Hello!!

Thank you for taking the time to watch our video and WELCOME to the twisted world of Cut Fingers! We’re thrilled to have you here.

We’re a team of ambitious, slightly deranged Final-year Filmmaking Students with a shared obsession for surreal storytelling. While our budget is modest, our ambition is massive. This project has been a labor of love, madness, and bureaucratic rebellion, pushing our creativity to its limits. Cut Fingers isn’t just a film, it’s a hallucinatory scream against the mundane, and we can’t wait to drag you into its chaos.

But we need your help to make this nightmare a reality. Every contribution, big or small, fuels the blood, explosions, and surreal visuals that will define this film. We truly believe in this project’s power to shock, mesmerize, and leave audiences breathless and we’re endlessly grateful for your support.

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of our vision the story, characters, and aesthetic that make Cut Fingers unlike anything you’ve seen. We hope it excites you as much as it does us. Join us. Let’s tear up the rulebook together.

Love, chaos, and paper cuts x

The Cut Fingers Team

CUT FINGERS: A SURREAL OFFICE NIGHTMARE

Support Our Bold, Unforgettable Short Film

LOGLINE

A meek office worker trapped in a dystopian bureaucracy spirals into chaos after a paper cut triggers a surreal odyssey of rebellion, blood, and absurdity, culminating in a shocking revelation about his oppressor.

STYLE & INFLUENCES

A hallucinatory blend of David Lynch’s surreal terror (Eraserhead), the bureaucratic satire of Brazil, and Monty Python’s absurdity. Imagine Rocky Horror meets A Clockwork Orange in a Kafkaesque corporate hell.

WHAT IS CUT FINGERS?

This film is an optical illusion in story form taking you through a hallucinatory descent into madness. We’re crafting a transgressive tale that shocks, deranges, and refuses to let audiences look away. It’s loud, strange, and packed with terror, humor, and bizarre twists. You won’t be bored.

THE STORY

Fingers, a drone in a soul-crushing office, lives under constant surveillance by a mysterious overseer. His mundane existence shatters when a paper cut unleashes a grotesque chain reaction: unstoppable bleeding, a cat’s explosive demise, and a plunge into bureaucratic purgatory. Fleeing his oppressive job into the vast wasteland, he battles manipulative strangers and confronts horrifying truths, only to unmask the monstrous identity of his oppressor.

This is a story about rebellion, absurdity, and the masks of power.

CHARACTERS

FINGERS: The Torn Protagonist

Fingers is a diligent but deeply conflicted worker, consumed by spite and hatred for the unseen force watching over them. Clumsy and chaotic, they stumble through life in a perpetual state of dread, scared and anxious yet quietly ferocious. With unkempt, wild hair, dark sunken eyes, and pale skin untouched by sunlight, Fingers is a lost soul trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare, desperately trying to become someone they know they’re not.

SALESMAN: The Manipulative Puppeteer

The Salesman is a sneaky, exploitative figure who preys on the vulnerable, twisting reality to their advantage. They thrive in the purgatory world, using its dysfunction to extract power and profit. A master manipulator, they whisper lies and half-truths to anyone who will listen, always on the hunt for their next victim.

JOB MAN: The Tragic Comedian

Job Man is a loud, awkward figure with a booming voice and a knack for making those around him uncomfortable. He tells painfully unfunny jokes that reveal his tragic desire to be loved, all while desperately peddling corrupt job opportunities. Despite his attempts to hide it, Job Man is just as tainted as the world around him.

These characters form the dark, twisted heart of CUT FINGERS, a story of desperation, manipulation, and survival in a chaotic world. Help us bring their tale to life!

Aesthetic

Visually, Cut Fingers is designed to be bold and unforgettable. Half of the film will be shot in black and white, while the other half will explode into color, enhancing its surreal atmosphere. We will utilize Steadicam and a variety of advanced camera techniques to create the dreamlike, distorted world we envision. Over the past six weeks, we have built a full-scale, room-sized film set, working with incredibly talented set designers and artists to bring to life the eerie and absurd essence of "office life."

Where is your Money Going?

