Richard Batt | Film Portfolio

Peace, Love, and Jelly Babies (2025)

Peace, Love, and Jelly Babies is a documentary about Mark Haggar, the UK’s No. 1-ranked adaptive surfer. The film explores his resilience, his relationship with surfing, and the community that surrounds him.

I took on several roles in making the film. I directed and produced it, managed the logistics, and shaped the creative vision. I worked with Steve McKell, the DOP who captured the interviews and action sequences, balancing handheld and tripod shots to capture both immediacy and reflection. I also edited the footage into this 20-minute cut, for my MA Thesis film submission, focusing on pacing and story clarity.

Gulliver’s Travels: Chapter 40 (2024)

This short film reimagines the final chapter of Gulliver’s Travels, placing him in modern-day London as he returns from his voyages and struggles to make sense of the world around him.

I co-directed and co-produced the film, I planned and oversaw the rural shoot, and my co-director worked on location in London to capture Gulliver’s perspective as he navigates the city. I also handled the edit, focusing on pacing and tone to highlight his sense of alienation and disorientation, and managed sound design to bring out the contrast between Gulliver’s inner world and the noise of the modern city.

Through Her Lens (2024)

Through Her Lens is a short film exploring how memory, perception, and identity can be shaped through the camera’s eye. The project was developed as part of my MA Film Practice, combining experimental visual language with personal storytelling.

I directed and produced the film, overseeing both the concept development and the practical shoot. I operated the camera, working with natural light and composition to create an intimate, observational style. I also edited the film, shaping the material into a cohesive narrative, and carried out the sound design to balance atmosphere with clarity.

Charlie: Portrait of a Dancer (2024)

Charlie: Portrait of a Dancer is a short documentary about a young dancer who uses movement to process and express her experiences of ADHD, Autism, and Tourette’s. The film explores how dance provides her with both freedom and focus, offering a window into the connection between creativity and resilience.

I directed and produced the project, shaping the narrative around Charlie’s lived experience. I filmed rehearsals, and interviews, aiming to capture the relationship between her personal challenges and her artistic expression. I edited the film to balance performance footage with reflective storytelling, and I handled the sound design to highlight both clarity of voice and the atmosphere of the rehearsal space.

Country Life (2023)

A lyrical portrait of rural Dorset, filmed across changing seasons and shifting light. This short film weaves together landscapes, skies, and small details of the countryside, set against music that underscores the quiet drama and beauty of nature. It reflects on how light transforms the land, inviting the viewer to slow down and see familiar places with fresh eyes. 

Deliverance (2023)

Deliverance is a short horror piece and my first film shot entirely on a mobile phone. The project gave me the chance to experiment with a new medium while focusing on how light, shadow, and framing could be used to build tension.

I directed, shot, and edited the film, treating it as both a creative experiment in atmosphere and a practical exploration of mobile phone filmmaking.

The Great War (2023)

The Great War is a short experimental film using archive footage combined with my own written and narrated voiceover. The piece reflects on the life of a soldier in the First World War, exploring themes of sacrifice, endurance, and memory.

I wrote the voiceover script, provided the narration, and edited the film, shaping the material into a reflective piece that connects historical imagery with personal storytelling.

Home (2022)

Home is a stylised short film exploring the meaning of “home” by drawing visual comparisons between domestic life and homelessness. The film poses the question, what is home?, using contrasts in imagery, mood, and sound.

I compiled the piece from archive footage, experimenting with editing, music, and tone to create atmosphere and reflection rather than a conventional narrative. The project was part of my ongoing exploration of how archive material can be recontextualised to raise questions and evoke emotion.

Working from Home (2022)

Working from Home is a short film I created as one of my first MA projects. It reflects on my own experience during the COVID lockdowns, capturing the monotony and repetition of remote working. Through simple routines and restrained imagery, the film highlights both the isolation and the uneasy familiarity of that period.

I wrote, directed, edited, and produced the project. It marked a turning point for me as a filmmaker, moving from earlier independent experiments into more focused, reflective work as part of my MA practice.

Racing (2022)

Racing is an experimental short film created from archive B-roll footage and a limited selection of music tracks. The challenge was to construct a narrative through visual imagery, combining fragmented elements into a cohesive story.

I chose to focus on motor racing, editing the material to suggest the rhythm of a race: preparation, anticipation, the event itself, and the celebrations that follow. This project allowed me to explore how editing alone can create dramatic structure and emotional momentum from pre-existing footage.

The Gabriel Jones Show (2014)

The Gabriel Jones Show was my first attempt at a feature-length film. It’s a mockumentary inspired by 1990s talk shows like Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle, exposing what goes on behind the scenes through a satirical lens. Drawing influence from classics such as This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show, the project combined comedy with a critique of television spectacle.

I co-wrote, directed, and produced the film, utilising a production company to handle the shoot and collaborating with a sound recordist on set. While the finished film had its flaws, it was an ambitious first project that gave me valuable experience in writing, directing, and managing a large-scale production.

Pestilence (2013)

Pestilence was a student film project that I joined as director and editor. The story, a zombie narrative, and the casting were already set before I came on board, so my role was focused on delivering the film within those existing parameters.

It was my first experience working in a defined role on someone else’s production, requiring me to adapt to creative decisions I hadn’t shaped while still meeting the challenges of directing on set and shaping the film in the edit. The project gave me an early understanding of collaboration, compromise, and responsibility within a team setting.