T W O T W E N T Y T W O
My Condolences to Your Future Lovers
Director
Production
Cast
Jessica Dowse
The Daily Lunge
Megan Walker, Alexandra Hannant
About the Project
Determined to fight for her summer love, idealist Vicky argues passionately for young love and picture-perfect movements, convinced Stacey is just scared--- or, even worse, in the closet.
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Released through Short of the Week and Beyond The Short
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Festivals
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Underwire Festival 2022 - nominated 'Best Original Music'
Short of the Week 2022
Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2021
Sappho Film Festival - Winner 'Best Sound Design'
Liverpool Film Festival 2021
Brighton Rocks Film Festival 2021
Womxnchester International 2021
Lift-Off Global Network Manchester 2021
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Ah… Summer love! We know it must inevitably end, but Vicky isn’t ready to let go yet. When Stacey arrives to drive her soon-to-be ex to the train station, Vicky uses that last moment together to fight for their love. With My Condolences To Your Future Lovers, writer/director Jessica Dowse paints a picture of young love and how idealistic, genuine, and dramatic it can be in that liminal time before life catches up and bursts the happy bubbles we spend time and effort creating.
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While the screenplay is the central component of the film’s appeal, aspects of the film’s craft are thoughtfully done in order to heighten the experience of the conversation. Notably, the film is shot in a single-take. While this technique has been often used in recent years to allow the camera to move through complicated scenes in a show of directing virtuosity, here Dowse and her DP, Oscar Partridge, utilize it in an almost opposite fashion, trapping us into the present moment and not allowing even a single cut to provide relief from the awkwardness or intensity of Vicky and Stacey’s drama. It also forces a framing that includes both subjects, and while focus-pulling is used to direct audience attention, the ability to perceive both performances at the same time is essential to the audience’s appreciation of the different ways the two women are reacting to their imminent separation.
Soundtrack
Two Twenty Two took on less of a Original Music Composer role for this short film. Instead the film's music was split into two areas, first was providing source material that was being played from the car stereo and the second was the song finale, performed by Jade Ellins who is a good friend of Daisy and Tom.
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As Vicky scans her way through the radio stations she finds each new snippet of music more inappropriate than the previous track. For Tom, is was quite a fun task being able to search through their back-catalogue and insert bits of Two Twenty Two music that you would just not choose if you were about to have the conversation Stacy and Vicky were having. This includes the ear-piercing opera, the screaming industrial metal rock, the cheesy-pop, the cheesy jazz-funk and even the "french jazz" Vicky was after this whole time. ​
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(Please send my) 'My Condolences to Your Future Lovers' was written by Tom and Daisy but Jess Dowse did actually write the lyrics to act as a Bard's song which poetically describes the narrative of the short film. Tom sung the top line as a guide for Jade to then replace with her vocals. It's accompanied by steel string guitar, a string quartet, organ and a drumkit played with brushes.