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Devil's Breath
Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, United Kingdom
Aim
With themes of sexuality and masculinity, this gangster film focuses on what two brothers truly value after their lives are forever changed.
It’s been two days since younger brother, John has been on a date with Sunny, a perverse individual who targets homosexuals to drug and steal their money. John has no choice but to ask his older brother for help. See, Frank’s a small-time gangster that on occasion lends John money, and once he finds out a grand of his has been taken, the brothers embark on a manhunt to retrieve Frank’s fortune.
Whilst he explains what he remembers from that night, John withholds his sexuality from Frank, fearful of how it might impact his brother’s gangster business and old-school masculine ideals. Growing up with Frank has caused John to become a recluse; he loves and needs his brother, of course, but he can’t necessarily trust him, and there’s clearly a communication issue between them.
After the brothers chase Sunny to a nearby warehouse, Frank is knocked out, and John is left to face Sunny head-to-head. There is a clear mismatch in fighting ability, and it takes some homophobic taunts to provoke John to find the strength to beat Sunny to a pulp, projecting all the shame and emasculation he’s been made to feel growing up unsure of his sexuality.
He snaps out of his blood lust once he notices Frank has witnessed the whole thing, and the brothers finally communicate over John’s sexuality. There’s a feeling of clarity and acceptance between the two as their lives become forever changed; what was a disgusting incident John had to go through has now become a binder for a previously disconnected sibling relationship.
Devil’s Breath is inspired by crime and gangster films of the new Hollywood era, particularly The French Connection and Heat, which are slick character studies into the dark and sinister landscape of the criminal underworld. Conventionally, this genre is led by brooding men who feel they must face trouble alone, and with our film we want to deconstruct this masculine, tough-guy trope to the reality that it’s okay to tackle issues together and communicate with one another.
What inspired this story was in researching the drug, ‘Devil’s Breath’ there was an article about a man that would use a homosexual dating site to drug and rob their victims. His thought was that they would be too embarrassed to go to the authorities based on the situation they had met because at the time there was much stigma around these dating sites. This article formed the basis for our idea and was incorporated into a gangster landscape where the themes of sexuality and masculinity could coincide in an action-filled emotional journey between two brothers.
Illuded to by what inspired the film, the visualisation for Devil’s Breath draws from crime / gangster films of the late 1970s to early 1990s, with The French Connection and Heat as primary case studies for this film’s look. The lighting and framing will work together to construct a world that feels lived in, one with grime and darkness, executed by unflattering and harsh shadows on the subjects, as what we hope to juxtapose visually is a foreboding and tangible atmosphere that combats the vulnerability of the story’s true themes.
Using a muted colour palette to reflect the gangster tone, the film will use orange for skin tones to add a warmth to the actors and distinguish them from the contrasting blue and black world around them. We will also sparsely use red during part of the dream sequence where John hallucinates through a Hellish Funland, as well as during the end fight scene where the blood will be a vibrant red to stand out amidst the bluish hues. Red follows Sunny wherever he goes, as it is a beacon of danger and malice, so is essential to making the film’s colour palette pop.
Since the film is set in the early 1980s, we’ll be dressing several locations - such as a pub and a warehouse - to reflect the look and feel of the late ’70s and early ’80s. Each set will be dressed with period-accurate props and designed to evoke a moody atmosphere that enhances the tone and supports the storytelling. For the pub, we plan to create the setting of a themed party night - an ideal backdrop for John and Sunny’s date - drawing inspiration from popular British bands and pub culture of the era.
A key sequence in the film centres on John’s hallucinatory vision after being drugged with “Devil’s Breath.” For this, we plan to transform the set into “Devil’s Fun-land” - a surreal, distorted environment where nothing feels entirely real. The location will be dressed to resemble an abandoned theme park, drawing inspiration from “Joker’s Funland” in the ‘Batman’ comics. Our goal is to create an atmosphere that feels like an urban hellscape.
The budget for the project will be used to give the three main characters a distinctive style that represents their personalities and will use contemporary clothing with late 1970s flair. Sunny requires a black leather jacket, with a stripped spearpoint collar shirt and round sunglasses to blends into the shadows and heighten his foreboding presence. John will wear a tight-fitting turtleneck with a trench coat and checked trousers as to suit his more fashion-forward and image-focused mindset. Frank needs a looser fitting, more traditional suit to mirror his old-school gangster values and position him as a character with authority.
We will be working closely with Production Design to ensure the characters’ costumes feel lived in and fit into the gritty gangster world, with one of the main challenges being to maintain consistency in John and Sunny’s clothing throughout the film’s fight scene. The budget will be used to construct duplicates that breaks the different intensities of fake blood and dirt into the stages for the fight, with a range of clean to muddied-up costumes that vary in levels of blood splatter so that continuity is maintained throughout our shots.
