Bracknall (BFI short film)

Bracknall is a short comedy film commissioned through Film Hub North’s Scratch Me initiative, a talent development programme designed to pair emerging writers and directors to develop character-led screen work. Written by Chris McClure and directed by Beth Rowland, the film introduces Steve Bracknall, the outspoken assistant manager of fictional Sunday league pub team Royal Oak FC. When the team is presented with the prospect of investment from a questionable second-hand car salesman, Steve attempts to rally his teammates against the proposal during a Zoom meeting. His impassioned argument, however, goes completely unheard when he discovers he has been on mute throughout — while the rest of the players carry on with an entirely unrelated conversation. The film uses the conventions of video conferencing to create a deliberately awkward comic juxtaposition between Steve’s increasingly animated, silent rant and the mundane, nonsensical chatter of his teammates, establishing the character and the wider comedic world of Bracknall.

I worked as Editor and GFX Designer, taking the project through the post-production process from the assembly and edit of the footage through to the creation of the film’s video-call interface. Working in After Effects, I designed and animated a bespoke Zoom-style UI, incorporating motion graphics and interface elements to convincingly recreate a live video conference environment. A key editorial challenge was synchronising the individual character feeds and constructing the timing of the conversation around Bracknall’s silent, increasingly animated rant. The edit relied heavily on precise timing and visual juxtaposition to land the comedy, with the graphics and editorial working together to create the illusion of a genuine video call.