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After the Rain on Thursday’s Jenn Webb on Sci-Fi, the Sixties and Student Shooting
“Sci-fi is the reason I’m a filmmaker,” says Jenn Webb: Writer, Cinematographer and Co-Director of After the Rain on Thursday. We caught up with Webb, who is now a post-postgraduate of the Met Film School, to hear more about the short – made to submit as their MA Final Project. Using our low-profile Axl EVF Mount for the Sony FX6, Webb was able to keep a clear vision in more ways than one.
Set in the summer of ‘69, After the Rain on Thursday is centred on flatmates Q (Caspian Faye) and Jo (Inês Drumond). Instead of unwashed dishes or a noise complaint, Jo discovers that her flatmate is an alien – a secret that threatens more than just the lease. Inspired by the likes of Ridley Scott and Russel T. Davies, the film is in the midst of its festival tour.
Queerness and sci-fi have gone hand-in-hand for as long as anyone can remember, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nowhere new to go. After the Rain on Thursday (ATROT) takes cosmic stakes and boils them down to a complex character drama: blending coming-of-age and coming-out.
For my Final Project, I wanted to do something new and exciting in the LGBT and sci-fi space. The project explores the process of finding a sense of belonging and confidence in yourself as a transgender person through allegory. It shows queer characters in their day-to-day lives without relying on stereotypes.
ATROT is a film by trans people for trans people, and I’m hopeful it will influence our rapidly-changing social climate.
If you Google “1969”, you’ll almost certainly get the same results: Apollo 11 and Stonewall. The year is right on theme for this queer sci-fi short – but despite almost 60 years having passed, we don’t seem to have made much progress.
We haven’t been to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, which was 53 years ago. We need to remain curious and open-minded, embracing what makes us unique yet unequivocally human.
1969 was a year of pushing boundaries, which naturally upset the status quo. It paved the way for the future. Fifty years later, queer rights are being threatened again. Trans people in particular are being alienated – which we took literally in ATROT. The film holds a mirror up to society, to show that we’ve been here before.
As with most student projects, where budgets and personnel are equally hard to come by, the making of ATROT was filled with compromise, with many of the roles being co-operated.
It was a two-day shoot, and we had to take everything down after the first day and put it back on the second due to location restrictions. There was a lot to keep track of, and we had a lot of eyes on the project.
We were very lucky from the start to have Sarah Intrieri, our Script Supervisor, be with us during the conception of the film. I was mentored by Ben Farry (Walk with Me), who pushed me to be my best creative self, particularly during the writing process. Visualising the script came naturally to me as a DP, although some responsibilities conflicted.
Our Editors were on-set, which helped us to prioritise what was best for the edit. Jojo Eifler (Co-Editor, 1st AC) and I had a lot of conversations about the look of the film, and what I needed to achieve in-camera for her grade to work.
Marla Lopez (Co-Director, Producer) and I divided and conquered. During filming, her primary focus was the actors and mine was on the cinematography. We still made mistakes and had some unexpected changes, but it taught me the value of every crew member. Each role deserves its own dedication and perspective: know what you want, but listen to your team and remember the audience. Filmmaking is a team effort.
ATROT paired modern and classic filmmaking gear: combining the digital workhorse Sony FX6 with vintage Pentax lenses to emulate the period-accurate look. This matches the range of sources that inspired the short: from the cyberpunk Los Angeles in Blade Runner (1982) to the clinically corporate world of Lumon from Severance (2022-).
Cinematography-wise, I wanted it to be vintage-inspired and saturated. A concoction blending the grainy, soft look of film with the dramatic lighting and colourfulness of sci-fi. For this, we referenced Poor Things (2023) and both Blade Runner films. It’s a Sin (2021) and Heartstopper (2022) were also sources of inspiration, especially their banter and sense of community. Heartstopper also has a teen coming-of-age feel that we adopted.
We used the Sony FX6, partially because it was available to us at the university. It was also familiar to me. Sony cameras are great for their image quality and versatility, as evidenced by productions like Severance which was shot on the VENICE and FX3.
Lens-wise, we went for a vintage look. Don Sirivech (2nd AC), let us use his Super-Takumars, which were dated around 1962 — perfect for the period of ATROT. I had worked with them before as an AC and really liked their characteristics. Jojo was excited to put her film emulation skills to the test in DaVinci, and I felt that the Takumars would set us up well for that.
To help ensure their vision was clear, Webb directed and operated with the help of our dedicated Axl EVF Mount for the Sony FX6.
[The Axl] is lightweight, which made it effortless to adjust the viewfinder on the FX6. Especially for more complicated handheld shots or ones that required the rig to be minimised, its versatility allowed us to explore endless creative options. It seamlessly suited the FX6 and became second nature to me as I used it.
But the camera is only half the battle, the other half is the production itself. How do you cast your audience back 50 years in history and create a believable period-piece – all on a budget? It’s an old cliché, but constraints breed creativity: Webb took inspiration from British sci-fi staple Doctor Who, where the most memorable episodes are among the cheapest. When designing the world(s) of ATROT, one person’s trash was another’s treasure – literally.
The key to low budgets is having the right team and setting achievable goals. I wanted the main prop — Q’s machine – to look handmade; like it was made from spare parts – not overly manufactured. We found a lot of the supplies by looking through rubbish bins and gluing it together.
Doctor Who was the show that made me realise that I love the idea of sci-fi props that look a bit DIY or thrown together. Q has this communication device that is very hodgepodge-y, that our Production Designer Holly and I put together as one of the main props. Holly’s wardrobe also had a lot of costume that conveniently fit the actors and the time period, and a beautiful vintage table that was her family’s.
The result is a film that feels both vibrant and grounded, with a textured world outside the four walls of Q and Jo’s flat. Despite the hurdles that the production had to jump, ATROT is a resounding success, and a great testament to Webb and their entire team.
The sequence where Jo walks through the house looking for Q [was amazing]. We had these giant beams of light coming from the windows. Sarah was rolling on BTS when we did playback and I was just nodding with the biggest grin on my face. My gaffer, Meg Thundercliffe, was also chuffed.
Another favourite was the final scene, during “planetfall”. It was tricky, but we got an effect where we lowered a light and it made this beautiful lens flare. The way it lit up the eyes of the actors was also really magical.
After the Rain on Thursday is currently touring festivals, with a premiere at the Cannes Short Film Festival on the 30th August.
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