My First Short: “Ghosted”

I was very tempted to skip this week, for a few reasons. First, I still wasn’t prepared to give a write up on Nikyatu Jusu’s “Nanny” to round out my Charlotte Film Festival review because I’ve been busy! Second, I was working up the courage to share something of my own and well, the courage has been worked so here it is!

Friends, I present to you: “Ghosted”, my first filmed short! Back in July, I challenged myself to make a short on my phone over the span of an afternoon, just to prove to myself that I could do it, and well…I did! The concept arrived in two phases. First, I was listening to an episode of the “Dear Jessamyn” podcast where they talked about getting ghosted, and why people ghost and all the emotions (both on the part of the ghosted and the ghoster) involved. Anyone who’s dated in the era of Tinder and dating apps knows what it’s like to get ghosted, and it sucks!

Later that evening, I decided to take a quick shot of the pouring rain from the balcony of the condo I was renting in and I thought that shot would make a great opener for something. I went to bed and “Ghosted” started forming in my head. I spent the next day trying out shots on my iPhone 13, practicing with the Filmic Pro app, and fiddling with the Sennheiser mic I bought specifically for iPhone storytelling.

Anyway, it took me about 6 or 7 hours to record and then the weekend to edit on iMovie—on my phone—which is a pain in the ass, but that’s what I get for not clearing out space on my Mac to update my operating system. I sat on the rough cut which featured one of the default iMovie soundtracks for a few months before finally finding better quality music through YouTube’s audio library (which is amazing).

So, here it is, the finished project. It’s not perfect, but if you’ve been reading along with me, you know I’m trying to let go of that word. Watching “Ghosted” back, I see a lot of things I would’ve done differently while shooting and also while conceptualizing. I’m not an actress, but I think I did alright. I see places where I could have included more humor, especially, but I think on a high level, it works! I wanted to prove to myself that I could a.) make something and b.) do it on my iPhone and I accomplished both of those goals, so huge win! Alright, without further ado, “Ghosted”!