Those Who Whistle at Night – a 15 minute short film
We are gathering support and fundraising for our 15 minute short film ‘Those Who Whistle at Night’- A Niterap Production.
Our short film is a horror short based on the Native American folklore of the Wendigo creature. Wendigo’s are cannibalistic creatures who’s only drive is for human flesh. They can take many forms from emaciated, skin pulled tight ghouls, to 15ft tall, hairy antlered skull creatures or an entity that possesses humans and takes their body as its own. The latter is the type of Wendigo we want to focus on and explore, a Cree mythology interpretation of the creature. Our main character gets possessed by the creature and we see, as events unfold, the uncanny nature of a decadent human. Also incorporating the Native American folklore that travelled across the world, interpreted by many cultures, we are using the forbidden act of whistling at night, in legend said to be the summoning of evil spirits, entities and creatures. Old English, Irish and Scottish miners also inherited this folklore and then came the old saying “A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for God nor men”. This is how we’re linking the, too often forgotten about, origin of the tale from Native American mythology to the setting we are using, the British Countryside. Our story beats are as follows:
Savannah and her friends arrive at their British countryside getaway for a much needed girls weekend away. The young adults struggle to find time to see each other all together, so they plan this weekend holiday to be special. The girls are excited to party and plan on drinking and partying upon arrival. Savannah is a little troubled by her recent breakup and busy work-loaded life and decides to take a walk around the cabin’s surroundings to take a breather, and isolate herself from the group. Appreciating the solitude and scenery, Savannah strolls the pastured woodland backdrop, that encompasses their cabin. She dares to whistle at night. The spirit of the Wendigo is summoned, it locks onto it’s prey. It stalks her, slithering about in the trees and surroundings. The Wendigo calls, an illusive shriek, bone-chilling but hypnotic. Savannah is struck to her core, unable to detach from the calls lure. It has taken her now. Meanwhile, the girls are waiting for her return, starting to worry for her whereabouts. Just before true panic starts, the girls are met with Savannah’s sudden return. She is in one piece, seemingly untouched. But its not right, its feels wrong. Savannah no longer moves or interacts the way she used to, despite looking just the way she was. The girls attempt to continue their party as normal but cannot shake the fact that something is amiss. The creature slowly reveals its true nature, Savannah now a uncanny human fighting the entity inside her.
Written by Jai Blanks, Pete Key and Ella Stephens.
Concept by Lucy Kempsey and Jai Blanks
Co-Directed by Jai Blanks and Pete Key
1st AD: Jai Blanks
Designer: Ella Stephens
Editor: Matthew Johnson
Our films Synopsis:
“A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for God nor men”.
Savannah and her friends arrive at their British countryside getaway for a much needed girls weekend away, excited to party. Savannah strolls the pastured woodland backdrop that encompasses their cabin. She dares to whistle at night. The girls cannot shake the fact that something is amiss, it feels wrong. Savannah has become an uncanny human, fighting the entity inside her.
Thorough research and planning is being put into this project and we believe we have a strong story to tell. Heavily inspired by Longlegs (2024), Until Dawn (2015), Talk To Me (2022), and Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022). We want to shoot it using the same techniques, shot composition and lighting used in Longlegs (Osgood Perkins).
We aim to use a Red Prime and with Zeiss lenses, along with a plethora of industry standard equipment.
The story was inspired by the amazing video game Until Dawn (Supermassive Games) for its clever and interesting use of the Wendigo folklore. We were also inspired by Talk To Me (Michael & Danny Philippou), not only for its incredibly unique concept, but for its grounded and realistic approach to the genre with its setting and characters. The characters are realistic, accurate, suburban Australian teens and the horror in that film feels much more anxiety inducing and impactful because of the relatability of the setting and characters. We want to make our characters realistic and relatable by ensuring that they follow British values, speak with our slang and accurately represent young British women of our current time. This is where dialogue usage is inspired by Bodies Bodies Bodies (Halina Reijn), however for our film, it will be accurate British slang and ways of speaking.
The video attached is a concept short we made titled “Decadent”.
Decadent is a promotional, concept short for our next film we’re fundraising and in the process of pre-production for.
We shot “Decadent” using and Arri Alexa Mini (Zoom) and Zeiss lenses. We wanted to practise a few techniques we aim to showcase in our 15 minute short film “Those Who Whistle at Night”. Although Decadent doesn’t follow much narrative, our full short will apply some of these techniques used, into a fleshed out and thought about story.
We aim to enter the film into multiple festivals before it will be uploaded to our YouTube channel and Letterboxd.
All donations will go towards the film and its entire production to ensure that we can cover all budget costs and ensure the quality content we’re aiming for. This includes:
Actors pay, transport, props, outfits, makeup, catering, locations and equipment.
All support is greatly appreciated and any donations ensures a credit on the film with a special thanks.
Feel free to contact us for more information at [email protected]
Thank you for choosing us!
Niterap Productions :)