My name is Griffin Moeller, and my senior project is a short horror piece that serves as the conclusion to a trilogy of short films I have developed for my YouTube channel called The Main Character Trilogy. This final entry, No One, proceeds Main Character and Villain and is inspired by contemporary political and social censorship. It explores the dissonance between seemingly quiet digital spaces and devastating realities.
While this concluding short film officially began development in September 2025, this trilogy is a passion project a year-and-a-half in the making. What began as a personal creative venture has evolved into a legitimate film production that has allowed me to demonstrate the skills I have learned in scriptwriting, directing, producing, cinematography, editing, acting, etc. With the help of a small production team, I could not be prouder of the final piece.
Why this project?
Ever since I began taking classes in the video production emphasis, I have wanted to practice my skills on my own time, outside of class assignments. Without restraints, I was able to create the first two films in this trilogy. However, my ambitions for this final chapter necessitated better equipment, larger locations, and the guidance of a faculty film advisor. I realized that I had the perfect opportunity to demonstrate everything I have learned at this university with a personal touch. It was also particularly exciting to imagine this fictional world I had developed through the lens of professional gear and a precise workflow; I have always tried to inject a lot of emotional vulnerability into these stories, so I was happy to see my vision validated.
The Production Process
Pre-Production
The earliest stages of creative ideation took place in July 2025. I wrote the first draft of the script and then tucked it away for the summer in order to approach it with a fresh perspective once I officially started the senior project class. Once a second and final draft was written, I reached out to my friends to ask for their help in filming. Since I was going to be onscreen for the film and needed someone to help supervise the script, I asked Samantha Kimpel to be my assistant director. Likewise, camera operations and lighting were carried out by Reilly Denyer, although the cinematography was still developed by me. I chose my good friend Emily Ross to be my audio supervisor and an additional wardrobe consultant. Emily also helped me location scout for the main scene of the film, which ended up being the Snow Building 269 Recital Hall.
The next phase was the development of shot lists. I translated the script into individual shots, which were further organized into a shooting order for time management purposes. Once I had each shot planned out, I began to draw storyboards to figure out how to effectively communicate the emotions through framing and structure. To help out Reilly in lighting, I also drew top-down setups of each shot which show an aerial perspective of the talent, camera, lights, and props.
One of the most exciting things for me was the opportunity to use the school’s Pavo Anamorphic Lens kit. I knew that I wanted to demonstrate the struggles of the main character, but I was nervous about abandoning the visual style of the two previous short films, which use a boxed-in 4:3 aspect ratio. Anamorphic lenses are incredibly wide, so I decided to use them to my advantage for the main scene and introduce a level of isolation in the frame that felt less cramped, and instead hauntingly empty. Even so, the final scene uses traditional spherical lenses and a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Makeup was accomplished by Samatha and coordinated with Reilly. The only makeup we planned to use was for the first day of filming. I wanted my character to appear slightly disheveled, and I decided to take advantage of the black and white cinematography and use blue/green makeup to accentuate the bags underneath my eyes.
I worked with Emily to find a suit to wear for the second day of filming. We settled on a pinstripe suit and vest (on the day, the coat turned out to be a little too big, so I wrote in a moment where the main character ditches it).
Filming
Day 1
My first day of filming took place on October 11. The scene we shot is actually the final scene of the short film, but I knew that it would be significantly easier to pull off compared to the rest of the story.
For the shoot, my character is seated the entire time! However, during the setup I asked Emily’s husband Kobe to serve as my stand-in. With Kobe in the frame, I was able to step back with Reilly and determine how to interpret my lighting setups without having to constantly record test videos or turn the monitor around.
One of the most daunting elements of this shoot was the fact that I was going to attempt to cry on camera or at least tear up. The scene carries a lot of weight, and the final shot is a long take of me staring at the camera after my character comes to an unfortunate realization. It was both a unique opportunity for me as a director to talk through the acting process with myself, and to also allow Samantha to guide my train of thought.
Ultimately, I am proud of my performance as both a director and as an actor during this shoot. But the biggest signal of my growth as a videographer was that I compared this shoot with the production of Main Character, that I made haphazardly by myself. Without my crew, No One would not have been able to be nearly as successful as it turned out to be!
Day 2
While my second and final day of filming was postponed longer than expected (which I will address in the “challenges” section), I could not be happier with how the evening went!
