Film Name: Scopophobia
Director: Aled Owen
Writer: Aled Owen
Starring: Steffan Cennydd, Emma Stacey, Ioan Hefin, Nathan Sussex, Catrin Jones
Four girls return home to a ghost town but find themselves being followed. By someone who knows what they did? Or just their guilty conscience? There’s more to each girl than meets the eye.
In a new Exclusive Interview on Blazing Minds ahead of Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to ask Writer/Director Aled Owen a few questions about the film ‘Scopophobia‘
Scopophobia will play at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 12th January at 12.30pm.
Q. Your film has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we
can expect?
A. Expect the unexpected! The film sets itself up to be a fairly traditional horror film, with a lot of the tropes and traditions we’ve come to expect, but then there’s a twist at the midpoint that flips the whole thing on its head. This is one of the main reasons I set out to make ‘Scopophobia’, and the cast and crew worked tirelessly on very little budget to make it work.
Q. What were some of your influences when writing the script?
A. Kevin Williamson scripts from my youth, like ‘Scream’ and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, inspired me to embrace the genre while also doing something new. ‘Scopophobia’ is also very much inspired by the toxic female friend groups I witnessed from afar in school. Lots of my female friends, and my sister, provided me with a fascinating insight into the horror story that is gossipy cliques.
Imagine a Welsh, horror version of ‘Derry Girls’!
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. The visual aspect is where I really embraced Giallo. Giallo is a subgenre of Italian horror from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It often features colourful unnatural lighting and a synth music score to heighten the feeling of discomfort in the audience and the characters. “Giallo” translates to “Yellow”, or “Melyn” in Welsh, which is the name of my production company.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. I thought I had, but looking back at the original script now, I’m surprised to say it remained largely faithful throughout. At one point, we added a scene at the end where one of the characters is revealed to have survived, but this ultimately didn’t work for pacing, so we had to lose it again. I suppose it changed a lot and then changed back!
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. The weather was uncharacteristically fantastic in Wales when we shot the first block in March 2022. One car scene took a lot less time to shoot than we planned, and we had no more daytime scenes scheduled for that day, so we had some downtime before it got dark. On a low-budget film like ours, time is money, so this was a special opportunity to slow down for once and really get to bond with the cast and crew. Getting to direct Welsh TV legends like Ioan Hefin and Nathan Sussex were pinch-me moments too.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Loads. Every day was a crash course in creative problem solving. Our entire third production block was six days’ worth of scenes scheduled into four days! I honestly credit the determination of the cast and crew for getting this film made as well and as efficiently as we did. We had no money and no time, so everything you see on screen – locations, costumes, SFX, lighting – it really is a labour of love.
Q. What makes it stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. It’s “very Welsh” according to a few reviews. I never thought of it as more than just set in Wales with Welsh characters. But evidently, our natural accents, characteristics and humour has proven novel to international audiences, which is fantastic! Wales isn’t represented on screen nearly enough in my opinion, and when it is, it’s often featuring English actors with bad Welsh accents. I’m more than happy to showcase my homeland’s fantastic talent through ‘Scopophobia’ and I hope it leads to more.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I always come away from great horror films with an appreciation of the real-life horror beneath the otherworldly premise. ‘The Babadook’ is about grief, for example. With ‘Scopophobia’ it’s not that hard to see that the real horror of the story is terrible friends. The film explores those toxic friendship groups we prolong out of obligation. Cut your losses and spend time with people who are nice to you – life’s too short!
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. I always have a few scripts on the go. I have one about Sleep Paralysis that I’m writing, and I would also love to do a horror film based on the Mari Lwyd tradition in South Wales. I’m recently engaged too, so wedding planning is the main project at the moment, but I’m hoping that in the near future I’ll get the chance to get another film off the ground and hopefully be back at Horror-on-Sea again to show it.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Write, write, write. I look back at old scripts that made me feel like a genius when I wrote them, and they’re rubbish! Every time I sit down to write a new script, I’m a better writer than last time. There’s nothing wrong with having a drawer of fifty unmade scripts. It’s all part of the process. Don’t limit your creativity by thinking about budget when you’re writing either. Once you have a few scripts ready, then put on your producer’s hat and think about which idea you think you can afford to shoot. If you tell that first story well enough, you might get the chance to make one of your bigger ones later.
You can find out more about the film and Aled Owen on the following social media
Company Instagram – @melynpictures
Film Instagram – @scopophobia2024
Film X – @scopophobiafilm
Film Facebook – @scopophobiamovie
Aled Owen – @aledowen07
Scopophobia will play at Horror-on-Sea on Sunday 12th January at 12.30pm.
You can find out more about the festival and purchase tickets here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
