An Inside Look At Room 317 With Jonathan Pease

By Niall Roeder…

Social media rules everything around me… You too, admit it. It’s inescapable and addictive and to deny it’s power is futile, MUHAHAHA! Shot at QT Sydney, Jonathan Pease’s latest directing project deals with this very topic and blends it with a classic childhood story. Be warned, after watching this you might see yourselfie in a different light…

Room 317, Pease’s latest short film, is a twisted story about a young girl living in a hotel. She’s stuck in a never-ending nightmare of being chased by watchful and invisible eyes. Pease described the short film as being a modern take on his favourite childhood book, Eloise. He grew up reading Eloise and fell in love with her cheeky hotel adventures.

In this fractured adaptation, Eloise has grown up and like many of the youth of today is obsessed with social media. She is constantly changing her persona and look, so much so we don’t actually know her true personality. She’s running further away from reality and each of her perfectly angled and filtered photos contribute to characters that aren’t real. Sound familiar?

Social media sensation and up and coming film starlet Sarah Ellen nails the main character and as someone with such a strong influence on social media, and part of the generation that has literally grown up on social media, she no doubt channelled personal experience when playing her role. Her supporting actor, QT Sydney, was shot in a way to showcase the hotel and dimensions of the property that are unknown to most, e.g. the shot from the Myer building looking back over to the QT façade complete with fully-restored gargoyles proudly standing to attention next to the eye-catching Ellen. “I’m addicted to films… I’m also addicted to hotels”, Pease told us when talking about shooting at QT Sydney, “QT is something you need to experience to understand”. This film at least gives you a taste.

Pease listed Academy Award winning film Birdman as an influence and it’s easy to see why. He used the same hand held “Ronin” camera housing for the continuous shots, refraining from using rigs or camera dolly. You don’t have to be a film buff to see that his hands-on approach definitely added something; these shots create nail-biting suspense and bring the viewer into her world, as if we’re desperately running along with her or even the ones chasing her. We’re getting deep now.

Lighting is essential in all film and this picture is no different. QT Sydney is turned into a living breathing thing, with each scene having its own bespoke set up to create a particular atmosphere, e.g. masculine lighting for the Oliver Twist-like character in the barber shop. Pease created the girl’s different personas using particular angles, filters and lighting just like people present the different and fake versions of themselves on Instagram or Facebook, most of which aren’t true.

This modern twist on a childhood classic is more than just a short story about a girl living in hotels. It’s is Hitchcockian mini-thriller and poses questions about our obsession with social media and whether us feeding the World Wide Web with our multiple personalities is bad… Are we all bonkers?

Sarah Ellen’s takeaway from all of this? “Make sure you’re in control of social media rather than social media controlling you”.

What ever your point of view is, one thing is for sure, after reading this you’re going to want to go back and watch it again.

Room 317 Credits

Writer / Director – Jonathan Pease (@TheJuicyClub)

Starring – Sarah Ellen (@Sarah3llen)

Styling – Margaret Zhang (@margaret__zhang)

Hair and makeup – Max May (@maxmade)

Production – Candid Films

Sound – Rumble Studios