Nicole Delprado and Annabel Maclean on the set of Bad Vibrations.

Nicole Delprado is an Australian screenwriter and director. Her feature directing debut, Stunners, is currently in development with investment from Screenwest.

Recently, she co-wrote an unannounced feature length project for Wildheart Films and was writer and director on the Screen Australia funded digital series Shippers, releasing in 2023. In 2021-22 she worked as a Development Producer at Flying Bark Productions with TV credits including 100% Wolf: The Legend of Moonstone. In 2019, she was one of Screen Producers Australia’s ‘Ones to Watch’.

Nicole is a 2023 Page Awards Finalist. In previous years, Nicole has been twice long listed for the Australian Writers Guild’s John Hinde Award for excellence in Science Fiction writing. She was shortlisted for the NCIS: Sydney script department program and the SBS emerging writers initiative.Her sci-fi horror screenplay Minus Green was a Finalist in the Stage32 New Blood Thriller Competition and with this, Nicole was selected as a writer and director for the Attagirl feature film lab.

In 2019, her short film Magnetic, executive produced by Matchbox Pictures, premiered at Sydney Film Festival, screened at the Museum of Contemporary art, and was broadcast on ABC iView. In 2020, Nicole received development funding from broadcaster ABD for her climate-activist comedy series. Prior to this, she was a writer, director and producer of the award-winning web series Sydney Sleuthers.

Nicole loves to write imaginative stories across elevated genre and children’s including both live-action and animated projects.

Erica Long in Bad Vibrations.

Nicole on Bad Vibrations

The Theremin, as a musical instrument, caught my attention at a young age listening to the Beach Boys song ‘Good Vibrations’. My father is a musician and the idea of an instrument that you play without touching has wiggled around in my imagination for many years. It was inevitable that the theremin would one day intertwine itself with my love of the horror genre, thus Bad Vibrations was born. 

Creating a one-shot horror film was the epitome of filmmaking teamwork. With meticulous planning, we shot in a single day. Our morning was spent rehearsing with the full cast and crew to refine the cinematic choreography and all the moving parts. Then we rolled in the afternoon. We filmed entire eight minute takes that included multiple rooms of a house, as well as real time makeup and lighting changes. Truly a dance with all the departments! 

Challenging ourselves with the technical craft was only part of the Bad Vibrations journey. After all, the story comes first. We embarked on the ambitious endeavor of shooting the film as a one-take to create a sense of suspense and intensity in our storytelling. Our vision was to create one continuous shot that would fully immerse the audience in the unfolding terror. The eb and flow of the story was vital to allow build up and also breathing space to ensure jump scares hit. 

Annabel Maclean in Bad Vibrations.

A film without cuts is hard to look away from. Thus, using this technique in the horror genre creates a feeling of unease as the audience is compelled to follow the characters through each spine-chilling moment. Often the scariest parts of a horror film are the moments of nothing; the anticipation, and this is amplified by shooting the entire story in one take. 

I’ve always loved horror films, and aspired to put a modern day twist on the idea of a haunted instrument. My hope for this film to not only showcase the creativity of the team, but to also act as a proof of concept for a feature project that explores sound, science and the supernatural. 

Both in front of and behind the camera we worked with a diverse cast and crew, including people from a variety of cultural backgrounds and people with a disability. Our cast and crew were majority female, notably in the underrepresented roles of director, director of photography, gaffer and composer. 

Bad Vibrations is a testament to the talent of the next generation of genre creatives and we hope you enjoy it! 

Bad Vibrations will screen at Flickerfest at Luna Leederville Outdoor Cinema this Thursday, 29 February. Details here.