Hastings film-maker scoops award after making movie shot entirely on iPhone

Harry Wells, who made Clockmaker, won the award for best Micro Budget Short Film at the Hastings Rocks Film Festival.

He said the film was made on a budget of ‘practically zero’, was shot on an iPhone, and involved a crew of three people.

Harry said: “I started making this film with the deadline for the festival in mind and came through many trials and tribulations to get this film across the line.

“The film follows a terminally ill clockmaker, who is deeply saddened that this may be his last Christmas he spends with his grandchildren. In a desperate attempt to change his fate, he uses his old clocks to send himself back to the past, in a bid to convince his younger self to drop his bad habits.

“Originally being a screenwriter, I’d had two write for hire jobs that had sold last year which will hopefully go into production this year.

“Being a screenwriter is always a waiting game, and you never know if anything you write is ever going to find its way onto the screen, so I’d been keen to make a short film for a good while, just to get something with my name on it out there. Then in the weeks building up to Christmas last year the idea for the film came into my head and I just knew I had to find a way of making it.

“The film was shot in the loft of a local Hastings theatre. I tried multiple clock shops in and outside of Hastings but couldn’t get permission to film inside of them. Then a good friend of mine very kindly let me check out the theatre and the loft just felt like a perfect location to build a tiny set.

“We built the set and shot the film on my iPhone with no budget, just friends doing favours and willing to come along and help out.”

He said the crew encountered ‘multiple problems’ while shooting the film, which included stormy weather, broken mics and lost footage.

Harry added: “Ultimately this turned out to be a huge learning curve. I would advise anyone that wants to make a film to go out, use their smartphone, get some friends together and just shoot something. You’ll learn so much and you never know where it might take you.

“To be selected at the Hastings Rocks Film Festival was amazing in itself, but to win the award for 'Best Micro Budget Film' was something that never even crossed my mind. I wanted to give a massive shout out and thank you to the actors Luke Adams and Neil Sellman, who stayed patient with me throughout and were fantastic when I kept calling them back for audio voiceovers after we lost all the sound. And to Liam Rowley, who was a huge help behind the scenes. This award is just as much theirs as it is mine.

“This is my first short film. I am definitely looking into making one or two more short films before the year is out using the lessons learned on this film to make something bigger and better.”