The Voice | A Short Film by Stuart Hardy

What if you heard a voice in your head telling you to hurt everyone around you? Would you listen?
Support my next short film project here - www.indiegogo....
Written and Directed by Stuart Hardy
Starring Joseph Emms, Ciara Murphy, Peter Stern & Jane Goddard
Extras were Robert Shearman and Richard B Brookes
DOP - Cristina Lozano
Sound - Andrew Payne
Assistant Director - Dasom Kim
Assistant Camera - Mabel Madiebo
Gaffer - Pedro Oliveira

[@Stubagful]

So, here we are: my first attempt at making a live action short. Huge thanks to everyone involved. It was unlike anything I'd ever made before and I learned so much for next time. There's still a few days left if you fancy supporting my next one on Indiegogo and claiming some perks www.indiegogo.com/projects/got-your-nose-a-stubagful-short-film#/

[@404TVfr]

I wish I had the money to donate to your next short film. Only gripe I got is the audio gets a bit crusty, but that's probably my phone being a DiC. P.S I'd like to suggest a webseries that greatly exerts this energy. It's called 'The Show', by a guy called Quod Matter.

[@thatDamnAusWhoFan]

This was incredible. I know not knowing and leaving it ambiguous is kind of the point but I have to know. Did he kill his mum?

[@smugandfriendlyface8025]

Watching this as someone with OCD who has struggled with harm-related intrusive thoughts, this was brutal, and i mean that as the highest of compliments. You don't sugarcoat the horror of this experience, while also clearly showing that having the thought and wanting to act on it are absolutely not the same thing. Such a well-written gem of a story.

[@xxcoolxx2313]

I love how you take small things in ordinary life and just twist it into big ideas of chaos and despair. It just goes to show how much talent you have. Well done glorious leader stu.

[@pious83]

“You’ve just got the man’s voice” the Mum’s matter of fact answer is perhaps the best part. Well done Stu!

[@Stubagful]

My DOP burst out laughing when we got to that shot. It was a fun day

[@pious83]

@@Stubagful It's definitely not where I expected the scene to go.

[@OverlyPositiveFanboy]

Yeah, that's my favourite moment too.

[@dashafurrow7456]

This is great! Your last video you talked about how horrifying normal things can be from a kid’s perspective and this really reminded me of getting my first period as a child and my mom explaining that it’s normal and I’ll have to deal with it for the rest of my life.

[@crpalstuck2966]

A really great first short film. I've enjoyed a lot of your short stories and I cant wait to see what you come up with in the future, Stu.

[@DakNJaxter]

This reminds me of secondary school when I was sat across from people. I'd often think about kicking people in the shins mid-conversation for no reason at all.

[@CharliHarveyMusic]

i'm only five minutes in and as someone with intrusive thoughts this is fucking fantastic. like i'd be scared to tell people half of what my brain tells me to do because so many people don't realise i won't actually do most of it but like yeah, all of this is the kind of thing that comes up.

[@crichtonmusic]

Aha, here it is! Lovely working with you, Stu :)

[@marshmallowdoom7720]

Fantastic film. As someone who is currently studying scriptwriting and film it is always a joy to see films like this. Especially ones that have won film festivals. I wish you luck on “Got Your Nose” and you have my backing.

[@shanemitchell7822]

The voice tells me to give Stu money

[@soulfoodie1]

Congratulations Stuart - may this be the first of many. Know you put a lot of hard work into this

[@Stubagful]

Thanks! Yeah it was way more complicated than anything I've done before. Filmmaking is a humbling but also thrilling experience

[@DCSMedia]

This had honestly to me, such an ethereal quality, I can’t describe it. It’s so unique and creative, and absolutely do more, because you’ve got what it takes

[@jimtheperson.4999]

“Something the matter dear” Gee I wonder what it could be!

[@peterthompson1989]

Late to the party but finally watched this and really enjoyed. Looking forward to your next ones. I think people forget films scan be scary without having to be over the top gore wise

[@LukeAllenFilm]

Brilliant film - excited to have the privilege of working with you on Got Your Nose!

[@meatrace]

I mean it makes a strong argument.

[@bigspongeyfan1]

Well done!! Enjoyed seeing Rob Shearman and Jane Goddard too.

[@mikeyandwho]

Superb! 👏👏👏

[@daniel.t.h.]

How terribly horrific! I really enjoyed that, don't know if I even should say "enjoy" in this case. Your prose really works in live action! Keep up the good work

[@JAProductions494]

Ok, that was fantastic Based off of the thumbnail, I’m guessing this earned some awards. If so, it’s well deserved

[@camelopardalis84]

Had forgotten about this film. I remember you talking about it on Twitter or here on KZbin. Wanted to see it back then, so this was a very nice surprise.

[@pedroxqui]

This was great, you even got a cameo from the guy that reads the highway code guidelines on KZbin, so cool

[@richardadesmond]

Definitely felt the effects of this at times. I used to have OCD and intrusive thoughts. I believe it was the repressed childhood trauma of my fathers death trying to get out. I've gone through the trauma through counselling and no longer have them. I say that in the hopes it might give perspective to someone like me with the same experiences. This is an effective way to deliver a horrifying experience. Actually, I wish you went further, escalated it to bigger and bigger degrees, but I understand this is a short. Well done.

