Spotlight: Jo Gaffney "Rabbit Hole"
EXUDING MAGIC AND MYSTERY - Jo Gaffney’s “Rabbit Hole” takes you on a quick adventure that’s worth strapping in for. Taking inspiration from the classic Alice In Wonderland, the short film follows a wandering girl’s journey. Shot on 8mm, the film taps into the charming element of film we all love, letting the audience into the fantasy world just a bit more. Screened at the CineVic Super 8 Film Festival, The Salt Spring Island Youth Film Festival and the Victoria Short Film Festival, “Rabbit Hole” truly showcases the team’s creativity and dedication to the project. Despite the elegance and quality of film, “Rabbit Hole” serves as Gaffney’s first video - the first of many to come. Already jumping into more films, Gaffney brings her artistic talent from other mediums to her film work. Watch the short film below and read more to learn about the making of the film, what’s next for Gaffney and more.
Directed by Jo Gaffney | Masks by Ruby Egger Lipsett | Composed by Aurora Ter Heide | Starring Elisabeth Hinshelwood | Featuring Deanna Milligan & Violet Gaffney.
LUNA: First things first, how are you doing lately? Have you picked up any fun new quarantine hobbies?
GAFFNEY: I am doing very alright! I am very thankful to have a home where I have been able to be safely isolated, but I’m starting to crawl up the walls from going stir crazy. I miss people! As for a hobby, I have been learning how to develop my own film in my Mom’s basement. I still need a lot of direct instruction, especially when it comes to mixing chemicals (I was never any good at chemistry), but I’m learning!
LUNA: Let’s talk about your video “Rabbit Hole” - such a creative concept! The video is inspired by “Alice In Wonderland”, so can you talk a little bit about the creative process as a whole and how you brought this to life?
GAFFNEY: I feel like everyone has a story that sits at their core. Rags to riches, fish out of water, overcoming the monster. I feel like one that I always return to, is essentially “Alice In Wonderland”. Story of a girl, who wanders through a world she doesn’t quite understand until she finds a group of people who eventually do. This film is the textbook version of it and is actually the first film I ever produced myself. Unintentionally, it has become a core part of all of my work, and you can see its influence in “Out All Night”, as well as my other films.
LUNA: Can you share a favorite moment from filming?
GAFFNEY: Every single odd was against the execution of this film, the night before filming, there was a massive snowstorm. Originally, I had practically an entirely different cast and crew. I had originally envisioned it without snow. My art director, Ruby Egger Lipsett, had the rabbit masks at her house because she had been attaching straps to the back of them. She came like a rocket, down to the park where we were filming, clutching all three masks. It made me feel like everything was going to be alright, and it ended up being one of my favorite pieces of work.
LUNA: What leads to you shooting this on 8mm? What do you like about shooting 8mm?
GAFFNEY: As I hadn’t made a film yet, this cool opportunity came up locally and ended up being relatively inexpensive. The want to film it on Super 8 came from the way that 8mm evokes a certain feeling, something romantic and fairytale-like. It blurs around the edges and is the opposite of the harshness that happens with high-end digital footage. The blurriness adds magic that is hard to replicate digitally, there’s a certain tentatively suspended disbelief that lets the viewer believe whatever it is you are showing them (no matter how fantastic or ridiculous it may seem, like rabbit heads). I love the way it makes every shot purposeful like I can frame and design each shot like a storybook.
LUNA: In addition to videography, you dabble in some more creative elements, like photography, as well. How does each of your creative pursuits play into one another?
GAFFNEY: As someone who loves film photography, this project was combining two of my biggest artistic loves. Shooting on film evokes such a distinctive and real feeling, of catching moments as they happen, without the possibility of do-overs or multiple takes. Film photography helped me develop skills that helped me greatly with shooting, the way of making all my work purposeful and intentional. All films were all shot on film up until a short number of years ago, they are directly correlated.
LUNA: What/Who has been inspiring you lately?
GAFFNEY: I have found myself rewatching a lot of my old favourites to try and feel inspired again, as I have had a lot of trouble feeling like I want to make work again. A few of my favorite movies that I have been rewatching are; “Sing Street”, “The Virgin Suicides”, “But I’m A Cheerleader”, “The Love Witch”, “Pretty In Pink” and “Fat Girl”. These are the kinds of movies that make me sure that this is what I want to spend my life doing, creating stories with interesting characters, living through stories that people want to watch over and over again.
Also, I have been watching lots of behind the scenes videos from different directors on Youtube, (Bertie Gilbert, Greta Gerwig, Ella Fields, PJ Ligouri, and Guy Larsen). I miss being on set so much it aches, but seeing other people doing the work I want to be making makes me feel comforted knowing that that world still exists. Seeing other people create beautiful films makes me feel a few steps closer to creating my own.
LUNA: There was a little team behind the film which I’m sure made it all more enjoyable. What role has collaboration played in your career?
GAFFNEY: For my high school career, I have been apart of an arts program that has a direct focus on collective collaboration, combining the works of dancers, actors, and musicians. Collaboration is an integral part of my work, working closely with my composers and art directors, as I feel like if you only focus on one category within the film you’re working on, you miss out on so much. A film isn’t just visuals, or music, or actors, its the collaboration of all these moving parts that makes a successful and effective piece of work. I had an awesome little team on this, my amazing art director Ruby Egger Lipsett who made these beautiful rabbit masks, my composer Aurora Ter Heide, my lead actress Elisabeth Hinshelwood, as well as my two other rabbit actors Violet Gaffney and Deanna Milligan.
LUNA: I know things are weird right now and a lot is up in the air, but do you have any upcoming plans or goals you’d like to share?
GAFFNEY: I just finished up production on a short called “Natural Beauty”, which should be up online soon, as well as going into pre-production for another short that I hope to have out in June. As I’m also graduating in June, I should be able to produce quite a few more films once I am relieved of having to do any school work. I hope to move out by the end of summer, and get a place with one of my friends. Then, I should be able to put out quite a few films and keep pursuing my film work, for as long as I’m able to.
