The film is called In The Shadow Of Death. I’ve been working on it over the last three months, but it’s been inspired by ideas that have been evolving much longer than that.

The actually story is about twin brothers and it follows how one of the brothers deals with the death of his twin.

I play the individual that dies and my twin brother plays the lead. The film follows his story and his decent into madness as he tries to deal with the trauma of the loss.

The production has been something of a one man band. I wrote the story, storyboard, shot it, directed the action, did the sound as well as all the post production.

How does the plot line develop?

The story has a number of imaginative threads which includes the afterlife to some extent. I wanted to create images that would show that in a dramatic fashion to help spark a reaction from the audience.

Scene from In The Shadow Of Death

I’ve used a number of post-production techniques to create these.

There’s one point in the film when I’m killed that shows me being struck by a car and then hitting my head on the tarmac and blood shoots towards the camera lens. Obviously that didn’t really happen, but it looks like it in the finished film.

In many depictions of the afterlife water is very relevant. There’s a famous painting by the Swiss artist Arnold Böcklin called The Isle Of The Dead.

The main island shot in the film with the figure in the foreground was inspired by that painting, so I’ve drawn inspiration from historical artworks along with contemporary film making.

I hope the film will inspire a reaction from the audience, hopefully they’ll be impresed and entertained.

For a student doing a degree in Fine Art Sculpture, how come your final work is in film?

I come from a visual background, I started off as a painter. When I came to art school I wasn’t totally sure in which direction I wanted to go.

During my degree I tried a number of different things, but I found my final direction was film making and telling stories through moving images.

The course is very flexible and with the introduction of the new video facilities that have been introduced at NSAD this year, it’s allowed me to realise my aspirations.

Oliver Thompson

What happens once you graduate?

I do some work as a freelance cameraman, but I really want to push my ideas and make more short films so I can carry on being creative.

I'd like to get some equipment together and hopefully get a job in a production house that will facilitate my works.

I’d like to focus on my creative talent, hone the story telling and carry on working in a low budget way to get the ideas made, screened and then hopefully a career in feature films as I want to be a director.

See more works by NSAD students

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