shortfilm project 2024/2025
„The Fire Which Is Mine„
from start to finish
Why exactly „Circe“?
Where did the idea come from?
First Drafts
The first steps before solidifying everything
Pre-Production
Writing the script, storyboards and everything important
On-set & BTS
Yet to come…
April 2025!
Post-Production
Yet to come…
May 2025!
Why exactly „Circe“?
The Inspiration Behind the Project
For the 4th year at the higher technical college for arts and design, in the department for film and multimedia art, the students are tasked to create about four unique projects of the filmic nature.
This is where my project comes in. The first hint of an idea first came to me during summer break.
The Idea
During the summer of 2024, in midst of worrying about if I am to repeat the grade, I sought some kind of escape in books and audio books I had since my childhood.
—
Audio books about the Odyssey and Madeline Miller’s „Circe“ have been the main source of ideas. Later on, the discovery of „EPIC: The Musical“ through a friend of mine sealed the deal and brought in the motivation I needed.
—
„I want to make a movie about Circe“
The only problem now was. How?
A Setback and a new viewpoint
At first, when I knew I now 100% had to repeat the grade, I was devastated. On another note, this gave me the chance to realize the idea I had now.
—
In September 2024 I jumped into writing a first draft for the script right away. In the end it was 5 pages long and proved to be a great idea, as this helped get me through the pitching phase and most likely convinced the teachers to choose my project.
This is where we begin, the conception phase
October 2024
First script draft
Version 1
The first draft I wrote in September 2024 was 5 pages long, excluding the cover page.
Here the story still had another name, a working title if you will.
—
No script is perfect. Especially so if you have never in your life written a script before. How to tackle dialogue, write actions, scene descriptions and parenthicals (individual character actions during a spoken line). Anything I’ve ever written were fictional stories, but never tailored to be a script for a movie. Unexpectedtly, I’ve had a smooth wrtiting phase for this version.
—
On the left of the page is the very script I am talking about.
An updated version is still under works and expected to be about 15 minutes long as of January 2025!
November to December 2024
Experimental designs
Both these images are coloured sketches of what I imagined Circe to look like. Partially with descriptions from the Illiad and partially with descriptions from „Circe“ by Madeline Miller.
Whilst the left image is a more ‚modest‘ interpretation, is the right image a more fantastical one. Not really a design which is meant for adapting for film, but more one I made for myself. Here the inspiration comes from Jorge Rivera-Herrans „EPIC: The Musical“
First Versions
Here we have the first versions of designs purposefully made for the shortfilm.
On the left, Circe and on the right the first design of the water nymph Pegaea, who has gotten a more significant role in newer versions of the script. Small designs, quickly sketched out in the notes app. Circe still carries a few smaller design traits from my „EPIC“ Circe design, but is more ‚covered up‘
—
Both have a strong hints to historically accurate gowns from ancient greece and are planned to be made from linen, as this fabric came up in my research about the traditional gowns and clothing. (Cotton was also a widely spread option)
Character design and storyboard
With the story, there comes pictures who help give a clearer image of what is to be shot.
Storyboard
The first steps to visualization are creating a storyboard.
We drew some shots of the first scene to get a rough image of what we want to have later on.
Another shot (3rd image) had been in my head from the very start. I wanted a shot of Circe gazing after the setting sun in an expressionless manner.
—
Those are only concepts. Since a final version of the script doesn’t exist just yet, but starting to think about shots and images you want to have in your film cannot hurt to have.
January 2025
What happens now?
The end of January is nearing
The final version of the script is still under works, but still… What else is there to do?
—
Finalize the script. That’s the most important task on my list now.
—
Afterwards its all about visualization, storyboard, animated storyboard to get a feeling for how long its going to be and so on.
—
A lot is to do, location scouting, filming permits, finances, casting, getting equipment to name the most important things.
—
Until then, farewell!
The Team
The hardworking team behind „The Fire Which Is Mine“
Maja Kovacic
Creative Head, Director
Max Schriebl
Production Manager
Julia Vivanco-Felber
Production and Creative Assistant, Light Conceptualist
Samantha Sili
Director of Photography, Camera Operator
Emily Shuttleworth
Assistant