This shoot was a particularly complicated one to pull off; we had many unique camera movements, intense angles, bold lighting and color scenarios, etc. In order to mitigate our turnaround time between shots, I organized the shoot according to the lens setup. That way, Reilly and I were able to move shot to shot without the repeated hassle of switching lenses.
Unlike the first shoot, this day involved plenty of audio. This meant that Emily was able to coordinate with Reilly to monitor the audio levels of my dialogue and make sure that all the lines were captured successfully. But Emily, like everyone else, also lent her hand on helping out in all areas of production.
Post-Production
The editing phase of production has always been a daunting task for me. They say that a movie is created three times: during the writing and pre-production phase, during filming, and once more in the editing bay. While I was excited to dive into developing the color language of the film, I was equally nervous for sound design.
Similar to the shooting order, I completed the editing of the final scene before even filming the main scene. I attempted to mimic the visual style of the two previous short films in this trilogy by using a 4:3 aspect ratio. However, in order to subtly mimic the anamorphic lenses used on the main scene, I added a “radial blur” to most shots that distorted the edges of the frame. While it does not look entirely the same as the lenses, it added a fun visual element that I had not initially planned for!
For the main scene, I began tinkering with the color grade as soon as the evening after our shoot. Locking in the “look” of the film was a tedious process but ultimately pushed me to search for unique methods to accomplish what I was looking for. The same could be said for the actual editing or “cutting” process, which required me to find figure out how to accomplish the story’s “glitch” effects. I did not take many creative liberties as far as straying from the script/shot list goes, but I still actively looked for ways to streamline or clarify the film without robbing it of its inherently abstract nature.
The sound design of the piece was not as challenging as I anticipated but still took some searching to find the best audio clips from free sources online and from my own recording. One particular dilemma involved picking the piece of music that plays at the beginning of the short film. I had found a really wonderful song online that would require a paid license, but I was also struggling to find an acceptable piece of music from free sources. Ultimately, I decided to use keep searching for something free and finally settled on something usable and beneficial for the film.
What I Learned
Challenges
The biggest challenge we faced while filming was due to my own lack of preparation: we had to postpone filming since the location in the Snow building was not available the morning of our planned shoot. After overcoming my own disappointment in myself and my lack of proper communication, I made a variety of calls and visits to find a way to properly reserve the location. In the end, I managed to secure an approved video request form from the scheduling office, the support of the ward that held sacrament meeting in the room on Sunday, November 2 (our day of filming), and the approval of the Snow Building Committee for our shoot. This challenge reminded me of my repeated struggles with producing. The role does not come naturally to me, but these tasks allowed me to practice the skills I had learned to properly communicate and execute on developing a good production plan.
Another challenge that I faced (which I have dealt with many times) was placing myself in the leading role while also writing, directing, producing, etc. I cast myself in order to maintain the continuity and integrity of the trilogy, but it also necessitated some separation between a directing mindset and an acting mindset. This is where my teammates were incredibly helpful, but there were times in which I was so focused on directing that it took a little too long to lock in a good performance. In the first scene of the film, my character has a monologue. With my mind so focused on the feasibility of accomplishing the shot practically, it took me four or five takes to actually remember all of my lines. Even so, the final monologue differs from the script because I tried to let myself feel the emotions of the moment. This taught me how to balance my roles evenly and devote equal time to them, but also to start seeking out other actors to work with in the future.
Successes
Having a team to help me bring the film to life was the best thing that could have happened for No One. The ambition with which I approached the project simply could not have been accomplished by myself. Every team member was willing to cooperate with my vision, but I was able to facilitate a positive creative environment of problem-solving and decision-making. For example, the first shot of the film was a feat of engineering in of itself: I was acting, Emily monitored the audio, Reilly held the camera while walking down the stairs and maintaining focus, Kobe guided Reilly down the stairs to make sure she did not stumble, and Samantha managed the stage lights and gave me cues. Even though it took a few tries, every attempt got closer to a usable product because of our willingness to improve and progress.
In my opinion, the biggest success of this experience is that the film was completed. Beyond the emotional satisfaction of concluding this trilogy, the pride I feel in successfully project-managing this single film only gives me the motivation to make even more films. Despite the fact that there are always difficult decisions to make and production horror stories, I have not turned away from video production; I love it. The biggest success of this film is that it exists, which is actually the direct antithesis of what the main character comes to understand at the story’s conclusion.
The Final Film
I hope you enjoy watching No One!
Additional BTS
