With the relaunch of Above The Line and it’s film masterclass content, we all realised it was time to christen the site with new and exciting content. So my intern, Atticus, asked Caitlin and I a few questions about our recent wrap of of Taste, a short film written and directed by Lucy Rose. I thought I’d share a snippet on here with you all.

How does it feel to finally have TASTE underwraps?

It's been great to see TASTE come together in the edit. We didn't know if we would be able to raise the money we needed to make the film and we were blown away by the support we got from people, and the amount raised in our Crowdfunding campaign. We knew that we would not be able to film more than three days, so every member of the crew absolutely worked their socks off to bring the script to life and I think you can see everyone's hard work in the final film.

Are you satisfied with how filming went?

We were filming in a remote location on the Scottish Border called Paxton House. It's an incredible place and it lent itself very well to the mood and style of film we were making. Filmmaking is always a challenge, but when you're working with a low budget, you have fewer filming days and every second has to count. I'm so grateful to the cast and crew who bought into the philosophy of the production and worked really hard to make sure we used our time there really well and got the footage we needed.

What was your favourite part of filming/are there any moments that stand out to you?

My favourite part was my cameo as the throat slit ghost. I think Caitlin's would be walking into shot :P

It would be remiss not to mention Poppy and Maureen our art department team, who had a really tough job dressing the sets and bringing the horror and gore to life. Our SFX make up artist Pat did an incredible job too - but I won't mention my favourite gory moment of the film because I'd give away the ending.

What was it like being on set after so long in lockdown?

We worked with a lot of the same crew we worked with on She Lives Alone, our previous horror short film with Lucy. It's strange because when we wrapped on She Lives Alone, a few weeks later we went into lockdown because of the Covid 19 pandemic. We never had a cast and crew screening and we didn't really see each other in person. So filming TASTE was a little bit of a reunion for everyone. It was a really enjoyable atmosphere on set, as everyone already knew each other and things went really smoothly. We were under a lot of pressure to make the days, so special thanks goes to our incredible 1st AD Josie for keeping everything moving so swiftly.

What’s the next step for TASTE?

We're just finishing the edit after sending it out to people for feedback. We're now hoping to submit it to a few places for finishing funds, as we'd like to work with a sound designer, composer, sound mixer and colourist to finish off the film.

To see both full interviews, keep an eye on the Above The Line social media for updates!

This blog was written Maria Caruana Galizia and edited by Atticus Carter.