Alpha Shortreels premieres new sci-fi production

midlandsmovies • July 7, 2023

East Midlands production company Alpha Shortreels are about to release their latest film Sunrise/Sunset with an exciting online premiere.


Sunrise/Sunset is a an 18-minute short and explores the idea of fate as viewers will see the same day play out in two different realities with a quantum entanglement.


Premiering via their YouTube channel on Friday 7th July 2023 the short follows main character Amos who is desperate to fix his crumbling relationship with his partner Zara, and visits her with the hope of salvaging things. But the film promises that “One single event could significantly change the outcome of Amos' day”.


Alpha Shortreels is a loose coupling of freelance filmmakers based in the East Midlands, orchestrated by Frank Howell. The goal of the group is to advance their filmmaking skills, combine their strengths and pool resources. And above all, Frank explains that they want to “have a total blast making some cool stories”.

Frank continues, “The company's aim is to prove that you don't need a big Hollywood studio or eye-wateringly expensive equipment to make thought provoking, ambitious and impressive films”.


“The intention with our latest film Sunrise/Sunset was to make something that resonated with people emotionally, with themes of relationship break-up and loss at the forefront. With every film we put out we take time to incorporate a feature or hook to differentiate it from the last film”, says Frank.


“I started working on this film in February straight after my last film Context. Months later, after script edits, music composition, 2 rehearsals, 3 days filming and weeks of post-production we have a product. The feedback was to strip it down, go smaller, shorter and simpler. Ironically, it's the longest film yet and whilst it has none of the work intensive green screen and VFX shots of Context, this was still a technical film to shoot as there were a lot of camera angles and continuity challenges”.


Frank goes on, “Visually, we focused on taking an everyday environment and worked on the scene composition to create something eye-catching. Accompanying the visuals, the musical score is one of the first things worked on to set the tone of the film, with the sounds of ethereal synthesizers and acoustic guitars making an interesting pairing”.


Follow all the latest news and updates of Alpha Shortreels over on their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094420291326

By midlandsmovies April 13, 2025
Local Midlands animator James Pyle enters 2025 with a selection of three new films and Midlands Movies takes a look at this collection of comedy shorts from the filmmaker.
By midlandsmovies April 12, 2025
In the run-up to the much anticipated release of famed movie-maker Wes Anderson's new film, The Phoenician Scheme, Warwick Arts Centre is hosting a very special "Wes Anderthon" on Saturday 17 May 2025.
By midlandsmovies April 12, 2025
Paracinema, Derby’s film festival exploring cult and genre cinema, returns to the QUAD venue for 2025, serving up four days of screenings and talks from the 2nd-5th May
By midlandsmovies April 12, 2025
Both The Mockingbird Cinema and the Midlands Art Centre (MAC) in Birmingham are set to put on a series of live comedy nights, organised by Gobby Girl Productions.
Show More