REALITY CHECK
WRITTEN by Naomi Strain
FEATURING: Naomi Strain & Donna Botha
DIRECTOR: Martyn van Tonder
DOP & EDIT: Dave Kwant
PRODUCED by Vision Co
GRIP: Hamish McClatchy
SET BUILD & AC: Abe Cooper
Reality Check is a short film exploring the blurred line between humans and AI. It was shot in a single day in the Tasman region.
It won Regional awards for Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actor, Cinematography, and Editing at the Top of the South Film Festival in 2025 .
After being approached with a great script that leant itself to a visual story, we were keen to explore what could be achieved with a studio-based setup, minimal crew and just two actors.
Our team built a small set inside a cyclorama to create the ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ environments. A jib-mounted camera on a dolly allowed us to move between them seamlessly without the need for VFX.