First Sight. A Glimpse into the Future of Connection 🎬

In a near-future shaped by augmented reality and the growing integration of AI into our emotional lives, First Sight stands out as a bold and thought-provoking short film. 

Written, directed, and produced by Andrew McGee, this 18-minute sci-fi drama blends intimacy and innovation, bringing us into Luna’s world, where smart contact lenses promise connection, but also carry unexpected risks.

Starring Ellise Chappell and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, and fresh from a successful festival run, including BAFTA and Oscar-qualifying events, First Sight has quickly positioned Andrew as one of the most exciting emerging voices in British genre filmmaking. 

With a nomination at the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards and multiple wins across the international circuit, McGee now prepares for his debut feature, Matter.

We caught up with Andrew to learn more about his creative path, the making of First Sight, and what’s next on the horizon.

Andrew, let’s start from the beginning. How did your filmmaking journey begin?

My love of storytelling goes way back – I remember drawing comics about my dog when I was six, which I now realise were basically storyboards (my drawing skills haven’t improved much since then).

A few years later, Doctor Who was the show that opened my eyes to the filmmaking process, as well as the endless potential of sci-fi. I’d watch the Behind the Scenes after each new episode, and was inspired by how much skill and effort go into bringing these worlds to life. I then immersed myself in all the BTS features on my Star Wars and Harry Potter DVDs, and began to develop a much broader love of cinema and its history.

Then, I studied film academically at university and consistently worked on a short film project outside of the course, collaborating with like-minded creative friends. I learnt so much about the craft by experimenting and making plenty of mistakes, and taught myself editing and VFX.

First Sight explores the intersection of grief, dating, and technology. What was the spark that inspired the story?

I initially set out to write a dialogue-heavy story, as that’s something I’ve always found challenging, while also creating an emotional film that’s light on sci-fi.

With technology becoming more invasive and embedded into every aspect of our lives, I was keen to push that to a plausible extreme. I thought it would be an interesting dynamic to have a third ‘character’ involved in Luna’s date – an AI subtly guiding her within her vision.

Part of me wishes for all the perks of ‘smart vision’ technology – an invisible autocue, a way to never forget someone’s name, secretly Googling a fact I should already know mid-conversation. But what are the consequences, and how are human connections formed in a digitally filtered world?

And that’s where technology comes into play…

I drew inspiration from current augmented and virtual reality technology, and of course, AI. It’s wild to see just how far AI has advanced since I first came up with the concept. Dating apps also fascinated me; presenting yourself online in a few photos and sentences in search of a relationship is such an unnatural concept, and then you’re at the mercy of the app. Couples might share a life simply because an algorithm decided to show them each other, and that’s a bit mad when you think about it.

The other major theme is indeed grief. Technology can connect and support us through difficult times, but of course, it’s easy to lean on it too heavily. It’s worrying that ChatGPT is becoming a therapist for many people – one that’s far too eager to please.

With so many chapters of our lives existing in so many digital forms – the album on our phone that makes little montages from old videos, a dead relative on Facebook frozen in time, an ex’s Instagram page – it can be both comforting but also unhealthy.

The concept of smart contact lenses as emotional tools is both fascinating and unsettling. How did you develop the tech world of the film?

It was important to me that technology in the film felt realistic and functional. I looked at current tech like Apple Vision and smart glasses, and their minimalist designs. A lot of sci-fi tech has busy and nonsensical elements cluttering a heads-up display for the sake of cool visuals, but our everyday interfaces are simple and immediately understandable.

The memories Luna watches at the beginning come from Wist, a real app that allows you to capture a memory in a 3D space on your phone and step back into it, even in VR. It was the perfect aesthetic for what I was after, so I reached out, and they were happy to collaborate.

Everything in the film is more or less possible with smart glasses now, and I don’t think we’re far off contact lenses. Whether or not they’re a good idea is the question.

You directed, wrote, and produced First Sight. How did you balance the creative and logistical sides of the production?

I’m quite a pragmatic person, and my background in post-production means I’m often picturing the edit even while writing. I essentially work backwards from that point, and note down exactly what I need to achieve that end result – locations, number of shoot days, equipment needed for certain shots I have in mind, etc.

I don’t view directing, writing, and producing as particularly separate processes on a short film, as they’re small enough productions to grasp the full picture. By the time I’m on set and every detail has been broken down and organised across the departments, hopefully everything runs smoothly, and I can turn off my producing head.

On First Sight, the day-to-day logistics and schedule were handled by Production Manager Dario Bocchini (of Studio Domu) and 1^st AD Danny Rumbelow, who were both invaluable.

Ellise Chappell and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd bring a great deal of nuance to their roles. What was the casting process like?   

