The Last Birthday on Earth
Austin, Texas | Film Short
Drama, Romance
THE LAST BIRTHDAY ON EARTH follows a determined wife in the 1950s as she prepares a cake for her husband so they can celebrate his birthday one last time before the end of the world. Made by two students at the University of Texas at Austin who want to tell a thought provoking story on 8mm film.
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This campaign raised $607 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
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THE LAST BIRTHDAY ON EARTH follows a determined wife in the 1950s as she prepares a cake for her husband so they can celebrate his birthday one last time before the end of the world. Made by two students at the University of Texas at Austin who want to tell a thought provoking story on 8mm film.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The Story
The Last Birthday on Earth is a romantic drama that showcases a couples last moments together before an atomic bomb drops and ends their lives. What starts out as a cutesy 50s film slowly becomes more and more depressing and apocalyptic. The simple act of baking a cake turns into an impossible task as the wife, Cindy is faced with challenge after challenge from a lack of needed ingredients to losing power. Her husband, Maxwell, tries to make light of the situation, but his injuries from serving in the war and a deadly cough makes a quick end seem like a good option. With each new step in making the cake, the audience finds out more and more about what will soon happen to the young couple. Cindy wants to pretend everything is fine, but Maxwell knows what is to come. Eventually the coming danger is too much to ignore and right before Maxwell can blow out his candles, the bombs go off.
Inspiration
I was inspired to write this story by my boyfriend and our nightly routine. We are obsessed with the show Fallout and we enjoyed watching it every night. He also recently broke his finger and got sick, so all the cooking and cleaning became my duties for a while. Inspired by the show we spoke about we would do if we knew a bomb was dropping soon, and all of this inspired me to write the script for the film, The Last Birthday on Earth.
I'd always wanted to write a romance, and I was challenged by my professor to not use dialogue to tell my story, a challenge for me since my favorite thing to write is witty and comedic lines. I didn't want to just take on this challenge, I wanted to embrace it and I believe my story is stronger because of that. Then when I teamed up with my DP the challenge got harder, as he encouraged this film to be shot on 8mm film, something I have no experience with (luckily he has worked with it for years) and an element that will make our film even more unique. My goal is to craft a beautiful love story and make the audience care for our lovely couple in only 6 minutes.
More on Fallout, there is one scene in particular that inspired me. There is a flashback scene where a bomb is discovered in a town, and there is no way to stop it from going off. A mother and father run with their son and rush him into a fridge to protect him. The couple embraces and just as the wife is mid sentence, the bomb goes of. She doesn't get to finish her sentence. And it was something about that, the idea of not getting to finish your last words, that really stuck with me. When I first pitched this film to my class everyone thought the bomb would go off when Maxwell blows out the candles, its perfect. However that would be too kind, too fair, and life isn't fair. War isn't fair. So instead the bomb will go off right before he can blow out his candles, right before he can make his wish.
I don't support war and bombing civilians, but it seems many don't feel the same way. I want to tell a story about two people who's lives have been changed because of war. I also wanted to explore what it's like to know you're leaving this world soon, and imagine how people act when they know their end is near.
The Characters
The Look
The entire film will be shot on 8 mm film, which will aid to the look of the film giving it a vintage and more homey feel. We plan on embracing the imperfections of film. The aesthetic of the film will be as remnant of the 50s as we can get it, from the location to the outfits and props.
About the Writer/Director
Rose is an Austin based student filmmaker with a passion for telling stories about her life with a creative and often over exaggerated way. This will be the first film she had made with an actual budget and crew, and she plans on making it her best work so far.
Check out the rest of her work on insta @filmedbyaflower
What we need your help for:
We have wrapped production and we are in debt! Here is a behind the scenes photo from our set to "spark" your interest in donating :D
e Last Birthday on Earth was a challenge to bring to life, but we knew we can make it happen with enough support and the generous donations of other people. This film is for my Narrative Production class at the University of Texas at Austin, but sadly we don't get any sort of financial aid in order to make our films and we have to rely on fundraising for our projects instead.
The money will go to processing the film, as it can be quite costly. We will be spending a good amount of money on props and costumes which we plan to thrift. I will also be getting a fellow student to compose a song for our film, since I want to give other students to showcase their talents, and I'd like for her to be paid for her work. Finally since I firmly believe in this film I'd like to submit it to a few film contests throughout the country, but that can be costly as well.
Any amount helps!
Thank you so much, this film is gonna be the bomb!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
8 mm Film
Costs $300
We already have the film, but we need to get it processed
Composer
Costs $50
We'd like to pay our composer for her hard work!
Props and Costumes
Costs $150
We are hoping to get all the props and costumes we need for this film. And we'll need to buy a lot of groceries to make the cakes
Festivals
Costs $50
Help us cover the cost of getting into film festivals!
Craftee
Costs $50
Gotta feed my cast and crew :)
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We have a very talented and amazing team of mostly students!
Writer/Director/Producer: Rose
Born and raised in Austin, Rose is currently a second year Radio-Television and Film major at the University of Texas at Austin. Originally an actress, Rose discovered her love of film in high school and was encouraged by her mother to continue to pursue her passions in college. She does it all, including writing, directing, acting, cinematography, editing and even doing sfx makeup. This will be her first big film.
