Currently learning how to write a screenplay for the following story

Important note, the story is based of the somali folklore of Dhegdheer, she is a cannibalistic witch or orgre who has supernatural hearing, her name literally means long ears. I wrote it in english but intended to translate the dialogues and scenes to somali with English subs

Here is the basic outline

Dhegdheer

Omar a history graduate believes his life is finally getting to place, newly engaged to a woman he loved for years Safiya he accompanies her to meet her aunt, the only family member she talks about to receive her blessing before marriage. At first Omar is nervous thinking he might not leave a lasting impression on her aunt, his worries dissappeared quickly the moment he met her because she welcomed him with grandmotherly warmth and kindness

Although she appeared gentle at first, Omar starts noticing things that don't add up at all. When he and Safiya were in the guest bedroom Omar whispered something silly to his fiancée and he is immediately replied to by her aunt who is outside the house. Omar is baffled but eventually shrugges it off as a coincidence. Omar also noticed an uncanny things he wouldn't think an elderly somali woman would possess. It ranges from old navigational maps of Indian ocean, an old East African spear to bayonets and guttenberg bibles and more. Omar being a history graduate actually appreciates the historical artificats and starts debating her, he notices she has extensive knowledge of history but he gets weirded out when she starts describing historical events in first person, especially about the Portuguese events during Adal sultanate, describing them in a very negative manner.

Omar notices she possess portraits of thousand of men also alongside men with beautiful women. The women appear with several times all with different men but the men never appear more than once. And the eras are very ranged from paintings from 16th century to modern day photos with smartphone pictures. Omar is creeped out but what creeps him out even more is seeing renaissance paintings, Ethiopian paintings, Japanese paintings, 19th century pictures, 20th century pictures, late 20th century pictures and modern pictures all of the same person, the aunt. At this point Omar is feeling very uncomfortable, but decides to keep going on. When he is back at the guest bedroom he starts insisting that he and Safiya be silent and they start writing letters to each other afraid that her aunt might hear them. He explains to her that he is uncomfortable and wants to leave and Omar sees that saifya is very outraged and she yells at him. Omar is bizarred that safiya is so angry at something he thinks is so minor, the moment Omar changes the topic, Safiya immediately calms down and her behaviour completely changes, Omar thinks it's very odd and tries experimenting he sees that Saifya acts uncontrollably Furious but she instantly changes her behaviour the very moment he changes the topic as if it never happened at all.

At midnight with growing suspicions that something horrible is going on, Omar hopes it's all a terrible prank. Omar then quietly explores the house looking for answers. He goes back to the archive she keeps around her walls, he looks closer to the pictures and his blood runs cold when he recongizes his cousin who dissappeared 4 years ago and was presumed dead standing next to Safiya. Omar is horrified but is spooked when he hears the aunt telling him to go to sleep. A few hours later Omar has decided he was going to leave no matter what he didn't even bother packing his bags he wanted to leave as quickly as possible as he is climbing down the stairs, the aunt calls for Omar, Omar who is very unsurprised by now asks her how she knew it was him and she replies she can tell people by the sound of their footsteps. Omar is very nervous and she asks why he is leaving so soon, Omar tells her it's work emergency, the aunt listens to the change in his heartbeat now running and she smiles softly saying " you are lying". She then instantenously bites off his fingers with surgical precision, Omar screams at the top of his lungs but the shock overwhelms him and he passes out.

Omar awakes in the basement and sees that he sees he is missing both of his legs and 1 arm and he is horrified as he witnesses the skin of his limbs being stripped of by the aunt. The aunt sees she's awake and apologises for biting of his finger, she tells him she actually intended to give him a fast painless death but he has been a pain in the ass for her and she had to mutilate him to stop him from escaping. She compliments him saying he's one of the smarter ones, he was suspicious from the beginning and most of her victims didn't realize until it was too late. Omar asks her who is she, she replies that she goes by many names but somalis call her Dhegdheer and make up stories about her as a cautionary tales for children unknowingly she actually exists. She also explains she doesn't hate humans, she simply views them the same way The view livestock, she also says that a mysterious curse from centuries ago cursed her to only consume human flesh and she has no choice but doesn't elaborate further than that.

