Bunkered
Bunkered (2021) is a short dark-comedy thriller set against the backdrop of a reality TV show where four contestants have thirty days to escape from a failsafe bunker to win a life-changing cash-prize.
While three of the four contestants are attempting to solve the puzzles to win, misfit atmospheric scientist Candice is sabotaging the game and preparing for the end of the world.
When things start going wrong, tensions rise and survival becomes the priority as the contestants start to catch on to Candice’s hidden motives.
About the project
Made during COVID in 2021, Bunkered was a very ambitious film both in story and in execution. Intended to take place inside a real bunker, shooting on location wasn't possible because of COVID rules, and so the plan was shifted to a studio based shoot. This meant the art team building multiple large bunker rooms from scratch using movable walls, with much of the rigging being done external to the walls.
Because of the set work that had to be done, the DP intended to shoot with wides in mind to give a sense of space to the bunker. As such, lighting for all of the setups had to be rigged in external to the set space. I used long boom arms to get Astera Tube lights over the space in a grid, while hitting specific areas of the rooms with focused light spots from a variety of Arri and Dedo tungsten lights. This was also done to facilitate the use of Steadicam in a number of scenes.
