We often tease the things we like. Case in point: Elliott Maguire’s horror flick about the enormously popular virtual gathering place Clubhouse. In an interview following the movie, UK-based Maguire takes us behind the scenes of this contemporary satire.

Interview with Elliott Maguire

MobileMovieMaking: Let’s start with the subject of your movie: Clubhouse. Why do you spend time there?

Maguire: Clubhouse has been pretty enjoyable in the most part so far. I’m an introvert and more of a listener in general so maybe haven’t been using it to it’s full potential yet, but there’s some really interesting discussions on there, especially for filmmakers and film lovers. I always immediately think of a horror scenario with anything new or trending, and there have been a couple of “speed networking” rooms on the app that are a little pointless. Everyone wants the follows, but they don’t want to follow. So the only person gaining followers is the room moderator, and they’re always super perky and super nice and I thought “what’s the evil version of this? What if the networking was more sinister than we thought?” and the idea just went from there. But overall I enjoy Clubhouse for what it is, just another social media app.

MobileMovieMaking:  Do you view “Welcome to the Club” as being a satire?

Maguire: Yeah I guess so, this is one of the first ones I’ve done where I’ve actually tried to make it funny instead of being unintentionally funny. There’s references to Evil Dead in there, and I tried to give it a really sunny and almost soap opera look to make it a slightly lighter tone. In terms of satire, yeah I guess there is something creepy about being able to network and spread your agenda and beliefs to strangers all around the world. Whats to stop a satanist from causing the apocalypse on social media?

MobileMovieMaking: Did you script the action?

Maguire: No and I’m really starting to struggle with not being prepared. I don’t think a script is needed for these 3-5min shorts as they’re more like little vignettes, but I definitely need to start doing storyboards or at least a shot list. I kind of just decide to do things on the spur of the moment most of the time which makes things take so much longer. I’d advise everyone, no matter how small or short the project, to prep as much as they can.

MobileMovieMaking: How did you create the audio for the Club voices?

Maguire: I literally just recorded the speaking straight into GarageBand, and used the Telephone filter on that app. That was it. It’s cheating really, but it’s available to use and saved me a lot of time!

MobileMovieMaking: If you’re OK with giving away your magic trick, could you tell us how you achieved that final shot?

Maguire: It was really simple. I just filmed the take with at the table, and then in the same take without moving the camera, played the part of the demon. Then in LumaFusion, I duplicated the shot and cropped one layer so that it created a split-screen. Because it was the same take and angle, there was no changes in lighting or anything so it matched seamlessly. For the glowing eyes, I used a lens flare effect in an app called VideoLeap that allows you to keyframe effects. After that I sped up the frames to make the movement a little more unnatural.

MobileMovieMaking: Did you encounter any unexpected problems during the shoot?

Maguire: Mainly the amount of daylight and not having an ND filter. I don’t have external lenses so I tried to diffuse the light as much as I could with some Sellotape (comparable to Scotch Tape) that I put my thumbprint on, at least made the light more soft. Other than that and having to think of the shots on the spot because I didn’t plan properly there were no real issues.

MobileMovieMaking: Did you learn anything from this shoot that you can apply in the future?

Maguire: Yes: prep, prep, and prep again! I’m constantly trying to get the most professional look with as little money, and to do that, you really have to be prepared. I’m planning on storyboarding the next one, and possibly doing camera tests the day before or something so I don’t have any surprises.

MobileMovieMaking: Any advice for novices wanting to follow in your footsteps.

Maguire: Make YouTube tutorials your best friend and keep experimenting and making mistakes. No better time to film something and show it to the world!

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This magazine has previously showcased Maguire’s “Lonely & Cold.” You can keep up with him on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
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The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen “Welcome to the Club” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.