The Pre-Shoot: Methods and Madness

So, as I've mentioned in previous posts, one of our hurdles in producing this film was the requirement that we effectively split the shooting in two. The reason behind this is the fact that much of the film takes place with Nick, the central character, viewing old tapes of himself and Alice.

I decided that the best method of us recording all these essential clips would be to completely subvert the manner in which the 'official' shoot would be done. So, instead of utilising a large crew and complex equipment over a short intensive period of time, I resolved to shoot the film with only myself and the two actors, with one HDV camera which would be handled by the actors, over a period of several months. What came out of this experiment were over a dozen workshopped improv 'scenes' of StJohn and Gita, in character, dramatising different moments in their supposed relationship.

This was a highly unusual method of shooting for me, as I'm usually a bit of a control freak who wants the camera to be exactly where I envision it, the lighting to be perfect, the sound flawless etc. Shooting in this hand-held manner, I effectively forced myself to throw away all my techie impulses and just focus on the interaction of the central characters. It created very interesting scenarios where the actors and I would devise a scene, emotional beats and all, then the actors would walk off and perform their roles, with nobody present except the camera. I imagine it's a little strange to be committing to a performance with no audience visible.

Of course, not wanting to make things too 'easy' for myself, I decided that all of our workshopped scenes would take place in wildly different locations. So, over the course of about three months, we drove all around and outside the metro area. Though the large bulk of our focus was on performance and achieving a raw, 'truthful' picture of this couple, I did not want the footage that Nick views to be visually mundane or unappealing.

Having now done our first day of 'official' shooting, I think more than ever I appreciate the vastly different method by which we recorded our home video stuff. It was a wild, and weirdly personal journey. Being in such close proximity with your actors, with none of the usual technical or personnel accouterments, creates a very intimate space for performance and film. I cherish the fact that we got the opportunity to experiment with such a wildly different form of movie-making and get some great usable footage footage at the same time!