A couple months ago Director Joshua Calder joined us on DN as one half of the team behind heartbreak short Just Tell Him How You Feel, today the Australian filmmaker is back with far more nefarious narrative Fire On The Second Floor, co-directed with his brother Tom and featuring a lonely, curious neighbour with an all too active imagination which leads him to take questionable actions. Check out Fire On The Second Floor below after which Joshua tells us a little more about the project.
Back in 2015, my brother Tom sent me a short story he’d written about a socially isolated man listening to a couple argue in their apartment above. We developed the idea around our love for old cinema and the way narration was written and used like poetry to tell a story.
Everyone involved brought elements to the story that allowed everything to be in sync, and it all came together in such a tremendous way. From the little choices in performance to the controlled and purposeful movements of the camera (Arri Alexa XT with Panavision e-series anamorphics) to filling an empty house entirely with furniture and having it work so well, everything came together to make a bit of magic.
We developed the idea around our love for old cinema.
We’re incredibly proud of this film, we’re so glad it’s out in the world and we hope you enjoy it!