Despite setbacks, “Fatal Exposure” not only resonates with audiences but also chills them.

Helmed by fourth-year physics student Luke Beall, the Film & Photography Society’s self-described most ambitious film yet follows a young actress as she is stalked throughout a shoot while navigating modern-day girlhood. Shot on a tight schedule over the course of three days, the self-reflexive horror film explores what it means to perform genuinely and what happens when the distinctions between authenticity and performance dissolve, Beall said.

“The film is all about feeling a need to perform for others when you feel like you’re being observed,” Beall said. “I think that feeling within myself, the feeling that I need to perform as someone appealing to other people, is a big part of why I wrote this script.”

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Serving as both writer and director, Beall said his dual role helped him understand the visions of crew members and how they synthesize with his own. Drawing stylistically and conceptually from experimental auteurs such as David Lynch, David Cronenberg and Gaspar Noé, the film presented a necessary learning curve for him as a first-time director, Beall said. He added that the production was not only a sandbox for developing his personal filmmaking style outside of theory-heavy film classes but a place for him to learn how collaborative crew dynamics work firsthand.

“Since I did write it knowing I was going to direct it, I think many of my new insights came from working with departments that I’m not used to working with because I mostly worked in our department – working with the DP (director of photography) and all the camera people and the lighting people,” Beall said. “I think that’s where I learned the most about not only filmmaking but my film.”

Like many of her other cast and crew members, third-year global studies student Sam McDivit said she joined FPS to socialize with fellow film buffs. Primarily focusing her time on acting in FPS projects, McDivit said she was immediately drawn to the fun-loving and confident role of Elizabeth after reading her character traits.

Despite the description and her habit of playing upbeat characters, she said the role proved to be one unlike anything she had ever done before because of the ambitious subject matter and intense shooting schedule – yet one that profoundly impacted her as an actor.

“We cut this one shot where I’m staring at the TV, getting really afraid – I had to sit there for a moment and break out of it, like, ‘OK, actually, I shouldn’t be scared. This isn’t real. I’m not in danger,’” she said. “That moment let me feel it, just let me realize that I was really into this part, and I was really committing to it. And that was a development for me. … It was a growth period.”

Though the tight production was filled with lively banter and many inside jokes, the film’s shoot did not come without unexpected obstacles, McDivit said. McDivit said while filming a picnic scene outdoors, car drivers ignored the crew’s no driving permit, which heavily impeded their ability to film the scene without being interrupted. McDivit said overcoming such hardships as a team, albeit consistently vexing, renders the memories of production even more fond.

Another notable hurdle was a massive data corruption of all the footage, added alumnus and producer Brandon Nasiri. Though the footage was recovered after much panic, the incident not only garnered “Fatal Exposure” significant word-of-mouth attention beyond FPS but also made the final product even more meaningful, Nasiri said.

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Although he wants to leave the film up to interpretation for viewers, Beall said he hopes audiences will connect with one of the film’s central messages – not to let one’s desire to perform for others consume them. This message is layered on top of feminist undertones, with the central character’s downward spiral exploring the performance of womanhood, Nasiri added. Despite the technical setbacks and ambitious scope, such themes and messages resonated with audiences, made evident by the passionate cast and crew behind the film’s production, Nasiri said.

“There’s some sets where some people are just kind of there to join a club, and they’re just kind of there,” Nasiri said. “But ‘Fatal’ was for people who are about movies, who live for movies, who die for movies – it was the movie lovers’ set. … I think that really played into how it came out.”