Film Name: Countenance
Director: Pete Key
Writers: Jai Blanks, Pete Key, Ella Stephens
Starring: James Greaney, Jadina Li, Mark Charlesworth, Tim Sparrow, Giuseppe Manzione
Asha is a young man with the ability to feel and resonate other people’s emotions through physical contact. Turned into a recluse by the burden of his abilities, he is constantly plagued with the predicament of whether he should strip people of their negative emotions but consequently bare the burden himself or does he turn a blind eye, and leave people to their suffering?
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds ahead of the Southend Film Festival , I got a chance to ask ‘Countenance‘ Director / Co-Writer Pete Key.
You can watch Countenance at the Southend Film Festival on Sunday 7th June at 12:30 as part of the Mostly Made In Southend: Part One shorts.
Q. Your film Countenance has been selected to play at the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. On the surface, Countenance is a grounded, gritty story about a reclusive man with powers, but on a deeper layer, it’s a film about mental health, and the struggles that come with it. I wanted this film to be grounded very much in reality, taking a realistic-drama approach to the story. The film offers a sense of hope within these struggles but does, however, acknowledge that sometimes, hope alone isn’t enough, and everyone needs an outstretched hand.
Q. You co-wrote the script with Jai Blanks and Ella Stephens. What were some of your inspirations when writing the script and what was your process for writing together?
A. When it came time to brainstorm for our next short film, I bounced an idea off Jai and Ella that I’d had in my head for years, nearly a decade – a man with special abilities, that can gain a vivid insight into someone’s emotional state through physical touch, and he uses that power to save someone from taking their own life. It was just an idea for a single scene, but that was enough. We sat together for a little over a week and built the story around this idea, and all bounced different ideas off each other, so there’s a bit of each of us in the script. There was multiple bits of media used as inspiration for Asha’s powers, such as David Dunn and his visions when touching a person in Unbreakable (2000), to Alex Chen in Life is Strange: True Colours (2021) and her ability to envision and feel people’s emotions through colours, allowing her the power to take away said emotions from people leaving her in a moral dilemma.
Although the powers in both of these pieces of media works differently to how Asha’s abilities do, we ere heavily inspired by these characters amongst other bits of media we love. With that being said, we still wanted to make sure the story was unique and gritty and not just a story solely about an enhanced human. We knew early on the story was going to be one that explores mental health themes but in a new and interesting way. We wanted it to be relatable and grounded in reality, but not in a way that is often seen.
Q. Did you have any of the cast in mind for the characters when writing the script?
A. We never had specific actors in mind for any of the roles during the writing process, as it was our first time hiring paid talent. While writing, we had an idea of what we wanted each character to be and what sort of aesthetic we wanted them to have. Their shape, the way they carried themselves. We did several days of auditions for each role over zoom calls, and it was during the audition process, that once we saw them, we knew we’d found our characters.
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. There were several influences we kept in mind in early development. As previously said, the grittiness of Unbreakable and colour imagery from Life is Strange: True Colours served as big sources of inspiration.
The clothing from The Batman (2022) served as a main inspiration for Asha’s outfits in the film, especially when he wanders the streets at night with his bag over his back and mask covering his face. One of my favourite games, Alan Wake II (2023), served as a major point of influence for the visions, particularly the more volatile, dark visions.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Other than letting actors make slight changes to their dialogue on what felt natural, not really. After the thorough writing stage, we’d created six drafts of the script, and were pretty happy with the sixth and final draft, so there wasn’t anything to change other than the usual adaptations necessary due to things like location geography and weather conditions. We had two possible endings with slight differences that we planned for when we filmed, and chose one to go with in the edit that better fit the tone of the final message of the film.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. The rooftop scene was my favourite scene we shot. Not only was it one of the few times where we didn’t face any issues while filming, but it was so fun to direct, to watch the scene performed. The practical effect we used for the scene, without spoiling what it was used for, worked far better than expected and created one of the most striking moments in the film. It’s one of the most important parts of the film, being the scene that came from the first initial idea I had in my head for years. A lot was riding on it, and it couldn’t have gone better.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Basically, everything that could have gone wrong during filming, did go wrong. And unfortunately a lot of the issues came from within the crew, which was a learning curve for myself. The majority of the crew were great to work with, but there were one or two who caused a lot of the issues we faced. Most of which was due to selfishness and refusal to work as a team. On shoots like this, teamwork is essential and without your team, you have nothing.
So, it was disappointing that people were willing to jeopardise that. We also had some issues with disruptive members of the public who took offence to the cameras while filming in public areas, but which took a lot of work arounds and some perseverance from my 1st AD. What is great about these challenges though, is that it really showed who the real team players were, many of which are still my trusted colleagues and friends to this day.
Q. What makes Countenance stand out as something different in its genre?
A. It blends so many elements. It’s a grounded, gritty drama about people and their struggles, but then it also has sci-fi elements through Asha’s powers, and serves as an allegory for mental health. On paper, it had the potential to not work at all, but that combination of genres came together so neatly. Stories about mental health are usually displayed quite black and white, but we weaved the subtext of the issues the characters face throughout the film, and it isn’t at the forefront at all times, which is why it works.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. I hope it inspires people to help each other in any way they can, especially regarding mental health, where the signs of struggles are often less obvious. I hope it inspires people to recognise when they can help someone, stand up for someone, and have the courage to do so.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. There’s another short film that we shot after Countenance, a horror film called Those Who Whistle at Night, that we’re also trying to put into festivals. It’s another film we fought hard to make and we hope it reaches audiences soon. I’m also in the early writing stages for a short film that I hope to make sometime in the near future. As writing is my main passion, I am often in a writing process with plenty of drafts for feature lengths, short films and short stories in the works.
Alongside that, at Niterap Productions we’re trying to organise a short film for charity, based off of a book called My Mum’s a Chameleon. A book written by Jai’s father about her sister who was diagnosed with Lymphoma and had to undergo Chemotherapy, in which she lost all her hair. The story is one for kids and families experiencing hair loss through cancer or other illnesses and all proceeds go to charity.
Niterap aims to work as a team, family and hopefully with the help of some industry professionals, on a short film to continue raising proceeds for charity.
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. Don’t give up, no matter how many things are going wrong. Everything could fall apart, but you can still bring it back around. Persevere. Listen to your peers, but don’t allow people to make decisions for you. Get as much coverage as you can, even if you’re 99% sure you know what shot you’re going to use, always get an alternative.
Coverage is king. That was something I learnt the hard way. Choose your crew wisely. And make sure you work as a team, always. Work with one another, compromise and listen to each other, you’re all in this together. Hold no prejudice and respect everyone and the craft.
You can watch Countenance at the Southend Film Festival on Sunday 7th June at 12:30 as part of the Mostly Made In Southend: Part One shorts.
You can find out more about the festival and purchase tickets here.
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!