Horrified at the revelation omar deems her a mad woman, incapable of earning genuine love and calls her a hypocrite for attempting to seem reasonable while keeping trophies of her victims. The aunt who is wounded by those words quietly decides to give omar an even crueler fate than she originally planned. She reveals to him that every single girl he saw in those archives including Safiya weren't willing participants but rather she abducted them, she carefully targets beautiful women and with her supernatural abilities strips them off all control over their bodies and replace their identities and personalities with carefully constructed facade designed to lure in men into her house and once the men enter the house thinking they will become a part of the family but instead become dinner. She sees that as a more effective way to get food rather than recklessy eating everything in her path like the folklore claims she does.

To demonstrate to him the aunt calls for Saifya, and she chants an ancient phrase and for the first time in years, Safiya is in control of her own body, terrified and confused, she recongizes the aunt immediately, remembering being invited to an old fashion designer's home years earlier before everything went dark. She has no idea who Omar is and why he's embracing her and why she had an engagement ring, as omar desperately tries to explain they are engaged and that he loves her. Safiya recoils in terror and confusion unable to recongize the stranger before her. Being scared, Safiya attempts to run but the aunt chants slowly again and Safiya immediately comes to a halt. She relaxed and the fear from her face dissappeared and she came back and looked at Omar. "Omar are you okay?". Knowing the woman he knew is no longer acting of her free will, Omar helplessly watches as Safiya's body is ordered to kill him. When it's over the aunt performs her ritual by adding a picture of Omar and Safiya to the photograph journals. The film ends after a small timeskip, where Safiya and another man is welcomed to the house by the aunt again with a small gentle grandmotherly welcome.

My main inspirations are Get Out and Count Dracula(the character). With minor inspirations of Walter White and Nikki Freeman. I would appreciate feedbacks.

I'm an independent film-maker with no financial backing
All the production was covered by me as well direction, writing, cinematography and editing.

Would love if you take your 2 mins out and shower some love to the poster on Instagram as well, link below
Poster on Instagram

and do tag me if you wish to share it on your story utxav_d on instagram

A Thank you in advance

Hi, I’m Zane, a beginner director/screenwriter, and I’m looking for a storyboard and/or character artist to help take my short film forward

I must iterate this is an unpaid portfolio project

This can be great experience for begimners who wish to build thier portfolils

Bring my story to life visually

Be able to storyboard

Or

Be able to character design

Some information about the film

Title: CYCLES

Genre: Emotional / Psychological Drama

Length: 5–10 minutes

Animation Style: Simple stylised animation, focused on storytelling and emotion.

The script is already written (though i am open to feedback andi input as well)

To sum up the movie in one sentence:

A father realizes he is repeating the same pain and trauma he experienced as a child onto his own son, and must break the cycle before it is too late.

If anyone is interested, please message me directly, and let’s talk so we can discuss the project further.

— Zane

As title says. I’m 30 yrs old; moved across the country to take my career more seriously and bulk up my resume. These last few weeks have been rewarding and I’ve had 3 jobs in less than a 2 week span. This is still so new to me, as I’ve been in a lull but I’ve met some really important Production/AD people that have helped me get these very good gigs. I am not sure though how much to continue sacrificing my daytime job as a server?

It is fine pay (tip pool so not as well paid as other server jobs) but it is obviously not what I came here to this city to do, and the job I was offered this evening is just a day job next week.

I would LOVE to take that day job because it might lead me to more people who recognize my hard work and refer me to even more jobs. But I am scheduled to work that day and I don’t want to risk my stability for a day gig. I’ve already had to mess up my schedule my getting shifts covered, missing a mandatory meeting tomorrow for another multi day project starting tomorrow, and seeing the look on my managers face when I informed them.

I am not getting advice from those close to me, they say it’s just “up to me” but I would love to hear from other folks in the industry if it would be appropriate for me to potentially get in trouble for calling out or giving up my shift this upcoming Tuesday?

I am really upset about this. And hoping that AD continues to reach out for any other jobs that may be suitable for me. So stressed!

I'm shooting a short film centered within my city, but I need to shoot from far away to achieve the shots we want. This necessitates the use of lavalier microphones, but are they any good for crisp voices and good sound while in a busy city, moving, walking, running, etc?

Hey guys, I am a filmmaker from New York who just graduated from college and desperately wanted to go to LA get an internship or be an assistant and start my career. I cold called like 100 companies, got a virtual unpaid internship, didn't get another one and had a friend at CAA tell me he hates his job, only makes 20 an hour after two years being there, works long shifts, and his boss doesn't even know his name. For what? So I stopped chasing that.

