The Gifted Babies

( starting from the newest )

Hen

Directed by:	Aida Whooley, Gemma McCarthy and Cethan Leahy
Written by:	Cethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Adobe Premier )
Release Date:	November 2015

Plot Synopsis: Nicki reluctantly goes to a Hen Party.

Dump

Directed by:	Jan Hayes
Written by:	Jan Hayes, Cethan Leahy, Fabian Sweeney
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Adobe Premier )
Starring:	Fabian SweeneyCatherine Crowley
Release Date:	2014

Plot Synopsis: A man goes in search for his missing phone.

The Amazing

Directed by: Written by:	Cethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Adobe Premier )
Starring:	Cethan Leahy Jan Hayes
Release Date:	2013

Plot Synopsis: A famous magician returns to the scene from his 50 year hiatus.

The Beast of Bath

Directed by: Written by:	Cethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Adobe Premier )
Starring:	Jan Hayes Cathal O’Donovan Sarah Moloney
Release Date:	October 2013

Plot Synopsis: Written and directed by Cethan Leahy, this award winning film, tells the tale of a murder mystery aboard the Rusty French.

Memoirs of a Cat Burglar: Cloudy Beginnings

Directed by: Written by:	Jan Hayes
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( KDEnlive / Cinelerra )
Starring:	Cethan Leahy Fabian Sweeney James Sullivan Jan Hayes Gemma McCarthy
Release Date:	June 31st 2010

Plot Synopsis: Klaus Sharpe is a physicist who finds himself turning into a kleptomanic feline every time he feels the urge to steal something.

Flipping Channels

 

Directed by: Written by:	Fiona RiordanCethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( KDEnlive / Cinelerra )
Starring:	Cethan Leahy Fabian Sweeney Catherine Crowley Gemma McCarthy
Release Date:	June 31st 2010

Plot Synopsis: Flipping Channels is a short film starring and written by Cethan Leahy. It tells the cautionary tale of a simple minded television viewer who gets more than what he bargained for when he changes the channel.

Hardly Fairest

 

Directed / Written by:	Cethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( KDEnlive )
Starring:	Fabian Sweeney

Plot Synopsis: While a couple are finding their meal of sphagetti and ketchup constantly interrupted by work related calls.

Jan’s Production Notes: This is the first film we shot with the Canon 7D, shooting lasted approximately 6 to 7 hours and as always the editing process only started less than a few days before the deadline but we managed to get it done just in time for the Fastnet 2010 Film Festival. Editing the Canon 7D footage brought about as many solutions to problems of previously working with DV footage but it also introduced just as many problems.

First a Dream

 

Directed / Written by:	Cethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Cinelerra )
Starring:	Jan Hayes
Release Date:	December 1st 2009

Plot Synopsis: Two friends meet for tea to decipher the strange dreams that one of them has been having.

Jan’s Production Notes: Probably one of the nicest shoots I’ve ever had to work with, thanks largely to the fact that I was only required to act and later edit. Cethan had written up a script specifically for the second round of Mutant Shorts film competition ( what started off Mutant Rooms ), the room that we were given was Living Room. Cethan wrote the script overnight but we didn’t shoot it until a month later and less than a few days before the competition deadline. Unfortunately this required an all night editing session and I had to work the following morning, fortunately this  also ran the same time half of Cork become flooded resulting in me having to work from home with occasional naps 🙂

Milton Murder Mystery

Directed / Written by:	Jan Hayes
Co-Directed / Co-Written by:	Cethan Leahy Aida Whooley
Edited by:	Jan Hayes  (Cinelerra)
Starring:	Jan Hayes Cethan Leahy Mylton the Cat
Release Date:	September 9th 2009

Plot Synopsis: aBorrowing heavily from A House on Haunted Hill, MMM tells the story of 4 Welsh people are given the opportunity to win themselves an apartment provided they stay the night there with the previous occupant’s cat. Contains: Mystery, Murder and Milton