Ellise and Jacob both elevated this film far beyond what I imagined. I’m lucky to have worked with such talented actors!

I had a short wishlist of actors for Luna, knowing I wanted to cast someone with plenty of experience for such a challenging role. I came across Ellise and watched her work in Poldark and Wallander, and resonated with her naturalism and skill to say so much with just a look – it was important to me that the characters in First Sight felt grounded and real, with all the strangeness that surrounds them. I contacted her agency and offered her the role upfront, and after a lovely meeting discussing the film, she came on board!

Ellise brought such warmth and range to the role. She nailed the comedy beats – and never failed to get multiple laughs during festival screenings – while making us care deeply about Luna’s grief and struggles.

For Antony, I was helping produce and edit a documentary film which Jacob provided the voice-over. I had seen Jacob’s work (and particularly loved Bodies), and I couldn’t get it out of my head that he’d be perfect for the role – naturally charming and charismatic, and the kind of person who would connect well with Luna and hold his own while flirting.

The two actors met for the first time just the night before the shoot, a common scenario in the world of short films. Given that their characters were on a first date, it actually worked well not to rehearse too much. They ran the entire 8-page scene in a single take, repeatedly, which was truly impressive to witness. The chemistry between them came through beautifully on camera. Off set, they proved to be just as warm and genuine.

The visual tone of the film feels both intimate and futuristic. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced on set, creatively or technically?

We were lucky to have a stunning restaurant (No. 5 Dining & Lounge) as our main set, which wasn’t adapted much for the film. DP Miguel Carmenes and Gaffer Sachin Parmar are masterminds, and transformed the scene into something both intimately dark yet vibrant.

The biggest challenge was the bathroom sequence. It was surprisingly difficult to find a modern space that was large enough to shoot in, with an island sink in the middle to pull off what we called “the Impossible Shot”.

I wanted to use every trick in the book to pull off the ultimate mirror shot – using a body double, an AR camera arm, a moving wall, and a touch of VFX, we created the effect of a camera seamlessly passing into the mirror and rotating back out. It was an enormous amount of effort and coordination, led by Production Designer Giorgia Lee Joseph, who built the mirror wall and its mechanism, and AR Operator Michael Vega, who flawlessly navigated the camera through it. All the hard work paid off, both narratively as a moment of tension and beyond the film, with the shot and BTS footage regularly going viral online (a small part of me hoped it would!).

Visualizza questo post su Instagram

Un post condiviso da Filmmakers World 🎥🎬 (@filmmakersworld)

Ellise also rose to all the technical challenges presented in the film, such as acting straight into the camera and interacting with invisible heads-up displays.

With just 18 minutes, First Sight tells a full emotional arc. How did you approach pacing and structure in the script?

It was tricky balancing the shifts in tone and genre the story takes, including a quick horror jump-scare (which is always satisfying to experience in the back row of a crowded cinema). I knew it could work if a strong performance carried us through and anchored the audience – seeing everything through Luna’s eyes (quite literally) aligns us with her emotional journey, from the very first shot where our sci-fi element is efficiently established through her grief.

There are three distinct acts plus an epilogue, but I wasn’t too conscious of structure. I write quite intuitively, and emotional arcs tend to naturally guide themselves into a logical framework. The mirror shot mentioned above acts as a kind of buffer for the story’s most dramatic turn, and the expositional advert was a handy way to deal with the only time jump.

The original script ran longer with a hacking sequence as Elena approaches the restaurant — I even played the hooded hacker — but the scene didn’t work and we cut it. Elena also had much more dialogue in the opening with her husband’s projection, but editing revealed that her expressions alone told the story beautifully.

You’ve had an incredible festival run, from Aesthetica to San Diego Comic-Con. How has the reception of First Sight impacted you personally and professionally?

I’m blown away by the response for First Sight! I’m obviously thrilled on a personal level, as it’s impossible to get a true sense of the film’s strength until it reaches a wider audience. It’s had success at Oscar/BAFTA-qualifying festivals as well as prestigious genre festivals, and it’s quite rare to reach both crowds. There’s nothing more gratifying as a filmmaking than sitting amongst a laughing audience, or being told how much the story touched them. It’s also been a brilliant excuse to see new places around the world and connect with so many creatives and film fans!

I’ve also made so many professional connections through the film, and it’s given me the confidence to begin developing my first feature. I gained representation with Curtis Brown was a direct result of First Sight’s success, so I can’t understate its impact on my life.

Being shortlisted for the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards must have been a major milestone. Can you tell us about that experience in LA?

It was such a valuable experience, and what a reason to visit LA for the first time! To be selected out of over 8000 submissions is still unbelievable; we spent the mornings watching each of the nominated films in Sony’s giant screening room, and it was an honour to screen alongside such genuinely impressive films. Sony Studios was such an inspiring environment, especially seeing giant flags of all our short films hanging all around it. The tour of the Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage, where so many classic films were scored, was a highlight.