The makeup for Devil’s Breath will involve techniques that range from natural, no-makeup looks for screen to a large-scale fight scene that involves prosthetics and battle-scars. A significant portion of the budget will be dedicated to designing and producing the prosthetics, ensuring the fight sequence feels realistic and remains visually impactful and climactic.
One of the biggest challenges in film and tv is always creating realistic injuries that hold up under high-quality cameras; however, this is also the most fulfilling role within make-up as the challenge of achieving believable effects is incredibly rewarding. This budget allows high-quality, reliable materials to ensure the most authentic looking effects can be achieved, and in working closely with the costume department we aim to create cohesive and well-aligned character designs.
Our sound designers for Devil’s Breath, his goal is to craft a soundscape that mirrors the film’s descent from grounded 1980s realism into psychological distortion.
The sound will evoke the texture of the era through analog warmth, pub jukebox music, and industrial ambience, rooting the audience in time and place. In the pub sequence, layers of laughter, clinking glasses, and distant live music will create a moody, lived-in atmosphere. As John begins to feel the effects of the Devil’s Breath drug, the sound will subtly warp, introducing low-frequency pulses and phasing that blur reality.
For the hallucinations, sound will become the audience’s guide through John’s altered perception. Distorted carnival melodies, mechanical groans, and warped echoes will emulate the unsettling feel of an abandoned theme park ,a sonic "hellscape.” Dynamic panning and sudden silences will heighten disorientation and tension.
Throughout, the sound design will evolve with the characters’ emotional states, using atmosphere and rhythm to deepen immersion and support the storytelling
The editing for Devil’s Breath requires a rising pace that begins a slow intensity and steadily increases into something more chaotic. The performances should be what dictate the rhythm of the film’s beginning, with particular influence from the conversation between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in Heat, where they each command the screen through their subtle character actions. The scene has a stillness that completely captivates you as a viewer as you anticipate their next moves; we hope to achieve a similar feeling when the two brothers first interact in the film, as the scene is more of an interrogation than a family reunion.
This slower approach to the film’s opening will rise in speed once John and Frank start their chase after Sunny, to then crescendo in a barbaric fight sequence with fast cuts to signal the chaotic situation these characters have found themselves in. The film’s pace should progressively build on reveals such as John’s sexuality as well as finding Sunny, to heighten the turning points in the film and add a sense of urgency to retrieving their stolen fortune.
Budget Overview
Devil's Breath is a University Graduation film that reflects the ambition, creativity and professionalism of a team of dedicated filmmakers. This Production goes beyond the expectations of a student project and aims to achieve the standards of professional cinematic work.
Our budget has been structured with great care to ensure that every contribution will be used effectively o ensure each department can meet their creative and logistical requirements.
Your support directly enables us to transform Devil's Breath from an ambitious concept into something more than just a student film.
Writer/Director - Blake Butler
Meet our writer and director, Blake Butler. After spending a lot of his childhood reading and drawing comic books, he developed an interest in visual storytelling from an early age and having also studied LAMDA and Drama, the dream of working in the arts quickly became appealing to him. Blake expanded his taste for films at college where he discovered more about the cinematic possibilities in artistic expression and storytelling. Having made a couple of short films in his time there, he is excited to work with a larger crew that are all united behind his vision to bring the themes and characters of Devil’s Breath to life.
Blake wrote Devil’s Breath after researching the drug by the same name and discovered some case studies and tragedies that resulted from its use in urban areas. One article particularly intrigued him, as it suggested homosexuals were being targeted by an individual with access to Devil’s Breath, where they would drug and rob their victims as a hate crime against gay men. By placing this situation within a gangster world, Blake has constructed a story that grapples with the theme of masculinity in an exciting but emotionally vulnerable journey between two brothers.
Producer - Bay Whittingham
Bay Whittingham is our Producer for Devil’s Breath. His love for Film Producing started before joining university, working as runner on short films and music videos. Working for the Production Company – Shotgunn Productions, where being surrounded by experienced cast and crew members inspired him to expand his knowledge in film. Following project after project working as a Producer, Bournemouth Arts Film School has helped hone and develop his Producing skills eventually leading to Produce Devil’s Breath.
Using all the experience he’s gained from projects, small or large, he’s eager and ready to bring his skills to life to Produce Devil’s Breath.
Co-Producer - Olivia Bailey
Olivia Bailey is the co-producer of Devil’s Breath, working alongside Bay Whittingham. Since beginning her studies at AUB she has discovered a strong passion for producing and the collaborative creativity that comes with it.
