial idea, and it came from having access to a fantastic location - a nursing home which had only recently been vacated. The furniture and equipment were all still in place, indeed it felt as thought the residents had simply vanished, leaving everything else behind. Chris was covering some shifts there as a security guard, and so the film mirrored real life.
The original idea that Chris had was a simple 2 - 3 minute film. A security guard working in a nursing home feeling that he is being watched. Suddenly, a figure appears at the end of a hallway scaring him half to death, but it turns out it's just his friends playing a prank on him. The film was supposed to end as one of the friends reacts to a noise off camera suggesting that something else more sinister is nearby.
As discussions between us continued, I added a few ideas of my own around what I liked to call The Resident, and so between us the film was slowly fleshed out.
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