The industry masterclasses over the four days were insightful and varied, from a Q&A with the CEOs of Sony Pictures Classics and a talk on the realities of feature film funding, to a deep dive into the visual development of the Spider-verse films.

It was such a unique opportunity for a large group of filmmakers to hang out together for a full week and discuss our films, processes, and careers at length, as that would usually be limited to a short chat during festivals. The awards night itself was an all-out celebration, and the entire experience is one of the peaks of my filmmaking journey so far. I returned to the UK feeling more driven than ever.

What did winning Best Director at the Made in Sussex Festival mean to you, and how will the prize support your next project?

Watching First Sight at my favourite local cinema, Lewes Depot, alongside other films made in Sussex or by Sussex residents, was already so rewarding. It was the very first year for Made in Sussex, but it was such a well-organised and incredibly enjoyable festival.

I had convinced myself I wouldn’t be in the running for the grand prize, especially amongst all the brilliant shorts and features, so it was a genuine shock to win £10,000 to put towards my next project.

Festival Director Chris Collier wanted to give an award that would make a genuine, tangible impact on the winner’s career, and it absolutely has. Although £10k is a small part of the total budget for a feature film, which will be my next project, it’s a massive jumping-off point and a rare opportunity to kickstart development. It will go towards refining the script, creating market-ready materials, preliminary casting, location scouting, and other production preparations.

It’s such a generous prize that outshines almost all other major festivals worldwide, especially for short films, and I’m proud that this local area is so supportive of the arts. And I now have a chair plaque in one of the screening rooms – surreal!!

Curtis Brown now represents you, and you’re now working on your first feature, Matter. Could you provide us with a preview of what to expect?

It’s a sci-fi story (unsurprisingly!) about a scientist, Scott, who invents a teleportation device, which an Amazon-like company immediately buys out. He and his wife, Elena, suddenly find fame and fortune as a result, though both are dealing with a personal tragedy. Things take a dark turn when Scott secretly pushes the boundaries of the technology, and Elena volunteers to be the first teleported human, with twisted consequences for their marriage.

It’s a psychological thriller that examines the moral cost of progress against a collapsing relationship, with plenty to say about the power structures of the modern world. A film like Ex Machina is a major point of reference – understated, character-driven sci-fi with big ideas and a bold visual style.

I kept the budget low to make it achievable as a debut feature, and with my agent’s help, we’ll soon take it to producers. Making Matter a reality is now my sole creative goal, and it’s a story I’m so excited to tell!

Lastly, what advice would you give to other emerging filmmakers trying to break through with their first short?

It obviously begins with making a killer film. If you haven’t yet made it, my advice is to be ambitious yet realistic, and tell your story as concisely as possible. Break your project down into every detail, rather than approaching it as one overwhelming task, and learn everything you can about each aspect of production – both logistic and creative.

Your first film will rarely blow people away (it took me many shorts to reach this stage!), because you learn so much while making it, though a few first-time filmmakers did crack the Sony Nominees shortlist. Be mindful of your film’s audience and unique selling points, and if you’re aiming for festivals, do plenty of research to know what they’re after.

Also, don’t submit to the many scam festivals out there, online-only ones or those that charge ridiculous amounts for award submissions and a laurel are always a waste of money. Festivals will reject you, even the top ones. First Sight hit dozens of “no’s.” Keep going anyway. There are so many factors in their programming that it’s rarely about the quality of your film itself.

If you’re looking to break through, you’ll need as many eyes as possible on your film, so think about any other avenues to distribute your film. Does it address a social cause you could align with a charity? Is there a specific online community that would love it? I’m lucky that a genre like sci-fi has such a large worldwide audience with a platform like the Dust YouTube channel with millions of subscribers, where First Sight and two of my other shorts are available.

No film happens without massive passion and perseverance, so be the driving force and get your story out into the world any way you can. Develop a voice and vision that’s uniquely yours, and most of all, enjoy it!

Thank you, Andrew, for opening the door to First Sight and sharing your creative path with us. Your work is a testament to the power of visual storytelling and the passion behind independent filmmaking.

To our readers, thanks for joining us for this spotlight. If you haven’t already, feel free to explore our latest features and discover more stories from voices shaping today’s cinematic landscape.

If you’d like to dive deeper into Andrew McGee’s work, make sure to check out his Instagram profile and website for more.

Want more? Subscribe to the FilmmakersWorld newsletter to stay in the loop with new interviews, behind-the-scenes coverage, and inspiring projects from around the world.

The FilmmakersWorld Team