How much horror can you convey in only seven minutes?
The Tide has an answer: plenty.
Filmed on the Mavillette Beach near Clare, The Tide is one of several short films being shown at Hellifax Horror Fest, playing during the final block of their short film programming at the Carbon Arc Cinema on Oct 18 at 3:30pm.
As actor, co-writer and co-producer Danielle LeBlanc says, it’s a film tied closely to her growing relationship with the Mavillette Beach, originally a place of comfort for the Toronto-based artist.
In her adulthood, she would find the same beach to eerie and unsettling: the perfect place to shoot a short horror film with her partner, director Ian Rayburn, while visiting home in September.
The Tide, featuring LeBlanc as its one-and-only actor, is about the terror behind the decisions we make and how they haunt us. Filmed almost entirely on Mavillette Beach, it came to LeBlanc on a sleepless night while in Clare.
“When we wake up the next day, I was like, I know this is kind of nuts and we’re on a trip, but like, here’s the idea,” says LeBlanc in an interview with The Coast.
They only had four days left of their trip. They started writing the script immediately and took their camera meant to capture parts of their vacation, an Ozmo Pocket, to the beach for a proper film shoot.
“We went to Mavillette Beach… the sun was starting to set,” she says. “We filmed that stuff that evening, and then we were like, well, now we have to shoot the rest of the movie.”
By the time they could film the rest, it was the last day of their vacation. Although they tried to film, the weather was too stormy and the water too rough for LeBlanc to submerge herself in the ocean.
“We filmed for like, one evening, and then we filmed everything else in a day,” says LeBlanc. “We had one day. We were like, well, we’re leaving tomorrow morning at like 8am, so this is it. If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it.”
Miraculously, they did it. Once they returned to their home in Toronto, Rayburns would get to editing the film. The result is a seaside horror flick, powerful in its message while feeling deeply personal due in part to LeBlanc’s performance, perhaps further enhanced by her history with Mavillette Beach.
“I’ve travelled quite a bit, but Mavillette Beach is forever my favourite,” says LeBlanc. “It’s really special. I reflect a lot on this kind of stuff. I grew up in Clare and there was a time, of course, I couldn’t get wait to get out of there. You know, when you’re a teem, like, get me out of there.
“Then, when you go home as an adult, it’s like, I started appreciating my hometown in an entirely different way once I saw it through kind-of fresh eyes.”
Part of why the film works is the strength between it’s co-producers, LeBlanc and Rayburns. Not all couples could film together without a hiccup or two, but LeBlanc says they not only compliment each other, but support each other through the process.
“We’re together, we met through the industry and now we get to do this,” she says. “Pursuing a passion in the film industry is hard. It’s not easy. It’s very cut throat.
“To me, I think it’s a benefit to work directly with your partner, because then you directly have family to keep you in a positive perspective… When things are hard, we can click off the work and be like, yes, we’re humans and we’re here for each other.”
When asked if the impromptu film enhanced their vacation, LeBlanc answered with a resounding yes.
“It’s our passion,” she says. “We love it. The creative idea came out of relaxation. When you sometimes let things go, and you give your mind a rest and you just let yourself enjoy life, sometimes creativity comes when you’re not trying.
The film premieres during Hellifax at the Carbon Arc Cinema on Oct 18. After taking the film through the festival circuit, LeBlanc says they hope to release The Tide online. For tickets to the short film showing, check out the Hellifax website. To learn when the film is released online or for other film showing, follow LeBlanc on Instagram.
