“Consume” is a short film directed and produced by Southwestern film student Zachary Hoke. Consume is described as a psychological horror drama that follows the journey of a Native American who is assigned to investigate the brutal animal slings and unsettling disappearances of hunters happening on tribal lands. 

On Monday, November 20th, the Fine Arts Center at Southwestern held the first screening of the short film and welcomed all Southwestern students and staff to enjoy. Hoke plans on hosting more public showings of the film but there is yet to be further information about when and where for now. 

Before Consume became a short film it was an Idea and an inspiration for change. As a Native American himself, Hoke saw how inaccurate horror films displayed native culture and found that as a call for change in the film world. Hoke wanted to respect and display native culture in a horror film with his own creative outlet but also with realistic truths and discarding all the misinformation that has been found in past horror films. 

“I definitely took inspiration from seeing how native culture in the horror genre was misplaced and kept spreading misinformation about certain myths among the Native American lore. So I just wanted to correct these things I saw as problems in the film world, try to present an authentic myth, and mix it with some grounded realism. So this is the result of my doing,” Hoke Said. 

Hoke continued his vision by wanting to create a realistic and personal feel for this film. 

“My vision for this project was to create something human. To create a personal drama with a horror backdrop. My goal was to try and create an atmospheric and unsettling horror drama that just doesn’t leave your side until the end credits roll. Horror needs to invoke something within us to make us believe what’s happening on the screen is actually happening. Hopefully, this does exactly that without leaving the dramatic elements behind. Because I feel a story is nothing without characters to relate to or get behind,” Hoke Said. 

Hoke turned his vision into something real. The process of putting Consume onto the screen took exactly a year while filming took twelve to fifteen days. Overall the vision and idea of Consume took over five years.  

“This film means quite a bit [to Hoke] because it has been something I’ve been writing for the last five years…and in the last two years I started to convert it to a short film and I changed aspects of it and basically condensed it down to a forty-minute showing and this is the direct result of that,” Hoke Said. 

Hoke had a small group of other students who pitched in to help bring this project to life. This includes filming, acting, and production. 

“This film was done with just a small group of people, including myself. My team worked very very hard on this project to get it the exact imagination I had envisioned and they did such a fantastic job bringing this to life,” Hoke Said. 

Hoke has a passion for film and has already made a huge impact in the film department here at Southwestern. With all of his experiences and work here in the film department Hoke’s biggest advice to aspiring filmmakers is to take risks and be dedicated to your craft. 

Filming is a tough business and you have to be tough. No one is going to give you a shot. You have to create your own window of opportunity with some dedicated friends and colleagues in the business. Take creative risks and know your vision, inside and out, because, at the end of the day, it is your product. Make sure it’s the way you envisioned it. No one sees your vision but you, so you have to make sure to take risks. Søren Kierkegaard once said something along the lines of, ‘Do it or don’t do it – you will regret both.’”

Trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqvgG0KXFf4