The Weight of Waiting

The Weight of Waiting is a short cinematic fashion film directed by Oliver J Frisby, exploring anticipation, anxiety, and the quiet tension of waiting for something that may never arrive. Set inside the attic of Doncaster Unitarian Church, the film follows a man performing a series of compulsive rituals as he prepares for an imagined event that never materialises.

As 1st Assistant Director, I worked closely with the director and crew to manage the flow of the shoot and maintain focus on the film’s precise visual language. With a style built around locked-off frames, subtle movement, and carefully composed object interactions, the production relied heavily on timing, rhythm, and disciplined set organisation to achieve its meditative tone.

The film’s minimalist environment, consisting of symbolic objects such as a piano, phone, chair and rug, demanded careful coordination between performance, camera, and blocking to maintain the ritualistic structure of the sequence. My role involved ensuring each beat of the protagonist’s repetitive actions translated clearly on screen while keeping the production moving efficiently.

The result is a quiet, atmospheric piece that leans into surreal tension and stillness, allowing the audience to sit inside the protagonist’s anxiety as time continues to pass around him.