aditto.

My first short film, The Muse, was a beautiful, educational, and enjoyable experience—mixed with a bit of stress and anxiety. My friend Saanvi and I had been brainstorming ideas, but nothing was really working as a story. Eventually, we decided to do a little writing challenge: we gave each other five prompts and set a goal to write at least 2–3 stories within 50 hours.

I gave her some detailed prompts, but when it was my turn to write, I caught a bad flu. I was sick the entire week and barely managed to finish one story. When we finally sat down to choose which story to turn into a short film, that one stood out. We loved the concept and felt it would be a fun, meaningful project to take on as our first film.

Saanvi was eager to act in it, and I was solely focused on directing and handling the cinematography. But when we couldn’t find someone else to play the second lead, I had to step in and act as well. We planned everything carefully—shot lists, location recces, and we even cast another friend in the main role.

We had a very tight schedule, especially with our end-semester exams approaching. Our first shoot days were on the 12th, 14th, and 15th of November, 2024. We shot on each of those days and wrapped things up quickly. But when I started editing and reviewing the footage, I wasn’t satisfied—neither with the visuals nor with the chemistry between the characters. So, we made the tough decision to reshoot everything.

About four days later, on the 19th and 20th of November, we re-shot the scenes from the first two days. And then, our exams began. We had to pause production for nearly a month. We finally completed the most important scenes on the 23rd of December and wrapped up just before the New Year.

With this project, I also launched Talkative Child Studios and announced The Muse as our debut film. The editing process was both exciting and exhausting. I was using new software and learning everything as I went. Despite not having a final cut ready, I set a release deadline—January 10, 2025. That gave me just four days. Somehow, I pulled it off.

However, once it was done, I realized the film wasn’t as polished as I wanted—especially the audio. After releasing it online, many of my new college friends, who were also studying Mass Communication and Videography, praised the storytelling and visuals. But one common piece of feedback was the sound quality.

Still, I was proud of what we created. The experience of turning something that once existed only as words on a PDF into living characters on screen was mesmerizing. I may not be entirely satisfied with the final product, but The Muse remains close to my heart—not just because it was my first film, but because it marked the beginning of a journey I’ve always dreamed of pursuing.