What’s it been Locked Down and living with the world as it went into the Coronavirus Pandemic, how did we cope with the change to the hustle ad bustle of life as we have been used to, in the new upcoming short film, Genesis Project Reset we are taken on a journey with two characters via their personal recordings.
The world is in the midst of a global pandemic, Life, as we know it, has changed (possibly forever), sport has ceased, we were told to stay at home, the TV & Film industry has ground to a halt unless you are a news channel, but……………in a tiny corner of Flintshire, North Wales a writer & actor (Phil Woods) with a vision, starts to create a script, an actress in North Wales (Karen Howard) begins to learn lines, an editor & producer (Hannah Mooney) on The Wirral, Merseyside starts to get creative, a singer in Australia has already unknowingly written & performed the theme tune. Fast forward four weeks and a brand new film, ‘Genesis Project Reset’, is ready despite the writer, cast & crew never having been in the same room at the same time.
Genesis starts at day 48 as Cain (Phil Woods) introduces himself to us with his social media recording of what is happening, but things start to take a turn for the worse on day 49 as there seems to be no one around, no cars driving around and the world has gone quiet except for screaming noises in the distance.
As Cain ventures outside to try and make some sense of what is going on he has the feeling that someone, or something, is following him and what seems like paranoia starts to settle in and Cain’s mental health starts to take a turn for the worse!
As the days progress Cain really thinks that he is the only person around or even alive, Day 52 has even more strange things going on as he receives a note with a strange message, which adds to the mystery and sinister feeling that the Lock Down brings from the start of the film.
What makes Genesis Project Reset have that real look and feel of loneliness is that it was filmed with no camera operators, it was filmed by the main cast with their smartphones, the director directs without much direction.
Producer and editor Hanna Mooney said, “I knew it would be possible, however I also knew there would be a lot of different challenges compared to editing and producing other projects. One issue would be getting the footage sent between each other without losing quality. Phil and I have also never met face to face, so all communication has been by messages and phone calls. It has been very interesting trying to describe ideas and get them right. One of the biggest issues has been trying to stay focused whilst working from home too.“
Adding to the mystery, even more, is Miss Bale (Karen Howard), are Cain and Miss Bale really the only people left on this planet? Can Miss Bale be trusted or is she somehow involved in everyone’s disappearance?
Genesis Project Reset is a strange viewing experience, it certainly makes you think about not only the current situation but also has you thinking of the strange things that can happen! The method of using smartphones to film the film work very well for the subject matter, which certainly makes it feel far more realistic than if it was filmed with more expensive film equipment.
I have to say that Phil’s character is very believable as Cain goes through his days of being in lockdown, as he records his personal record on his phone of what is happening to him and him trying to figure out who Miss Bale is.
Phil Woods told us, “I often start to type and see where it takes me. Genesis Project Reset came pretty quickly, it is based on my own experiences before and during the pandemic. I am not a do-gooder or a member of any ‘Save the Planet’ organisations, but I often as myself, what have we done to this beautiful blue and green planet?“
“After writing the first scene (a video diary of a person staying at home just as the government told us to do) I asked myself the question, what would someone think and how would they behave, if they woke one morning and everyone had disappeared? Having these open questions made it easier to write, all I had to do is come up with the answers.
Sounds simple, but for myself, someone who writes comedy, it was a very different process in my mind.“
Phil’s story is a fascinating watch, the soundtrack works nicely as it calmly plays in the background to help bring the emotion to the production, this two-hander also features Karen Howard as Miss Bale, Karen has been in several productions that I have worked on myself over the years including a couple of music videos and some other short films.
I have to say that Karen Howard does a good job bringing the character to the screen and she brings a feeling of unease to the role as you aren’t sure who she is and why she is getting in touch with Phil’s Cain, it’s great to see Karen back on the screen and I do hope that she is going to be back with some more work with Phil in the near future.
Karen Howard told us, “I have always acted from being very young in school, then I got married and had children, now they have grown up I started getting back into acting again. I took this part when Phil Woods offered it to me because I thought the script was very good and I knew I would enjoy playing the part of Miss Bale“.
It’s great to see what can be produced during the lockdown that we have all been on and with such simple tech.
Genesis Project Reset is being released on Wednesday 30th September 2020
A Two-Hander Coming to Amazon
Movie title: Genesis Project (2020)
Movie description: The world has gone into lockdown and two characters may be the only ones left in the world
Date published: September 30, 2020
Country: UK
Duration: 52min
Director(s): Phil Woods
Actor(s): Phil Woods, Karen Howard
Genre: Drama
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