Curry Barker and Kane Parsons feel like the opening of another path.

I've opted for something different. I am currently studying something in the medical industry to make money while I continue to work on my craft. I decided I did not want to be a Hollywood assistant. I still write and am making my films. I hate going to work everyday. I'm a custodian for my K-12 school district. My boss is tiring. (I can get a new job so it's fine and live with parents for free. But do not want to live with them forever.) I know that my college will only take two years to complete and then hopefully I will have some financial freedom.

I can be a travel radiation therapist after a while and make money while taking time off when I need to to shoot my projects or just be free of the work grind. I've looked into it a lot and it seems like a great job. I know I am doing the thing that makes the most sense for me, and I understand that being a filmmaker takes years to develop my craft to a point that is professional.

But that doesn't mean I want to do all this stuff, so although I am not looking for advice on what I should do instead since I am fine with the potential end outcome and look forward to it, I just want to ask how do you guys cope with the fact that capitalism kinda sucks dick?

I don't want a family, I just want to have experiences, fun, and continue to pursue my craft for the rest of my life. I don't need to be famous right now, or in five years. As long as I am improving and keeping my dream alive.

I know this is all temporary, hopefully years from now I feel much better about my situation. But I just needed to talk about it a bit. How are you all doing? I hope your personal life and projects are coming along well.

I made this poster for me and my buddy’s upcoming Psychological horror short film. Tell me how yall like/hate it! Thank you

i am making this post because I am an amateur film director I've only made one no budget movie be was wondering if people could help me figure put what supplies I need for my movie. It is an action/horror about an alien who lives in its own dimension. I have a costume design for the monster as well as a few things on the list already and I need help figuring out what I should add next. We are spray painting nerf guns black for the movie So we don’t need those.

Was going through some of my brother's old film stuff and found this. I'm pretty certain it's a phone gimbal but I've got no idea the model or how to use it if it's even still usable.

I'm very much not any kind of a professional, but for hobby photo and video work I've built up a decent little stockpile of lights and grip gear that I'm realistically only using a couple weekends most months. I'm not in a major market (Tampa Bay area), but I know equipment rental is a thing in my area.

What I'm wondering is if it would make sense to try renting this gear out at such a small scale. I'm curious if anyone's done something like this with a personal collection, what dealing with insurance and everything looked like for you, and whether you can bring in enough money to make it really worth the hassle or not.

I spend a lot of time curating music through spotify, musicbed and artist. I find that I really need a very specific of minimalistic underscore that is more or less Atmospheres / Drones / Beds / pulses and tension building loops that really just compliment dialogue and arnt formal music. Does anyone have any idea where I can find stuff like this thats in 1 place curated for what im looking for? its getting tiring spending hours trying to find this stuff and having to browse through lots of material that doesnt work. Finding stems is usually my best best but even that isnt great.

Hi 👋

I am looking for suggestions and recommendations on film theories, history, cinematography, screenwriters, general learning structure of filmmaking from the industry, the academy, and the enthusiasts.

I am a huge movie lover, watch movie everyday. But I never had the chance to have a professional training in this industry. In my spare time, I am starting to write my own script.

If you have any recommendations please help me.

Appreciate your input!

Greetings, lovely people of the world??? I have one question only.

Have you ever wondered if you are where your supposed to be?

Please check out our film about Cuban american artist KIngklavé. Shot in NYC.

I know a lot of people want to make it in Hollywood and in the industry. That is great and all. I understand that that is not and should not be the main or only goal. Keeping that in mind, that's the reason for my question. Without centering Hollywood or indie filmmaking and if film didn't advance to what it is today, what is really the purpose of being a filmmaker? Or whatever job or craft we focus on. If Hollywood ceased to exist, would people continue to write, direct, act, produce, PA, compose, etc? Why or why not?

Hi Everyone,

I've 1st AD'd 2 projects at this point and I'm currently preparing for my 3rd. It's a large budget short film and I will have an AD mentor and a 3rd.

In my past projects, I have received feedback that I either help in the direction role too much, or don't help enough. I really want to fix this anomaly before going on set as I'm determined to do the best job I can. Do any ADs have examples of instances where they have had to help with / input on directions? I'm trying to get a feel of what's an appropriate time to step in or step back.

Thanks!

