HILL

UMBRAL is a short horror film that bases its foundations on the human fragility that comes from trauma, illustrating in a direct and visceral way the moral dilemma: "can trauma justify crime?"

SYNOPSIS

UMBRAL is a short film in the horror and sci-fi genre, which explores in a direct and visceral way a moral dilemma with no right answer: “can trauma justify crime?”

To this end, we follow the emotional regression conducted by Edgar, a criminal with schizotypal personality disorder, on trial for parricide. Connected to his mind through neuro-electrodes, the Umbral machine seeks to confront Edgar with his traumatic childhood, in order to determine the absence or presence of cause-effect between the past and the crime he committed.

Throughout the film, we thus witness a constant transformation and deconstruction of scenarios, actions and dialogues from a rudimentary and minimalist representation – an unreal version of Edgar's psyche – into a raw and cold reality, representing the resistance of Edgar's psyche that seeks to avoid the confrontation with his childhood traumas, resulting from the abuse he suffered as a child.

In order to overcome this resistance, the machine then introduces an artifice in the form of a girl, an invented sister, who leads Edgar to confront his traumatic past, building his personal hell around him.

THE DIRECTOR Miguel Andrade is from Porto and is passionate about telling stories through cinema, music and sound. Therefore, in his creative works he has been giving special focus to directing, script writing, soundtrack and sound design. The plurality of areas to which he dedicates himself comes from the belief that it is at the intersection of the arts that creativity is most enhanced.

Thus, the following projects and achievements stand out:

Cinema: He is a Master's student in Cinema and Photography at ESMAD, where he is currently working as a screenwriter and director on the short film "Umbral" in pre-production. He was also Sound Director in the short films "Palavra Cruzadas" and "Clave de Lua", having composed and produced the original soundtrack and sound design in "Clave de Lua". The importance of sound in the narrative of this film stands out, with moments in which this component takes center stage.

Music: He is a composer and producer, having played the roles of guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist in several bands. The intersection between music and cinema was established with the making of numerous music videos for several of these projects. The music video for the song “Unique” stands out, a deconstruction of the painting The Lovers by René Magritte, which won 8 awards at international film festivals and 13 nominations. His solo project "Aras" has been a platform for the creation of hybrid creative works, with numerous music videos made, fusing music with contemporary dance, light programming and video projection.

He also has a degree in Economics from FEP and a master's degree in Data Analytics, currently working at Porto Business School. He has thus been on a multifaceted journey, coexisting between different worlds that he seeks to merge, believing that this symbiosis results in the creation of more mature and relevant works, with greater impact and significance and, above all, more creative.

^{Some images from the film's Storyboard, by Inês Alecrim}

About the author

The UMBRAL team is made up of students, alumni and professionals in the audiovisual field. We are happy to have the RAW production company by director Ricardo M. Leite, winner of the 2019 SOPHIA student award.

^{Department directors}

We are a group passionate about the seventh art (cinema) and we are thirsty for learning and everything that will make us grow professionally. We are students at the Escola Superior de Media Artes e Design, whose objective is to complete a master's degree in Cinema. We are a happy-go-lucky team and grateful for all the opportunities in life, namely, making films.

^{Technical team and assistants}

Budget and due dates

“Cinema is a profession for the rich. It takes a lot of money to do that.”

Pedro Azevedo

Producing a film is expensive and financial support is a fundamental part of completing a film project so that it can be made safely and under the best conditions. In a film production, any monetary or material support is a great help for the making of any film.

We are very grateful for all the generosity of the professionals who offered their time and dedication to the project, but we need extra help from you. As a way of thanking you for supporting our film, we have several rewards to offer you.

To contribute, simply select a reward or set an amount of your choice. This project will only be financed if 100% of the requested amount is reached, otherwise, the amount of your support will be refunded in full.

If you have any questions, we are available to clarify.

Images