Outstanding Short Film From Creative Media Students

16 Aug 2021

Five Creative Media students from West London College who completed their end-of-year film, titled: ‘The Complications of Infatuation’, earned high praise from fellow students and teachers alike. Written, filmed, edited and performed by one of the students, the off-beat comedy focuses on two dysfunctional roommates living together in Notting Hill. Winners of ‘Best Student Drama’ in the college’s end-of-year awards, many of the students are now off to prestigious film schools, suggesting great careers ahead of them.

The film was the writers, Marcus Lorentzen and Carlo Hall’s, first screenplay together and ever. Carlo and Marcus say they hit it off as soon as they met and found they had the same kind of sense of humour. When it proved difficult to find a leading man, Carlo, who had experience in performance, found himself stepping into the role.

Carlo plays leading man Forne and the story arc follows the troubled relationship between Forne and the leading lady, Miso, played by Ryn Alleyne. As to the choice of names for the central characters, Forne and Miso, Carlo explained “I wanted the names of my protagonists to be unusual.”

Forne and Miso live in an apartment, so stylish it almost has the same status as an actual character in its own right. The flat belongs to Marcus’s parents, who heroically agreed to vacate it for four weekends in a row so that the crew could make their debut film. Forne and Miso’s relationship is straining to breaking point, and both characters rarely seem happy together. 

Their creators, Carlo and Marcus wanted to create a couple who sometimes got along, but very often were at each other’s throats. Carlo says: “We didn’t want to write a standard love film. We were inspired by the couples’ relationships in movies like ‘La La Land’, ‘Lost in Translation’ and ‘Marriage Story’.”

Marcus had been influenced by the couple depicted in the recent hit TV series ‘Normal People’, and wanted to achieve a similar feel for his characters. Marcus says: “I grew up in Notting Hill and I wanted to make an iconic film celebrating the area and the people living here. Legendary director Nicholas Roeg lived here and I wanted to make a film that nodded towards him and captured the mood of sixties films and music.”

Ali Al-Janabi recorded the sound for the film. He explains that Marcus and Carlo wanted the dialogue and sound to be minimal. This is achieved with long silences in the film, combined with a striking soundtrack of varied music. Assistant Director, Danush Thavagnanam, said, “My plans for my future are to gain an abundance of experience, knowledge and awareness about film. I would like to do this before I begin my venture into the Indian Film Industry as it’s been a passion of mine to produce intriguing films within the ‘Kollywood’ (Tamil) industry.” 

Before heading off to make it in Hollywood, Danush plans to use his time prodigiously at Kingston University by gathering as many portfolio pieces of his work as possible. Edvardas Kulys, Director of Photography for the film, says, “My job was to frame the shots and take the visual presentation of the film into my hands. I enjoyed this because I was in control of how the film looked and I acted as a pair of eyes for the audience.”

Edvardas’ favourite part of the film was the party scene. He says, “Mostly due to the rush of having to get this shot in one take with no cuts, the energy on set was great. We were all talking in-between takes and just had a really good time, the set felt alive.”

Mozart’s ‘Requiem in D Minor’ plays while the party takes place, implying the self-assured character, Simon, played by Ricardo Dos Reis, is about to meet an unpleasant fate. He does, and his untimely end involving a carrot, heralds the death of the lovers’ increasingly uneasy romance, too.

Edvardas is now heading off to study Digital Film Production at Ravensbourne University. He says, “I want to pursue a career in the film industry as Director or Photography.”

Carlo’s favourite scene is where his character, Forne and Miso start dancing in the kitchen to ‘Vivid Dreams’ by Kaytranada (featuring River Tiber), a rare moment in their relationship where they are getting on really well. Carlo says, “I knew I had to have that song in the film.”

Carlo is going to the University of West London to study for a degree in Film Creation and Creative Media.

Marcus’ favourite scene takes place where Forne and Miso seem to be experiencing a psychedelic experience during lovemaking to the sound of Frame Of Reference by Drug Store Romeos. Marcus explains that the special effects for this scene were achieved by very simple means, involving holding a sheet across a window and randomly moving coloured disco lights – and yet the effect is really impressive.

In September, Marcus starts his degree studies at Central Film School, and following that he plans to break into the film industry.

“I want to make a big dent,” says Marcus, “become established and play my part in cinema as a director, call myself an artist. I want to represent British film work to an American audience, and hopefully make a comfortable living from it!”

The students’ teacher Bruno Ferreira said, “The short drama produced by Marcus, Carlo, Edvardas and Ali is of the highest quality. Students on this study programme start from day one on their journey to develop the professional skills necessary to achieve their ambition of working in the film and television industries. They will now continue their development at University and I wish them the best of luck for the future”

To view the film in full, please visit The Complications Of Infatuation on YouTube (parental guidance is advised: the film contains strong language and scenes of a sexual nature).

The five West London College Creative Media students who made the film were:

• Carlo Hall, Screenplay and lead male actor, Forne
• Marcus Lorentzen, Screenplay and Director
• Ali Al-Janabi, Sound Recording Artist 
• Danush Thavagnanam, Assistant Director
• Edvardas Kulys Director of Photography