Hawke’s Bay short film all in a day’s work for Shane Cameron

Shane Cameron writer/producer and Suden, director, with cast members Michael Kedzlie and Luke Pell (right) during a rehearsal of his short film 31 Under. Photo / Warren Buckland.

Picture this: It’s dawn. The sun is rising as a camera catches someone taking a body out of a boot.

Well, that’s what Shane Cameron hopes will happen on Sunday in the Esk Valley as he begins filming his first short film.

Of course, it won’t be a real body.

“The film, entitled 31 Under is based on an old joke,” Cameron said.

“It’s about a gangland shooting gone wrong and we are hoping to shoot it all in one day.”

The director is Suden Lakshmanan who has had a lot of experience in the industry and recently directed Twitch, an Art Deco-themed short film made by locals in Hawke’s Bay which gained international recognition.

Cameron, who wrote 31 Under, first became interested in the movie industry when he did a course at EIT back in 2001/2002. The Napier Port worker, who is a member of the Hawke’s Bay Screen Writers group, says he has always been fascinated by movies and videos.

“I remember my dad saying years ago when someone was talking about making a movie here, ‘no one makes movies in New Zealand’.

“That someone was Peter Jackson.

Shane Cameron writer/producer of a short film talks with the cast from left, Luke Pell (partly obscured), Michael Kedzlie, and Christian Emery during a rehearsal of his short film in Haumona. Photo / Warren Buckland.

“I’ve never lost interest and have been trying to get back into it so now I’m having another crack at it.”

There are four actors and a crew of “about a dozen” who will be heading to the Esk Valley early on Sunday morning.

“It’s all voluntary and you always learn something when you are a part of something like this. People help each other out in this industry all the time.

“I really want to raise my profile with this short film and then my goal is to do something bigger and maybe semi-funded at least.”

Cameron says he chose to make a short film because “it leaves us open to a few more festivals.”

He is hoping that as the sun goes down on Sunday, October 15 they will be filming the last scene.

You will have to watch it to find out what that scene is — Cameron didn’t tell me.