Narrative · 2020

Our Final Thought

Director · DP · Editor · Sound

A lone figure stands beneath a smoke-filled sky.

The film

A speculative short created beneath the smoke-filled skies of the 2020 western wildfires, imagining one person's final moments before catastrophe.

The approach

Minimal dialogue, environmental scale, sound and restrained editing create a quiet apocalyptic mood around one question: what would our final thought be?

Watch the short film Watch the alternate cut

Project details

Release: 2020
Category: Narrative

About the film

Image, smoke and sound before exposition.

Smoke-filled skies, open space, sound and restraint carry the film more than dialogue does.

James directed, photographed, edited and created sound for the short, with Becca Lazuk as the lone figure beneath the wildfire smoke.

Watch Our Final Thought Alternate cut Our Final Thought IMDb title Our Final Thought IMDb credits Full credits

Additional credits

Director / Director of Photography / Editor / Sound: James Alton
Actress: Becca Lazuk
Music: Epidemic Sound

Behind the scenes

From the production.

Finished frames and behind-the-scenes photographs from the shoot.

A lone woman walks along a hazy lakeshore. — A woman walks alone beside the lake beneath a hazy sky.

A woman in a white dress bends toward the lake. — A woman reaches toward the water at the edge of the lake.

An open hand reaches into warm haze above the lake. — An open hand is held against the hazy light above the water.

A hand brushes the pebbled shore beside the hem of a white dress. — A hand moves across the pebbles at the water's edge.

A woman stands beside the lake with wet hair and a striped top. — A woman stands near the water beneath the smoky sky.

A lone figure stands on a distant lakeshore beneath a hazy sky. — A lone figure stands at the far end of the shore.

Our Final Thought

Image, smoke and sound before exposition.

From the production.

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