Carston Hadlock – Why’d He Leave His Phone

We had a chance to interview Carston Hadlock about his film Why’d He Leave His Phone which is an official selection at the Utah Film Festival. While getting firewood John cuts his leg, but he left his phone back at camp and has to venture back to get it.

Carston has been making films for over 10 years. He’s done Stop Motion, Shorts, and, most recently, a 90 minute feature. He’s made over 50 films and he can’t wait to make more!

What was the inspiration to make Why’d He Leave His Phone?

I generally wanted to make a film that took place in the woods. They are so pretty and there are a lot of possibilities with them. So all I needed to do was bring a simple story into the picture and then we got the film!

From idea to completion, how did this production change?

The shot ideas were the biggest things that changed. It’s hard to plan shots when I’m not 100% familiar with the area. So once I got there those had to change a lot, then changing the original look compared to the end result.

What was the biggest challenge in getting Why’d He Leave His Phone made?

The biggest challenge was making this alone. Doing everything was definitely hard, with setting up a shot and capturing the audio, keeping track of everything, then on top of that directing.

What do you think is the most important takeaway from your film?

In general it is just a fun film, not necessarily sharing a message. It could say not to go out into the woods alone though, you never know what could happen.

If you could have a do over with Why’d He Leave His Phone is there anything that you would do differently? If so, what would that be?

I would shorten a lot of the shots, or add more shot variety. The shots are really pretty, but they are very very long and I would love to go back and change that.

What do you have next in the works?

I always have a lot of projects in the works, but I currently am working on another short film (details TBA), and I also am working on making another feature length film as well (Details TBA).

How can we learn more about you and your projects?

The best place to find out about all projects, and see them as well, is my Youtube Channel: Carstons Studios – Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC16Saue_U2mMak_caj_asIA