Just Upstairs Release award nominated film ‘one drop’
19th January 2022 - Just Upstairs, a UK-based video production company, today announced the release of their debut short film One Drop. Directed by Ross Carson and written by Stewart Gold, working alongside producer Patrick Haynes and cinematographer Matt Gentleman.
The film follows the protagonist Xander played by Ryan O’Donnell [as previously seen in The Crown & The Serpent], a tortured artist with a slew of intense personal demons, and Oliver played by Joseph Payne [as seen in The Witcher & Showtrial] his enamoured personal assistant, who has only fourteen hours remaining to complete an artwork commission for the Queen of Denmark's 80th birthday ball - but as Xander's inability to finish the painting and eccentricities unravel, things take a deadly turn.
Just Upstairs collaborated with Red Digital Cinema on this project, utilising the cutting-edge Red V-Raptor 8K camera. Cinematographer, Matt Gentleman and Director, Ross Carson sat down for a candid interview to discuss the advantages of the camera and how, when working with tight budgets, the V-Raptor is invaluable in the filming process. Watch the full interview here.
One Drop has recently been nominated for the British Short Film Awards in the Best Production Design category (designed by Hedivig Kovacs), alongside also being nominated for Best Original Score (written by Harrison Stanford) at the National Youth Film Awards. The film opened the coveted Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in Florida and has been shown at a number of festivals worldwide.
Just Upstairs also collaborated with Japanese audio manufacturer Audio-Technica, utilising the pinnacle of wireless audio on the film. Sound Mixer Patrick Haynes said, “I am extremely grateful to partner with Audio Technica on this project, their equipment is extremely reliable and stable, and most importantly the quality is next to none” The full interview can be viewed here.
Director, Ross Carson has this to say about the project “One Drop is a film that pays a Kubrick-esc homage to the Shakespearean era of Tragicomedy. Not to give too many spoilers away but I hope this film has you laughing as much as it might have you crying by the end. We have kept it fresh and modern, using a niché subject matter and integrating it into the professional world we see around us today, in the form of a naive intern & a therapy snake (not a sentence I thought I’d be saying before the making of this film). We started preparing to make One Drop over lockdown, which came with its own myriad of struggles, however, that in itself created an energy and type of magic on the set that translated onto the screen.”
The film premiered in late 2022 and was released online on the 19th of January.
