The lighting, shooting style, and edit!
Lighting
The lighting for the film is designed to be delicate, warm, soft and gentle - with particular tones like orange and pink that will come across stronger than other tones. We are going to play with lens flares with natural lighting when we can, and emphasize the boldness of open flames, firelight on skin, and the striking of matches as much as possible to bring out the symbol of fire in the film. However, the house has many large windows that will let in a lot of natural lighting. They can be blacked out if necessary, however we aim to try and take advantage as much as possible with what we have. We have also discussed the idea of sunlight bouncing sharply off of reflective surfaces in the house to again play with symbolism. Check out the link above for more visual references.
Shooting style
The story follows Marie very closely as it is primarily her journey off grief that sees the film through. We have therefore decided to take full advantage of this and use CU and MCU as much as possible, paired with beautiful lighting that reflects her inner feelings. There will be lots of ECU on flames and matches to emphasize the drama, and we are using Vaseline to blur out the edges of the lenses for some scenes to isolate Marie and create a sense of neurosis.
Below is the first shot list devised by the director and DOP.
Below is the first shot list devised by the director and DOP.
The Edit
I want to make the most of the shots we get around anything fire related, or reaction shots from Marie, and see the whole film being quite slow moving in terms of the cut. There aren't any films that jump out at me as reference points, but because this is a delicate, subtle, very internal drama, I want to drag out shots as much as possible and have smooth, unnoticeable transitions.
I am imagining music coming in to help with scene transitions, bringing out particular emotions and feelings, and also emphasizing the panic around fire. I also want to make use of effective silences in particular scenes where tension between characters is at it's highest point.
I am imagining music coming in to help with scene transitions, bringing out particular emotions and feelings, and also emphasizing the panic around fire. I also want to make use of effective silences in particular scenes where tension between characters is at it's highest point.