[@Stubagful]

I'm actually writing a feature script based off it :)

[@richardadesmond]

@@Stubagful great. All the best with that.

[@richardadesmond]

​@@Stubagful I meant to ask, how is the writing on it going? I've had industry level mentoring on screenwriting the last 3 years. I could lend my thoughts on it if you'd like some objective feedback.

[@camelopardalis84]

Robert Shearman? Okay. :)

[@szuzin]

This was fantastic, it reminded me very much of Jam in the same way that the situation is funny from a conceptual angle, but it’s played completely straight. Surprisingly immersive for a short film, idk how this is your first project because it was expertly done

[@Stubagful]

Cheers mate! :) I was especially happy with the final scene. Shooting it was one of the most fun days of my life! I know that technically speaking i have a long way to go of course. I'm in post production on my second short and I've gone way overboard on the visual composition this time round. It's another funny idea played with a straight face

[@denamax1989]

I supported them informatively.

[@Anna-ip8ub]

Congratulations! That was really interesting. I hope to see more in the future

[@ogpandamonium]

Yay it's out!!!

[@t.m.carter4171]

Very interesting work, Stuart. I enjoyed this film. I've been following you for years and I am glad to see you do stuff like this because it feels like exactly the type of stuff you should do. I would love to see even more unhinged ideas from you because I personally find the revolting and disgusting things (like David Firth) to be really effective in horror and I know from other random stuff I have seen from you, that you could really make it happen. Don't fear repulsion, I think it could really work for you and works to your strengths. Can't wait to see your next endeavors. :)

[@Pontymylonismypassionofsorts69]

I really enjoyed this. I hope to see improvements in your next film "Got Your Nose", but I admire you got the chance to make your own film. It must be hard to make a film, but you pulled it off really well here. Also, I wouldn't mind if you made a short film in the future where you used your MS Paint presentation as a sort premise for it, maybe in a Roger Rabbit style kind of way. Overall, I really liked The Voice. 👍

[@Kranitoko]

Very good work Stu! Very well made!

[@ev2175]

This is extremely well made! Great and funny story 😂

[@Alisdair-Macpherson]

This was great

[@Stubagful]

Cheers mate :) glad you liked it

[@CharliHarveyMusic]

this was absolutely disgusting i love it

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

I've heard a few different comedy sketches on Radio 4 with this premise, it's kind of odd seeing it being done with such a horrific and, well, real bent. This was a great watch! And "Extras were Robert Shearman"? What?! Okay. "Your Granny had the Man!" is a fantastic sentence!

[@Stubagful]

The original short story I wrote and based this on was even more horrible (Colin has a child in it) - this was as palatable as I could make it! (He's married to Jane Goddard, Colin's Mum)

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

@@Stubagful As much as I'd love a completely twisted one, I think this version was a good balance. Wouldn't mind if it appeared as a sort of DVD Extra though!

[@shortangel333]

This was sooo good.

[@afriendlykoopatroopa5001]

I quite liked this. Good job!

[@atb6613]

You're a sick individual Stuart. When's the next one? 🙂

[@carealoo744]

I've got an exam tomorrow but I have to watch this!

[@owend5538]

Great job

[@StefanTravis]

I'm a great fan of supernatural horror, but I just couldn't get up the courage to finish this. It's too... plausible?

[@camelopardalis84]

Do you have any questions the answers to - depending on what they are - could Make you want to finish watch it?

[@WoofInationLIVE]

who's betting he has schizophrenia

[@robindavda8967]

this is really well written and produced but I can't help but feel that it plays into damaging stereotypes about schizophrenia (not saying you're definitely depicting schizophrenia but it does align to believes about it). I worry that perpetuating representations like this can further stigmatize those with schizophrenia. In truth schizophrenic people are much more likely to hurt themselves than hurt others.

[@Stubagful]

Hmm. You're the first person to mention this. I did research into schizophrenia when first starting on the project because I thought it might be an issue, and discovered a lot of misconceptions about it that I was harbouring. I ultimately decided that my intent behind it would supercede concerns about stereotyping. For the record, the idea for the film came out of a therapy session. In about 2019 I started undergoing therapy for depression and it was during these sessions I discovered I'd completely shut out my ability to feel anger for 15 years and when I allowed myself to feel anger again, I was thoroughly disturbed. It didn't sound like me, it sounded like a different person, so my thought was "what if it was an entirely different person?" I came down on the side of "go ahead, do it" because in the story, Colin isn't a violent person, he has this voice inside his head that is distinct from him and he spends the film rejecting it, even though he is tempted to follow through on it on a couple of occasions. The impulse is there, but it's not acted upon because violent thoughts and violent actions are two different things, and in this instance: two different people

[@robindavda8967]

@@Stubagful ah ok. that's interesting. thank you very much for your thoughtful response. love ur videos

[@Stubagful]

No problem :) Another interesting thing that happened while I was preparing was I got a positive response to the ending monologue predominantly from women (including my mum) and then I started researching this impulse called 'cute aggression' - look it up, it's fascinating