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whispers, a short film written and directed by Conor Brodie

Short film · Horror

whispers

Written & directed by Conor Brodie

Returning home, a sick, paranoid, and stressed girl is desperate to sleep in her bed, but continues to be disturbed by her mysterious condition.

Project Short film
Core roles Writer · Director · Producer
Watch the film Behind the project

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Watch the film

Watch the full short film here, or open it directly on YouTube.

YouTube

01 · Story

About the film

Some sicknesses aren't always as they seem.

whispers was a short film project I worked on for my “Directing the Cinematic Story” class with the Indiana University Media School . This directorial project focused on sound design and using sound to tell a story.

For this suspense and horror film, I wanted to use silence to shape the story and build suspense. There is minimal dialogue, with the only dialogue being the protagonist’s voice in her head. The sounds of the floor creaking, a door locking, light switches turning off, and climate-control buttons clicking slowly create a sense of unease as viewers begin to question what is wrong with her.

As the story develops, it is revealed that the protagonist’s ailment is not a sickness, but possession. She has made a deal with a spirit, and it has come to collect.

02 · Contribution

My roles

Director of cast, crew, video, sound, and script.

  1. Writer
  2. Director
  3. Producer
  4. Casting Director
  5. Set Designer
  6. Art Director
  7. Location Manager

03 · Development

As directors and filmmakers, sound is one of the most important components of a project

The horror genre is especially reliant on good, suspenseful sound.

The idea for this film came to me once while I was taking a nap and the sound of my box fan shifted into strange whispers as I began to dream. I thought it would be an interesting concept to play with white noise subtly shifting into other sounds.

As I developed the project, I thought about what other sounds would feed into a suspenseful horror film. While the protagonist struggles with an ailment the audience does not yet understand, simple and slow household sounds add to the tension and the question of what is happening. I focused on the kinds of sounds an old house could naturally provide and built the concept around them. That is how the idea and execution of whispers came about.

Original script