Pre-Production: Set Design and Costume Design

Our director has meticulously crafted the oppressive "asylum-like room," filled with eerie details: heavy blinds, a cluttered desk with scattered route maps, and surreal motivational posters like "OPTIMISM IS KEY." These elements create a sense of claustrophobia and forced positivity. Costumes are equally vital: Fingers begins in a grimy child's t-shirt, later wrapped in linen like his injured finger, symbolizing his entrapment, while the sleazy salesman wears a sharp suit reflecting his manipulative nature. Job Man's casual yet unsettling ensemble completes the film's surreal, psychological landscape. These design choices ensure the story's unsettling atmosphere and characters' emotional journeys are vividly realized.

Special Effects: Immersive and Unflinching

The meticulously crafted props in this film are integral to the story, each one a silent storyteller. The bandage box, deceptively empty, symbolizes Fingers' futile attempts at self-care, while the ammonium nitrate jar, disguised as cat food, builds tension, leading to the explosive tragedy. The blood-stained "Looking to Travel" poster and the eerie, linen-wrapped rock not only reflect Fingers' desperate escape attempts but also encapsulate his entrapment. The "Hesta" cat bowl and the haunting photo book, filled with repetitive images of Fingers and his cat, highlight his emotional attachment and deep loss. These props are not just objects; they are the backbone of the film's themes of isolation and surrealism, driving the narrative forward with psychological depth.

Production: Special Effects

The film's practical special effects are visceral and unflinching, designed to immerse the audience in its unsettling world. The centerpiece is Fingers' profusely bleeding finger, achieved with precise, lifelike prosthetics to emphasize his pain and entrapment. The explosive cat death is both shocking and symbolic,underscoring the chaos Fingers inadvertently unleashes. Finally, the finger's sudden healing at the end is a jarring twist, accomplished through seamless practical effects to leave a lasting impression of unease. These effects are crucial in amplifying the film's oppressive atmosphere and psychological tension, creating a cinematic experience that lingers long after the credits roll.

Props: The Heartbeat of the Story

The film's props are central to its dark narrative. The bandage box, found eerily empty, symbolizes Fingers' futile attempts to heal his profusely bleeding finger, while the ammonium nitrate jar, disguised as cat food, triggers the shocking explosion. The blood-stained "Looking to Travel" poster and the eerie linen-wrapped rock highlight Fingers' desperate escapes, making these props essential for the film's surreal, unsettling tone.

Production: Special Effects (Practical Only)

All special effects are practically realized to heighten realism. Fingers' gushing finger wound, the explosive cat death, and the healed finger at the end are achieved through meticulous practical effects, emphasizing visceral shock and reinforcing the oppressive, controlled environment.

Unit Moves, Catering, Contingency, and Distribution

Efficient unit moves ensure smooth transitions between the wasteland and factory locations. Catering sustains the cast and crew, crucial for endurance. A contingency fund addresses unforeseen expenses, while distribution focuses on festival submissions to showcase the film's unique narrative and aesthetic. We also need to take saftey measures that allow us to create these intrique special effects whilst keeping our cast, crew and Equipment safe.

WHO ARE WE?

From the moment Director Harry first scribbled his deranged vision of a paper-cut apocalypse on a napkin, this team was destined for chaos. Producer Euan, equal parts pragmatist and mad scientist, seized Harry’s surreal rebellion and began assembling a crew as unhinged as the story itself.

Cinematographers Sid and Alfie, masters of distortion and light, joined forces to weaponize their lenses, crafting a visual hellscape that swings between clinical monotony and psychedelic frenzy. Ethan, our sound designer, thrives in the dissonant cracks of the film, engineering immersive soundscapes that’ll make your skin crawl (or explode). Editor Sara stitches it all together with a surgeon’s precision and a punk rocker’s disdain for rules, shaping the chaos into a jagged, hypnotic rhythm. Chloe, our makeup artist, brings the characters to life with her macabre creativity, crafting Fingers' haunting appearance and the surreal, unsettling look of the entire cast.

Together, we’re hellbent on dragging Cut Fingers out of the shadows and onto your screen bloodstains, explosions, and all.

We are the deranged minds turning bureaucracy into a nightmare.