“Close Shave” By Mahmut Akay
Synopsis
Logan visits a swanky barbershop to start afresh in human society with a new trim, but finds himself in trouble when his mutant identity is exposed.
Directors statement
The 90s X-Men Animated series was my favourite show as a child and in retrospect, it made me realize that I've always been drawn to two things in film; anti-heroes and identity. For me, anti-heroes capture the nuances of our moral compasses in a way that clear-cut heroes don't. They feel more realistic, as most people are seldom exclusively 'good' or 'bad'. Wolverine not only captured this aspect, but he is a character from a minority group of 'mutants' who are ostracized from human society. As a London-born with a Turkish/Cypriot background, I've always struggled with my identity and telling this X-Men story was a conduit for exploring this theme through an allegorical framework.
Credits
Written and Directed by Mahmut Akay
Producer - Shaun Rhodes
Director Of Photography - Evangelos Polychronopoulos
Editor - Jonny Lee Mills
Art Director - Carolina De Lemos
Wardrobe - Jessica Holme & Amal Burhan
Hair And Make-Up - Kate O'shea & Francesca Ingram
Music - Jonas H Larsen
Sound Design & Mix - Jane Lo
Colorist - Matt Fezz
Sound - Luke Hollingworth
Steadicam Operator - Benjamin Eeley
Focus Puller - Jake Gerrard
Gaffer - Edward St. Paul
Spark - Muhanned A. Taha
Camera Assistant - Louise Tse
Casting Director - Kristina Erdeley
Location Manager - Firat Ayas
3rd AD - Ajay Morarji
Production Assistants - Amrit Kaur & Nam Chau
Assistant To Director - Ozge Akay
Location Manager - Firat Ayas
Fight Choreographer - Joel Marshall
Motion Graphics - Saie S Surendra
Stills Photographer - Khuram Mirza
Graphic Designer - Tori Bidwell
VFX:
Mark Woodcock, Jordi Arques, Francesca Cimino, Yadu Krishnan, Elango Ganeshan, Gabriel Hassan, Nived Patil, Martin Teillet, Ahmed Nabil, Milton Maguna, Annurup Kumaar R, Alessandro Zanforlin, Anthony Jones, Maria Recondo, Humberto Paytuvi
Cast:
Cameron Jack, Michael Chase, Tom Cray, Jack Forsyth-Noble, Jacob Meadows, Neizan F. Birchwood, Julia Sawalha
Location - R.W.Wolf
“Close Shave” was submitted to us by Mahmut Akay. Have a film of your own you’d like us to check out? Click here!