Our Storyline

'Troopers' is a comedy short film. Two young men, 'Dan' and 'Nick' are in need of cash and agree to do a butlers in the buff job via an online post, but soon realise they’re in for far more than was advertised.

As the pair find themselves in the bizarre confines of their client's flat, the threads of their situation begin to unravel, revealing deception within their friendship. 

We don't want to reveal too much of our plot line just yet... so you'll have to wonder a little longer about where our mysterious horse masks come into play, however, in the meantime we hope this preview of our storyboard will get you excited! 

Themes

With doom and gloom articles constantly circulating a looming threat of recession, the UK's younger generation are becoming adults in a very unpromising climate.

Here on the troopers team we felt an urge to express a comedic and fresh take on some of the issues surrounding the wealth gap in the uk, which is why we feel so strongly that this story needs to be told.

As demonstrated below the gap is vastly disproportionate, as I'm sure - if you live in the UK - you are already aware.

Financial Times - https://www.ft.com/content/d52743ca-c669-4c71-941f-8281230a21b5

We will subtly explore the wealth gap through the impact it has on characters 'Dan' and 'Nick' and the dynamic of their friendship. We didn't want to throw these issues in our audience's face, which is why the financial differences between 'Dan' and 'Nick' are never directly mentioned. Instead, you will notice the effect of their differences through the decisions they make, the feelings of guilt they experience and how the situation they are in differs in meaning to each of them. 

But ultimately comedy is at the forefront of our story and our aim is to produce a bloody funny film.

Our Crew

Our wonderful crew are a talented combination of graduates and final year students from two of the most established film schools in Britain. Having the experience and knowledge from our practical education in film, the Troopers team are keen to branch out and make their first fully independent project - which is why we need all the support we can get! 

From the outset of this production one of our main priorities was to have a crew lead by women/non-binary filmmakers. As young people emerging in the film industry it is far too often that we find ourselves being the only person of our gender in a room or set. 

Things are slowly changing but there's an emphasis on the slowly. 

It's still very rare to hear professionals and the people mentoring us refer to HOD and crew roles with 'she' or 'they'. It seems to almost always be 'you can assist your DOP by bringing him...' or 'a directer will choose his...' -  you get the idea. 

Being in an industry still predominantly run by men and rarely hearing our pronouns being used paints a picture that we are outsiders. It engrains and perpetuates the idea that we are small and outnumbered in the industry and subconsciously discourages young filmmakers from being able to envision themselves in certain roles. Speaking from experience, it becomes mentally exhausting to continuously resist these ideas/stereotypes and preserve your individual aspirations with a positive outlook. 

This is why it felt so important to us to subvert these norms and assemble a crew of emerging women/non-binary creatives. Our focus is to create a positive and safe set to relieve our crew of any thoughts related to their own or another crew member's gender - because gender isn't something anyone should have to think about let alone worry about in a professional setting. The only thing we should have to worry about is getting the next take! 

With all of this in mind we have pulled together a brilliant crew. All our HODs identify as women or non-binary as promised and we'd love to introduce you to them!

Your Pledges

We hope if you've made it this far down the page that you're already as enthused about this project as we are. However, we understand if you need some reassurance as to where exactly your donations will be spent. 

Our co-creators Mariazenith and Coco have been working hard alongside our producer Nadia on crunching the numbers of our budget. We have also sought advice from industry professionals to confirm our calculations and ensure we are getting the best deals on equipment rental etc. 

We have already found the funds for our deposit to secure our shooting location, and sourced a stylist who will be supplying us with costumes, but we do of course have other expenses:

• Firstly, we will need to pay our cast.
• We need to hire camera and lighting equipment...
• ... a van to transport said equipment.
• Production design expenses
• Catering costs for crew/actors
• Festival entry fees 
• And lastly, we need some budget left to cover greenlit's small fee and for contingency.

We hope this piechart better demonstrates the distribution of money across the project:

Our Set

In any production the set design is an essential element in the world building of the story, of the mise en scene and in creating atmosphere. Troopers is no exception and we've gone for something very specific. 

'Dan' and 'Nick's' offscreen client (who we like to call 'The Rider') has a few obsessions: the 60s and horses. Throughout pre-production, particularly during story and character development, we have been focussing on the ways we can bring this character to life. As we never see her on screen (well aside from her legs) 'The Rider' will mainly be conveyed through our set design as this is her domain and where our story is centred. 'The Rider' may initially seem unimportant, however, at the core she is in control of our story and our two main characters are well aware of this. 

Much deliberation has gone into finding 'The Rider's' 60s themed apartment and we have been lucky enough to find the perfect location Bobby Fitzpatrick.

Bobby Fitzpatrick is a cocktail bar located in West Hampstead and just so happens to be completely furnished as if it where still the 60s. The amazing team at Bobby's has very kindly agreed to accommodate us and our production. (thank you Hezi!)

We will be using the 'Kitchenette' to shoot the majority of our film where 'Dan' and 'Nick' have their dispute. For our sub-scene where a distressed 'Nick' wanders off to the toilet we will be filming in the basement of the restaurant.

Thank you!

You've reached the bottom of the page - congratulations! 

We hope you feel informed and have a clear vision of what the Troopers project is all about: film, comedy, equality and supporting young women and non-binary filmmakers!

If you have any questions or feel there's something you'd like to know a little bit more about before making a pledge then please get in contact, we'd love to hear from you. 

You can direct message us on our instagram by clicking here: @troopers_shortfilm 

One of our co-producers, Coco or Zeze, will get back to you with a speedy response.

If you've already been convinced to make a pledge then on behalf of everyone on the Troopers team we'd love to say a big thank you!

We can't wait for you to see what's to come!

Translated Video:

If you'd like to watch our fundraiser video with Spanish subtitles then please click below!

Si deseas ver el vídeo con subtítulos en español, por favor haz click en este link!