In 2016, I posted an article that began, “Filmmaker begins production of the ASMR-inspired movie.”

Good news.  The movie is done and available for all to view.

The movie was created by Mike Reed who lives in Denmead, UK.   Mike also creates ASMR videos for his YouTube channel, “ASMR Show”

The working title of his movie was, “P.A.I.N.” and is now released as “3AMASMR” or you can think of the title as “3 am ASMR.”

He shared with me that the movie, “Will need to be viewed with an open mind because it’s not ‘typical’ ASMR content and it’s experimenting with the genre as much as anything else.”

Mike did not simply create a 56 minute video with tapping and whispering and call it a movie.  He create a true movie with an experimental infusion of ASMR elements.

Here is the summary of the movie,

“Eris awakens in a strange new place; she’s not ink on canvas anymore. She befriends a homeless man calling himself Crow and under his guidance they set off for Crescent Star City.

Along the way they meet a broken android with serial number C1471 and a cowardly arms dealer called Sid. Sid persuades them all to travel with him to Big Ed’s Palace.

Once at the Palace an air of menace hangs over proceedings until, ultimately, all the characters individually begin their next journey.”

There is a very well done play on words in the first sentence of the summary.  You may notice it right away, or if you are like me, it will jump out to you after you watch the movie.

In my interview with Mike he shares his inspiration for creating an ASMR movie, how the movie is similar to and different from a typical ASMR video, challenges he had with production, and details about his future ASMR-inspired productions.

Below are my questions in bold, his replies in italics, a link to the movie, and more interesting links.

What inspired you to create a movie with elements of ASMR?

As an artist I’ve always been interested in, and creating, mixed media. I also realise to find an audience it’s best to go to where the audience is.

The interest in ASMR is growing and showing no signs yet of plateauing so being part of that wave, however small, inspires me to continue exploring the medium of ASMR.

I also produce small standard narrative films and I wanted to push myself and the genre to see what would, or what could, happen when mixing ASMR elements into a more traditional narrative structure.

How would you describe the plot of the movie?

It’s a story about Eris recorded in a first-person mode by her personal drone. She enters an altered state on a quest to find her boyfriend, Rich.

Along the way she meets a homeless man looking for education, a pay-day loanbot looking for a sports heart upgrade, and a cowardly arms dealer looking to avoid a swarm of flying monkeys.

The group wind up at Big Ed’s palace in the Star-and-Crescent City where it is said those dreams can be made reality. The reality is, however, entirely different to their preconceived ideas and a darkness envelopes the third act.

How did you incorporate ASMR triggers or concepts into the movie?

When scripting events in the movie certain sequences were earmarked for a more ‘slow cinema’ ASMR treatment, although due to scheduling constraints we weren’t always as slow as I would have liked!

We have a lot of footsteps throughout the first half of the movie, a lot of exterior ambience that we could not control (and never planned to control).

From the top of my head common triggers included in the movie are the aforementioned footsteps, plastic rustling, page flipping, accents, clicking, and ice stirring.

How similar and different is your movie to typical ASMR videos?

The movie is similar to typical ASMR videos insomuch as it presents a recorded ‘hyper-reality’ which the viewer must buy into and tune into to in order to fully engage with the fictional situation.

It’s very different in-so-much as we present a dream-state (thus born the title 3AMAMSR – it’s ASMR best experienced at 3am) and a very dark intimate tale which many viewers may find unsettling rather than relaxing.

What challenges did you have during production?

During production we were on a very tight schedule since we only had everyone together for a limited time. We couldn’t control much of any of the local ambiences, we did discuss dubbing some or all of the movie but ultimately we went with the audio as it was recorded in part because shooting at 60fps gave us another unforeseen headache in the edit suite in terms of technical compatibilities that needed time to iron out (thus eating away any time we may have spent dubbing!)

How has the reception been to your movie?

In general the movie has been well received, though ultimately I am aware it can be quite polarising within the more dyed-in-the-wool ASMR audiences. We are also pitching it to the more art orientated audiences and the surrealist crowd. Beyond YouTube it is also being distributed multi-platform by VersusMedia (versusmedia.com)

Any plans for another ASMR-inspired production?

Funny you should mention that, I recently finished recording The Bigger Shave (which as personal joke is a sideways homage to Martin Scorcese’s student short The Big Shave). It starts as a reasonably typical ASMR shaving video, but has a little something unexpected included.

I’ve also been discussing with TrashArts Portsmouth (who co-produced 3AMASMR) an ASMR inspired horror film. I really think that the intimacy ASMR is capable of capturing coupled with emotional terror could be quite a ride! Though perhaps not for the feint of heart.

Links for more information about Mike, his movie, and his ASMR videos:

• Watch the trailer for “3AMASMR“
• Watch the movie, “3AMASMR“
• Watch the movie, “The Bigger Shave“
• IMDB page for Mike
• ASMR channel, “ASMR Show”

Interested in learning about other artistic and experimental ASMR productions?

• Click HERE for more examples of the Art of ASMR

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This post brought to you by ASMR University.  A site with the mission of increasing the awareness, understanding, and research of the Art and Science of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.