THE STORY

DEER is an experimental dance short, a venture into surreal folk horror and a narrative that channels the animal instinct of longing and belonging. It follows a solitary woman as she grapples with the aftermath of a mysterious traumatic event, and is haunted by the spectre of an enigmatic creature in the depths of the English countryside.

This project is driven by a desire to blend poignant environmental and feminist themes with the visceral unpredictability of folk horror, creating a cautionary yet deeply engaging tale.

We're inspired by the groundbreaking works of surrealist filmmakers like Maya Deren, Luis Bunuel and David Lynch, aiming to push boundaries and create an avant grade piece of cinema that both entrances and challenges the audience. 

THE IMPACT

Crucially, this is a very sensitive film. People who don't identify with heteronormative, patriarchal values will relate very strongly to some of the subject matter. However, our target audience is exactly whoever gets to see the film. The message is directed at everyone. Struggles for social justice and environmentalism are everyone's problem and they are intrinsically linked.

THE TEAM

The team behind DEER is FAWN, a London based collective founded by Jackson Ducasse and Sophie Chinner. Following our collaboration on ECHO (featured in MOVES Magazine), a short dance film based off of the myth Echo and Narcissus, we are reuniting and expanding our team of interdisciplinary creatives to tell the tale of DEER.

@fawn.collective

Sophie Chinner — Director / Choreographer

Sophie is a multidisciplinary artist based in London, working predominantly with movement and direction. Described by MRMR films as “a brilliant dancer and actor”, Sophie combines their expertise in dance and performance with their passion for leadership and collaboration to produce experimental, genre-defying works. Their versatility and unique points of view lands them as an unstoppable force in the industry. 

@sophiechinner

Jackson Ducasse — Director

Jackson is a Filmmaker and Photographer from London whose career began in Documentary shorts, before moving into the world of Music Videos. Having established himself firmly in London’s thriving music scene as an adept creative with a keen eye for visual flair and a vast skill set. Jackson’s recent work has turned toward short film and experimental cinema while maintaining his foothold in the vibrant world of music. 

@jackson_ducasse

www.jacksonducasse.com

Olive Walton — Producer 

Olive is a freelance producer with production experience spanning short films, music videos, branded content and TV. Her recent work includes co-producing a horror film, producing a spec-ad for a Paralympic Athlete and producing a music video for Tommy Lefroy.

@olivwalton

Margherita Barbieri — Lead Performer / Producer

Margherita Barbieri is a dynamic actor and dancer. Living in London, she draws her inspiration from the power of movement and visual storytelling. With a spirited drive and unwavering dedication, she has graced the screen in a Hulu production, igniting her path as an emerging force within the industry. Watch as Margherita continues to captivate audiences, her talent poised to leave an indelible mark on the world of entertainment.

@alwaysmargi

IMDB

Saff Morter-Laing — Writer / Poet

Saff Morter-Laing is a writer and poet. After leaving a PhD in Political Science at UPenn, she began her writing career and turned her focus on her newsletter, ‘Anthropocene Times’ which has so far amassed over 1k subscribers. She has been published by the Kingfisher Magazine, Writerly Magazine and the New Absurdist, where she is also an editor. Thematically, she focuses on femininity, horror and environmentalism.

@safmorterlaing

https://substack.com/@semorterlaing

Timothy Curtis — Sound Design / Artwork

Tim is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from London. He plays bass and guitar in the bands Honeyglaze and Karma Quartet, and produces experimental electroacoustic music in every existing style, plus some others. Described by Mel C of the Spice Girls as “10/10...perfection”, his work revolves around dynamic contrast, sample manipulation, ominous atmospheres and weaving, shifting harmony.

@citru5

Indy Davy — Stylist

Indy Davy is a stylist and seamstress from Melbourne Australia. She specialises in sustainable sourcing techniques and brings only second hand and up-cycled garments to set. She spears towards costume and styling for film and music videos however has a background in editorials and look book styling. Her most recent project including the up and coming music video for Bethannie Hare’s EP launch ‘Minds Under My Skin’.

@indecent__

Edie Lawrence — Animator

Edie Lawrence is a stop motion animator, artist and director based in Bristol, UK. Lawrence comes from a background of illustration, mostly focusing on portraiture. She decided to go down the animation path as she has a passion for storytelling, music, sculpture and film, and animation allows you to morph all of these things together. She says “Plasticine, my current medium of choice, is a material that is quite similar to oil painting. Although solid, it can forgivingly be melted down and layered to create different tones and textured. When solid, you can carve and dig away at the cracks and crevices to make the creation even more gaunt and harrowing. Everyday events and people around me tend to be my biggest inspiration when creating, which means a lot of the time my style is subconsciously dark and twisted. My work has most commonly been described as creepy, disturbing, sinister, surreal, grotesque and deranged.”

@mildtremor

https://edielawrence.com

SOUND

For this project, we are inspired by folk music such as Polly Vaughn and experimental soundscapes. Using samples of natural sounds from the landscape we shoot in, the soundtrack will be an atmospheric layering of spooky, psychedelic melodies combined with audio recordings of Saffron’s poetry. We will play with abstracting and distorting her voice at heightened moments in the film as well as experiment with looping and reversing effects which will all contribute to a nightmarish world.

HOW YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL HELP

DEER will be the second short in our collaborative movement/filmmaking series that seeks to draw inspiration from classic myths contained within Ovid's metamorphosis and update them for the contemporary age.

We will be submitting this film to festivals both in the UK and Internationally.

Your contributions will also help get one step closer to our long term goal to situate the films within a live performance or exhibition setting. One where we would create an immersive, multi-sensory cinema experience where audiences can gather in a physical space and immerse themselves into dance, physical artwork, projected film and music.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY

The team is very keen to build a legacy as an environmentally-conscious production company. The film itself is a product of our ambition to encourage people both working in the industry and our audiences to follow this movement. We think it is fundamental to try and limit our contribution to pollution and harm to the environment we are filming in. We are making some small contributions; sourcing costumes second hand, having reusable water bottles and keep cups for cast and crew, catering not from plastic wrappers and will continue to think of ways we can be more sustainable in our practice. We will also monitor our impact to nature when we film in outdoor locations, ensuring no litter is left behind for example. All these small actions add up to more conscious filmmaking which is fundamental to FAWN productions.

REFERENCES