Jan’s Production Notes: After True Love Leaves No Traces was planted online soon after it received a very positive reception from the general public i.e family and friends. On a high, we were intent on making another film for the summer of 08. So I wrote Let The Sleeping Cat Lie, a story about a policeman who one day receives a mysterious parcel containing a narcoleptic cat who turns his life upside down as he befriends his miserable wife and initiates a vendetta against our hero with a string of murders that he frames him for. Unfortunately the script was far too ambitious and long ( 35 pages ), the casting fell apart so in the end the project was eventually shelved. Several days later we started to shoot Milton Murder Mystery with nothing but a vague story idea to work with. Most of the dialogue that was uttered in the footage was clearly made up on the spot since we knew it was going to be dubbed in post production. We spent a good 3 tough days shooting and re-shooting . The next 16 months was spent shooting and re-shooting small clips of just myself and Cethan but a good portion of the work was involved in audio synchronization, dubbing and Foley work so 99% of the sound you hear from the film is not from the footage but recorded months later.  This was by far the most taxing film I’ve ever had to edit and produce.

 

Cork Christmas Carol

Directed / Written by:	Cethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Cinelerra )
Starring:	Jan Hayes Cethan Leahy
Release Date:	December 23rd 2008

Plot Synopsis: A modern day re-telling of Charles Dickens classic which takes in the heart of Cork City and this time done in the perspective of the 3 ghosts.

Jan’s Production Notes: It was Cethan’s dream to make a Christmas Special, he had woken up in the middle of the night and started writing a story from thin air and finally written the first draft for CCC. Myself and Cethan spent several weeks on pre-production on the film, doing test shots, preparing special effects, planning and constantly rewriting the script. It was shot and edited within the space of a week. It was a tough production due to the timing constraints we enforced on ourselves but we managed to get it on the website before the 24th. This was to be the first film that was shot on the new Mini-DV camera, Canon GL2. My favorite bit has always been the sing-a-long ending.

Trippers Through Time

 

Directed / Written by:	Cethan Leahy
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Cinelerra )
Starring:	Jan Hayes Cethan Leahy
Release Date:	May 2008

Plot Synopsis: 3 Cork friends are sent back in time to the 1950’s. Through ingenuity and some forward knowledge, they decide on their future in the past.

Jan’s Production Notes: Made for the Bangor Film Festival. Cethan Leahy’s first film made since Friend of a Friend. Made the space of 48 hours, TTT received a somewhat lukewarm response, although the ‘Missing Car Park’ gag seemed to have gotten a very good reaction and Piratehelm got 2nd place for Best Actress.

True Love Leaves No Traces

Directed / Written by:	Jan Hayes
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Cinelerra )
Starring:	Jan Hayes Cethan Leahy Mylton the Cat
Release Date:	March 2008

Plot Synopsis: A romantic evening in an apartment is suddenly spoiled when the furry little flatmate decides to intervene.

Jan’s Production Notes: This film was made for a college assignment as part of the Interactive Media course in UCC. Originally it was supposed to feature a much larger cast and intended to be the Worksheets reunion that we wanted to have. Alas we only ended up with half the crew. This was to be the first proper Gifted Babies production with a story. This was also Milton’s debut film. The majority of the shoot was done in a single evening, cutaway and various close ups were done later by myself with the help of Cethan and Rieke. Generally it was very well received although the only complaint was made about the poor dubbing. That was intentional by the way 😉 .

Worksheet

Directed / Written by:	N/A
Edited by:	Jan Hayes ( Cinelerra )
Starring:	Jan Hayes Cethan Leahy Shane Grainger David Phelan, Andrew Mills The Voice of Aidan Sliney.
Release Date:	October 2007

Plot Synopsis: N/A

Jan’s Production Notes: This was the film that pretty kick started this collaboration of a bunch of old UCC students. A band of wannabe film makers got together in an attempt at making a film as part of a 24 hour competition with a given theme. We had two teams from the same group signed up for the competition so we  had two themes to work with, one called Worksheet and the other being A need to comment, guess which one we tried filming? We ended up only producing up with bits and pieces, and overall we abandoned the project. It seemed that our rag-tag merry group weren’t up to the task of getting it done but I realised there was enough random footage available to piece together a film that’s dedicated to the art of procrastination. This is the film where the Gifted Babies group got it’s name from and it shall always have a warm place in my heart.