Developing Devil’s Breath has been an incredibly rewarding process from seeing the initial speech and first draft of the script to guiding the project through production planning and she can’t wait to help bring the film to life and for audiences to experience what the team have created
1st Assistant Director - Madeline Duggan
Madeline Duggan is the 1st Assistant Director. She started her journey for film when she was a trainee production runner for Black Hanger Studios, working alongside the talented crew it sparked up her love for assisting the Director and made her want to develop her education in film production. Bournemouth Arts Film School allowed Madeline to expand her contacts and taught her many valuable lessons on producing.
From first hearing the Devil’s Breath pitch, Madeline knew that she wanted to work on this project, she was instantly drawn to the themes of family relationships and vulnerability in crime films. She was determined to bring the script to life, alongside her incredible team who have all been working incredibly hard to kick start this film.
Director of Photography - William Ashton
William is our DOP, who has a desperation to make everything he works on look and feel like you’ve been transported into the film. He’s in his final year at AUB and has shown skill and dedication through his previous films. Through this on going dedication he will work to make devils breath feel like a visual experience and something worth your time.
Camera Operator - Elliot Wilkinson
Elliot Wilkinson is the camera operator on ‘Devil’s Breath’. He discovered his love for filmmaking at a young age. After studying photography in college, he fell in love with using imagery to tell stories. During university he expanded his knowledge outside of the camera department which mixed with his on-set experience he has furthered his skills as a filmmaker.
Devil’s Breath instantly captured his attention through its compelling exploration of identity and masculinity juxtaposed by its visceral story. He felt that its imagery jumped out at him throughout reading the script, which drew him to work on it.
Gaffer - Shafal Rundell
Shafal is our Gaffer, who has been passionate in cinematography and the lighting aspect specifically ever since starting at university. Since then he has specialised in lighting honing his ability to visually bring a set to life in many projects. Using this experience Shafal will work closely with the production design team and the cinematographers to really bring the beauty of Devils Breath to light.
Production Designer - Rico Newman-Morgan
Rico Newman-Morgan is one of the Production Designers for Devil’s breath. He has always been interested in film but only really found a passion for production design whilst at University. He has since worked on many films as a production designer with a particular passion for period pieces and was drawn to Devil‘s breath due to it being set in the early 80s.
Rico also felt interested in Devil’s breath due to how it explores the idea of masculinity and how it follows a heartfelt and action packed story.
Art Director - Tyler Battle
Tyler Battles role on this film is Art Director. This film is a great chance at working on different large scale locations with lots of practical set dressing. Working closely with the production designer they will be creating a world in which our characters have to navigate through difficult circumstances. She feels the gangster genre has so much space to explore and will be great with a fresh perspective while working with a great crew, which will bring the whole project together.
Sound Designer - Libonge Sonjani
Libonge is the sound designer, his journey into the world of sound began with musical productions, either recording music or even performing in musical plays. Sound is his calling. Drawing on these past experiences including projects done done during his time at Bournemouth Film school, weather personal or University based, he plans to use that experience to create a soundscape that makes the world of Devil’s Breath feel both dangerous and intimate so that every breath, every echo carries the weight of what’s hidden.
Editor - Solomon Jelley
Devil's breath is a fast paced action film and coming out story, a unique combo that piqued Solomon's interest. The gritty crime underworld dominated by inflated egos and toxic masculinity, contrasted with the difficulty of confessing your sexuality makes for a teeth clenching story. As the main editor Solomon wants to represent these stakes as best he can with editing that snaps at the heels of the characters, pushing along the story to a memorable crescendo. To do this he'll be taking heavy inspiration from other intense crime films such as Heat and The Batman, whilst working closely with the director and DOP.
Costume Designer - Kerry Adams
Kerry Adams is our costume designer for Devil’s Breath and has worked on a range of theatre productions, such as Costume Designer for AUB’s production A Christmas Carol and has collaborated on many photoshoots.
She enjoys working with more historical and period clothing and was attracted by the opportunity to work with menswear and create costumes set in the 1970’s/80s for three very distinct characters. Plus, this project will provide new opportunities and experiences working with a fight scene and fake blood.
Make-up Artist - Ella Merrison
Ella Merrison is the makeup artist for Devil's Breath. Her passion for makeup began at a young age and has since evolved into a deep interest in prosthetics within the film and television industry. Recently, she worked on a private film project that further solidified her love for this industry. In addition to this, Ella has collaborated with several editorial companies, gaining valuable experience across different creative settings. Currently studying at AUB University, she continues to refine her work and develop new skills. She is excited to use all her experience she has gained through these projects to create high quality realistic looks for this film.
This project successfully funded on 12th December 2025