It was a dark and stormy night. The lights shined bright inside the house as senior Alec Marinov flipped through the pages of a script, figuring out the schematics of a murder scene. 

Marinov started working in October on writing and directing a short film called “A Yearning” for his CAPS fall semester final.

“I’ve always liked filmmaking and the process of making a movie,” he said. “So I decided to put that to use and actually do something with it.”

His movie, a horror-thriller, centers around a man who reaches a breaking point due to childhood trauma and commits several murders. He picked senior Cannon Simpson to play this leading character. 

“I knew for the main roles I needed people who were in the theater department because I needed people with range and people who could act,” Marinov said. “I needed a male character who I know has great dynamic range and great expression of emotion. Cannon fit that role perfectly.”

Simpson, playing the role of Sam, was asked to be a part of the film. 

“He’s kind of a creepy guy — he kills people,” Simpson said. “It’s really fun to play him because I think playing creepy characters is more challenging — I like a little challenge sometimes.”

For both the director and the leading actor, this experience provides brand-new obstacles.

“Editing is hard, but I would say overall the most difficult thing would be acting directions because that’s not something I’m used to,” Marinov said. “The idea I have in my head [is sometimes] hard to voice to the actors. It’s hard to turn what I have in my head into the actual film because I have a very specific picture in mind when I shoot my scenes.”

Consequently, Simpson is still getting used to the aspect of filming.

“It’s weird doing scenes with the camera in your face and people watching you,” he said. “It’s kind of difficult. It [was] awkward at first but once [we] started doing more of it, it just kind of happened.”

Simpson didn’t focus too much on preparation before filming but started to crack down on it when the process began.

“I was asked [to do it] maybe late October,” Simpson said. “I had some stuff going on, but once the ball started rolling and we started filming, I started actually looking at it.”

Another student in the movie is senior Audrey Karn, who plays a therapist for Simpson’s character.

“I basically guide the main character around his hostile emotions he has toward others,” she said. “I enjoy it because she is a very stationary character. I find myself in situations personally giving advice to others, so to have that in common with my character is enjoyable.”

Karn said her favorite part of partaking in the movie is being able to do something fun and different with her peers. 

“I love doing a fun project with a lot of close friends in the comfort of my home, and having the ability to have a final result to look back on and show others,” Karn said.

Although enthusiastic during filming, Karn said there is difficulty sometimes while working with friends. 

“The hardest part is definitely staying focused,” she said. “Everyone in the cast and crew is great friends, so the banter can make set time last hours.”

Additionally, Karn has a large part in the filming process by allowing it to take place at her house, which made her even more excited to be involved. 

“Around early October I had shot a short film with [senior] Henry Duckworth and Alec Marinov,” she said. “After hearing about his project, Henry and I were immediately wanting to be on it because of how much fun we had.”

Duckworth has a different job on set. In addition to playing a minor character role, he helps with the sound and setup of scenes. 

“I play Troy, a friend of the main character, Sam,” he said. “I also run around a lot for the movie.”

Duckworth also enjoys making a movie with his classmates.

“I find it so fun to hang out with my friends and overall just working toward something and seeing events of the film unfold is definitely my favorite part,” Duckworth said.

Marinov hopes to continue working on his film in order to make it a full-length movie by the end of the school year.

“With the script I have written, it’s roughly 30-40 minutes, but the end goal is around an hour and a half to two hours,” he said. “The main goal is releasing it on AMC and having a professional-looking movie.”

While the project has had its ups and downs, Marinov enjoys multiple aspects of the filming process.

“[My favorite part is] getting to play around with all the equipment with all of my friends,” he said. “Filming the movie and coming up with the plot has been a lot of fun. [I’ve loved] watching something I made being played out and coming to life.”