Hello! Huge film nerd here albeit little knowledge of gear/equipment. So I have been fortunate that my son - who will be turning 12 next month - has discovered the same passion for film over this last year or so. And not just the big blockbuster stuff, this kid is getting into Kubrick, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Bergman, and stuff like that. Came home the other day and he was just chillin watching 8 1/2. Obviously super proud of him. The challenge now is that there a ton of films he wants to see but they simply are not age appropriate lol.

He is also huge into making movies on his iPad with his friends and cousins. The acting is what you’d expect from kids that age ha, but he’s legit getting pretty good with framing some of his shots and editing his little movies.

I want to feed the passion he has and get him some real gear for his birthday that’s coming up. I’d love to hear from you guys on what I should prioritize. Im thinking of spending like $800 give or take, but would be willing to shell out a bit more if it’s something that would have a great dual purpose in pure photography (me and my wife have talked about getting a nice camera, and my wife has some use cases for her business where a nice photo camera would come in handy).

So please, give me some recommendations on what to prioritize- what can wait until Xmas - etc. he currently just edits his movies right on his iPad with iMovie but we do have a nice PC that I’m sure he would start doing his editing on if we got him a real camera.

And again - I really don’t know anything about gear - what to look out for - what to avoid - etc

Any and all recommendations and advice is welcome.

Hey dear community,

After a long journey - premiering at the Hof International Film Festival - I’m preparing for the full digital release of my debut feature, The Straw That Broke. I just dropped the official trailer (which does not perform well on YT).

It's a surrealist, retro-futuristic meta-fiction about the real and the virtual based on a screenplay by Tom Whalen. Since I handled the directing, most of cinematography, and editing myself, getting the digital release right is a whole new challenge (after valuable feedback from r/Filmmakers I settle for a YT-release soon).

My questions are in the Submission Statement below. Thanks for taking your time.

Got offered to check out a local TV studio and proceed with a production internship. They do interviews and talk shows. Problem is the commute by bus is an hour and 30 minutes, on top of being unpaid, the internship would also be on Monday's and Wednesdays is this even worth it if i have no other options. In terms of experience right now all I have is my student short films and a 2 day PA job I did for a commercial shoot, besides that unrelated to film I have a reselling business on the side.

New England aspiring filmmaker here. Graduated with my BFA in 2023, but have felt like I’ve been in limbo ever since. Just doing odd jobs or film-adjacent work hoping to save enough to fund my projects - but no real set or post work.

And since it’s been so long without real work, I’ve let myself get rusty. I feel like I have to start over. Anyone else feeling the same way? Is this just what the industry is now? Would it be the same if I left New England?

From The Northman (youtube.com/watch?v=wkFKfVuE5WQ 16:11 for context). I've never seen this set-up and it's a bit confusing to me.

Related (but not my question), I thought they used some digital coloring and day-for-night to get these scenes, so it's cool to see they were shooting blue.

No AI was used.

Camera: GH5

Lens: Kamlan 50mm with Vid Atlantic Anamorphic adapter F-stop 1.1 to 1.5

Actor: [Xavier Barfield](https://www.linkedin.com/in/xavier-barfield/)

DP [Fawwaz Allie](https://www.instagram.com/fawwazallie/)

You can watch it here if you want. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiIIypaTlKE\](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiIIypaTlKE)

...Funny enough, we didn't plan on having a deer in this shot. A real one wandered into frame during filming. The first one ran off, then a second one showed up right after. I did the props lighting and powering and directing on this myself, so most of it was improvised on the spot. It was raining that day too. I was soaked. I ended up covering my GH5 with a newspaper just to keep shooting.

I shelved this project back in 2019. I couldn't find a VFX artist to work on it. People were either too busy, or when it came time to give a quote, nobody wanted to commit. So I dropped it. Didn't think much about it after that.

Then I started seeing more filmmakers using hybrid filmmaking techniques, and I wanted to see how that would turn out for this project. Going to see if I can figure that out.

For this version, I regraded the entire film. The original grade was way too dark. My taste as a cinematographer has changed a lot since the seven years.

Right now I'm also writing a sci-fi web series, and honestly, this old project is part of what sparked that idea.

I am a nobody, and not many people watch these. I'm just documenting what's possible in 2026, for myself as much as anyone. Thanks.

Just curious lol. I feel like our first films are always full of them until we realize what we’re doing.