Director of Photography/Editor/Producer: Aiden Hurley
Aiden Hurley has been shooting on film since he was 12 years old. A Junior studying Radio-Television and Film at UT, he has continued his passion of filmmaking to create beautiful works of art. When he isn't behind the camera he is performing on stage as an actor.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The Story
The Last Birthday on Earth is a romantic drama that showcases a couples last moments together before an atomic bomb drops and ends their lives. What starts out as a cutesy 50s film slowly becomes more and more depressing and apocalyptic. The simple act of baking a cake turns into an impossible task as the wife, Cindy is faced with challenge after challenge from a lack of needed ingredients to losing power. Her husband, Maxwell, tries to make light of the situation, but his injuries from serving in the war and a deadly cough makes a quick end seem like a good option. With each new step in making the cake, the audience finds out more and more about what will soon happen to the young couple. Cindy wants to pretend everything is fine, but Maxwell knows what is to come. Eventually the coming danger is too much to ignore and right before Maxwell can blow out his candles, the bombs go off.
Inspiration
I was inspired to write this story by my boyfriend and our nightly routine. We are obsessed with the show Fallout and we enjoyed watching it every night. He also recently broke his finger and got sick, so all the cooking and cleaning became my duties for a while. Inspired by the show we spoke about we would do if we knew a bomb was dropping soon, and all of this inspired me to write the script for the film, The Last Birthday on Earth.
I'd always wanted to write a romance, and I was challenged by my professor to not use dialogue to tell my story, a challenge for me since my favorite thing to write is witty and comedic lines. I didn't want to just take on this challenge, I wanted to embrace it and I believe my story is stronger because of that. Then when I teamed up with my DP the challenge got harder, as he encouraged this film to be shot on 8mm film, something I have no experience with (luckily he has worked with it for years) and an element that will make our film even more unique. My goal is to craft a beautiful love story and make the audience care for our lovely couple in only 6 minutes.
More on Fallout, there is one scene in particular that inspired me. There is a flashback scene where a bomb is discovered in a town, and there is no way to stop it from going off. A mother and father run with their son and rush him into a fridge to protect him. The couple embraces and just as the wife is mid sentence, the bomb goes of. She doesn't get to finish her sentence. And it was something about that, the idea of not getting to finish your last words, that really stuck with me. When I first pitched this film to my class everyone thought the bomb would go off when Maxwell blows out the candles, its perfect. However that would be too kind, too fair, and life isn't fair. War isn't fair. So instead the bomb will go off right before he can blow out his candles, right before he can make his wish.
I don't support war and bombing civilians, but it seems many don't feel the same way. I want to tell a story about two people who's lives have been changed because of war. I also wanted to explore what it's like to know you're leaving this world soon, and imagine how people act when they know their end is near.
The Characters
The Look
The entire film will be shot on 8 mm film, which will aid to the look of the film giving it a vintage and more homey feel. We plan on embracing the imperfections of film. The aesthetic of the film will be as remnant of the 50s as we can get it, from the location to the outfits and props.
About the Writer/Director
Rose is an Austin based student filmmaker with a passion for telling stories about her life with a creative and often over exaggerated way. This will be the first film she had made with an actual budget and crew, and she plans on making it her best work so far.
Check out the rest of her work on insta @filmedbyaflower
What we need your help for:
We have wrapped production and we are in debt! Here is a behind the scenes photo from our set to "spark" your interest in donating :D
e Last Birthday on Earth was a challenge to bring to life, but we knew we can make it happen with enough support and the generous donations of other people. This film is for my Narrative Production class at the University of Texas at Austin, but sadly we don't get any sort of financial aid in order to make our films and we have to rely on fundraising for our projects instead.
The money will go to processing the film, as it can be quite costly. We will be spending a good amount of money on props and costumes which we plan to thrift. I will also be getting a fellow student to compose a song for our film, since I want to give other students to showcase their talents, and I'd like for her to be paid for her work. Finally since I firmly believe in this film I'd like to submit it to a few film contests throughout the country, but that can be costly as well.
Any amount helps!
Thank you so much, this film is gonna be the bomb!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
8 mm Film
Costs $300
We already have the film, but we need to get it processed
Composer
Costs $50
We'd like to pay our composer for her hard work!
Props and Costumes
Costs $150
We are hoping to get all the props and costumes we need for this film. And we'll need to buy a lot of groceries to make the cakes
Festivals
Costs $50
Help us cover the cost of getting into film festivals!
Craftee
Costs $50
Gotta feed my cast and crew :)
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We have a very talented and amazing team of mostly students!
Writer/Director/Producer: Rose
Born and raised in Austin, Rose is currently a second year Radio-Television and Film major at the University of Texas at Austin. Originally an actress, Rose discovered her love of film in high school and was encouraged by her mother to continue to pursue her passions in college. She does it all, including writing, directing, acting, cinematography, editing and even doing sfx makeup. This will be her first big film.
Director of Photography/Editor/Producer: Aiden Hurley
Aiden Hurley has been shooting on film since he was 12 years old. A Junior studying Radio-Television and Film at UT, he has continued his passion of filmmaking to create beautiful works of art. When he isn't behind the camera he is performing on stage as an actor.