01 / The story
Who gets to stay in the body?
A dying man turns to experimental technology to take over a woman’s body. When her consciousness refuses to disappear, a promised escape becomes a struggle over identity and agency. Dirty Halos brings that conflict into the bars and back rooms of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
YouTubeVisual effects
Building the unseen.
Practical production design gives the film a physical world. Visual effects extend what the camera can see. This exterior comparison shows the photographed location alongside the finished Halo environment, connecting the live-action setting to the larger world of the film.
02 / Behind the work
A real place, an altered reality
Filmed at Pinpoint and Swoon, the project places speculative technology inside recognizable, lived-in locations. My work spans directing and production design through editing, visual effects and the score, connecting the physical world of the film to its finished image.
03 / Behind the work
Building the world on camera
The production design is part of the storytelling: practical props, distressed surfaces and graphics give the technology a physical presence. The accompanying behind-the-scenes film looks at the production design techniques used to build that world.
YouTubeProject file
Details & credits
- Project
- Dirty Halos
- Year
- 2025
- Format
- Sci-fi short film
- My contribution
- Director / Production Design / Editor / VFX / Score
- Writer / Director
- Zac A. Counts
- Cast
- Penelope Giese — Morgan; Scott Doss — Travis; Ethan Flake — Butch; Vu Ha — Dr. Jacques Lacan; Zak Wonder — Bartender
- Production
- fairlyOdd
- Locations
- Fayetteville, Arkansas — Pinpoint and Swoon
