SECOND

Twin sisters Sybil and Sasha try to come to terms with their differences only to discover a haunting supernatural tragedy.

Writer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Karl Richter
Sybil/Sasha: Mikki Hernandez
Composer: Alain Emile
Colorist: Billy Landry for Company3

1st AC: Josh Nile
Gaffer: Peter Nile
Art Director: Susie Rose
HMU: Suzie Hale
Sound Mixer: Lauren Kleeman

We were deep into COVID in 2020 and as things ‘normalized’ a bit with correct safety procedures, I had been developing a film idea with another writer friend, based on a music video idea I had years ago. The premise was based on the idea that twin sisters would share a psychic bond. Instead of seeing glowing foreheads or magic eyes, it would be inferred by a few words and abstract imagery to convey how they felt or what they were thinking.

It occurred to me to make a short film as a pitch-piece for this concept, knowing I could shoot it in my apartment and I could essentially do all of the things required for camera with a select set of crew to minimize everyone’s risk.

So with the most minimal crew, using poor-man’s motion control, we spent two days creating SECOND.

My goal was to create a thriller with hint of the supernatural and bring in abstraction in a way that fit into a longer narrative, in the vein of Hereditary or even Neon Demon.

Mikki Hernandez shines playing both characters and it only took a bit of simple compositing to make it all work, along with a digital ghost solved through the clever minds at Replicant Lab.