“Date Night Look” By Wesley Wingo

A young woman's date with a john takes a surreal turn as her deeply strange motives become more clear.

The short film IN MEDIAS RUSH is an experimental cinematic journey into the depths of a manic mind. A poetic retro-sci-fi narrative unfolded in a string of unsettling tableaus that encapsulates the male protagonist’s ambiguous feelings about his birthday. While balancing between realities in his silent struggle with severe mental illness, we plunge into the film at a neatly orchestrated birthday party. The protagonist is accompanied by his girlfriend, and they are drinking cocoa on the couch in their mutual home. The setting breathes pure perfection, but through the voice over we sense that another reality is soon to be revealed. With one foot on the accelerator, he is heading towards the edge. The thematic focal point of IN MEDIAS RUSH is mental health problems among young adults, and the social/personal consequences related to the existing taboo on the subject. The film wishes to formulate an honest cinematic space in which words, sound, and image artistically interprets and articulates some of the perspectives related to especially bipolar, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. IN MEDIAS RUSH was nominated in the category 'Best Danish Short Film' at Copenhagen Short Film Festival in 2020. Original title: IN MEDIAS RÆS Directed by: Esben Persson -------------------- DK: IN MEDIAS RÆS IN MEDIAS RÆS er en filmisk rejse ind i dybderne af et manisk sind. En ung mand fejrer sin fødselsdag, mens hans tanker tordner afsted. Med en uvillig fod på speederen har han kurs mod kanten. FR: IN MEDIA RES IN MEDIA RES est un voyage dans les profondeurs d’un esprit maniaque. Un jeune homme fête son anniversaire tandis que ses pensées se multiplient. Malgré lui, il se dirige vers un point de non-retour. -------------------- Cast: Peter Alexander Bach & Amanda Overby Drew Director // Script writer // Set designer // Costume designer // Editor // Speaker: Esben Persson Photographer // Editor: Lasse Mølsted Producer: Latifa Lykke Ben Mabrouk Assistant producer: Cecilie Creutsberg Music composer: Martin Bejder Sound designer: Mads Hye Chief Lighting Technician: Rasmus Bruun Liboriussen VFX: Jonas Fonnesbæk Lodahl Colorist: Kristopher Paterson Graphic designer: Jakob Toft Kristensen -------------------- Shot on RED Monstro 8K with Lomo Squarefront Anamorphics.

With Date Night, we wanted to sort of tangentially explore thin slices of two of the main characters from the feature length project, so it ends up going in a sort of different direction from the feature script that's more about the character arcs from the feature than the horror/sci-fi concept itself. In the short state it ends up being less about horrific surgeries and tech abilities... so we try setting up one very specific, and I think kind of well-worn "misery-porn-esque" short film seemingly about a junkie, then try to turn it on its head with the turn and reveals at the end which I hope will interest an audience in the world surrounding these sort of self made trans-humanists. We obviously are taking a much darker approach to the subculture than is what's out there in real life, or so I'd hope. The full story does get even darker, and much weirder, from here... beware.

Wesley Wingo - Director

Credits

Written & Directed by Wesley Wingo

Produced by David Broad and José Andrés Cardona

Starring:
Faith Porter
Timothy Goodwin
Cat Kaylin
Francesca Anderson

Executive Producers: Bernard Hunt and Wesley Wingo
DP & Editor: José Andrés Cardona
Production Sound by David Broad
Gaffer: Jonathan Stevens
Makeup Artist: Shannon Rae Mulligan and Hinano Leung
ADR Recordist: Ash Knowlton
Supervising Sound Designer: Theodore Robinson
Dialogue Editor: Tarcisio Longobardi
Original Score by Tarcisio Longobardi
Re-Recording Mixer: Theodore Robinson
Color Grading: Post Pro Gumbo
Colorist: Alan Louis Gordon
Color Producer: Dimitris Athos
Visual Effects: Carl Brent Ferguson

Special Thanks:
Lun Wah Tiki Bar and Restaurant
Jacob Lamendola
Eric Otten
Kevin Delano
Will Sabel Courtney
Hunt Beaty
Megan Finnegan Wingo
Francesca Anderson
Spilt Milk Studios
Cory Choy and Silver Sound
Alex Resnikoff and Handheld Films

Hey filmmakers! Have a project of your own you’d like us to check out?