First-year cognitive science student Luke Creighton is producing his first independent film, In the Glimpse.
Creighton’s movie, which he aims to release mid-April following an on-campus screening, documents the unique experience of university students as they transition from their first to third year of school during a pandemic.
Creighton watched his older sister go through her first three years of university both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as a first-year himself, he has his own experience to contribute. After taking a screenwriting course in his first semester at Carleton, he decided to document these experiences.
“For the most part, we’re all the same. We’re all in it together,” Creighton said. “A year or two or three doesn’t really make that much of a difference, it’s just that [for] the first years—this is all we know.”
In the Glimpse revolves around third-year students Deja and Davis—Davis being named after his roommate—as they navigate life in a pandemic. With glimpses into the past interspersed throughout, the pair must deal with the troubles and triumphs of spending three years in a pandemic while learning from each other’s opposite perspectives.
While Deja often reminisces about pre-pandemic times, Davis continues to live carefree despite the pandemic.
Creighton said the movie is geared toward students who were living in residence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic—but it could relate to any university student in Canada.
“It kind of morphed into something else I didn’t really aim towards,” Creighton said. “It went into a bit of a David versus Goliath story, for an underlying theme where we all have our Goliath … to conquer.”
Davis is played by Favour Shittu, a second-year computer science student at Carleton. Shittu said that playing Davis helped him find the confidence to take on larger roles and get back into acting after performing in high-school theatre in Nigeria.
At first, Shittu said he didn’t relate to Davis at all. This changed as filming for the movie progressed.
“It didn’t feel like a task at all and it made me realize that I just had to be myself,” Shittu said. “Don’t change for anyone.”
He said participating in Creighton’s movie gave him the confidence to pursue other opportunities and that he has since been signed to modelling agency Angie’s AMTI as an actor.
The independent movie was just that—independent. Creighton wrote, directed and will be editing it largely on his own but with countless supporters and mentors at his side.
According to Barrett, the process was relaxed and helped him fulfil the reason he chose to study film: to get experiences like these.
“We messed around with lighting and camera angles and all that sort of stuff, just getting as many ideas down as we could,” Barrett said. “It’s tough just finding the right one, but that’s why you have to be patient and wait until you see something that will stick.”
While he hopes to screen the movie on campus before everyone leaves for the summer, Creighton said he is also considering speaking to the Mayfair Theatre about scheduling a screening there.
Creighton said it would be cool to see his project attached to this pandemic era when almost every university student across Canada can relate to the experiences shown in his movie.
Barrett agreed with this sentiment.
“I think the main thing that I hope people get out of [the movie] is just that they see a bit of themselves in it.”
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
