November 5, 2024 • 19 mins
Shelley Hennig takes on an incredible challenge as she steps into four distinct roles in the psychological thriller "Fluxx," a film conceived during the COVID pandemic. Join us as we chat with Shelley, Director, Brendan Gabriel Murphy, and members of the creative team behind this genre-blending marvel, including Kieran Murphy, Lance Paul, and Shiloh Fernandez. Discover how Shelley's seamless performances became the backbone of a narrative that traps an actress in a surreal loop within her home. This episode promises a behind-the-curtain look at a film that boldly declares, "fame is a nightmare."
Venture further into the craft of filmmaking as we explore the ingenuity behind the immersive set design. Learn how the team, with limited resources but boundless creativity, transformed their vision into reality using Shibori-dyed drapes and an underwater city set. Get insights into the collaborative spirit and technical prowess that ensured authenticity and realism with the innovative use of a volume stage. Experience the festival buzz and audience excitement as we bring you the magic of "Fluxx": a movie about movies that challenges the boundaries of storytelling.
For our listeners, CFA’s teamed up with We Make Movies to get you a discount on production management services, including access to comprehensive production insurance and workers' comp for your next shoot.
Visit wemakemovies.org/insurance and use code CFA23 on your intake form for 10% off your quote.
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Cinematography for Actors is a community aimed at bridging the gap between talent & crew through our weekly podcast & community events. Our weekly show supports the filmmaking community through transparent, honest & technically focused interviews with the goal of elevating the art of effective storytelling.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We had done something smaller, in a sense, for a show
on History Channel calledHistory's Greatest Heist, so we
had some knowledge of what wewanted to do.
However, it was one crazy dayof filming, with one day of prep
to do all this intense work.
And it's in a fight scene andthere's different looks within
(00:20):
that one environment.
So it's fascinating becauseyou're creating this environment
, this world for the actors toplay in.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
This is the Cinematography for Actors
podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
More than a podcast.
Cinematography for Actors is avibrant community devoted to
bridging the gap between talentand crew.
Each week, our show offerstransparent, insightful
conversations with industryleaders.
We unveil the magic behind thescenes, from candid discussions
about unique filmmakingprocesses to in-depth technical
exploration.
Join us in unraveling theintricacies of filmmaking, one
(00:53):
episode at a time.
It's more than just cameras andlenses.
We aim to inspire, educate andempower as we peel back the
curtain on the art of effectivestorytelling.
Now on to the episode.
Hi everybody, welcome toanother special episode of the
Cinematography for Actorspodcast.
Here on the couch at MammothFilm Festival, I am seated with
(01:13):
a large amount of the team fromthe film Flux.
Hi everybody, thank you so muchfor being here.
I'm going to run through namesso you know who they are.
We have someone that ourcommunity knows already.
It's Kieran Yep, kieran Murphy.
I didn't look at you.
That's a problem.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
This is Kieran Murphy .
Speaker 3 (01:33):
And then we have Lance Paul and you guys met
Shiloh Fernandez already ShellyHenning and Brendan Gabriel
Murphy and Jeffkins and RickReifel.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Let's get into Flux.
We have 15 minutes.
Okay, first of all, shelley,will you give us a little
(01:53):
logline of Flux?
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Tell us what it's about.
No, no, no, but Brendan wouldlove it.
Okay, brendan wants to, or?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I can do it, but I think one of you is going to do
a much better job.
Speaker 6 (02:04):
That's me and Shelly's deal.
I talk about Flux and she talksabout the character.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Okay sounds great.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
So Flux is a psychological thriller.
It's blanketed under subgenres,so it's definitely a
rollercoaster ride of a film.
It came about during COVIDbecause we were all stuck in our
houses and it's about anactress who's at home, who
cannot leave her home, and everytime she tries to leave her
home she gets looped back intoher bathtub and all of a sudden
(02:32):
you know something strange isgoing on and she starts getting
visited by these differentcharacters.
Once you start getting throughthe story and you start seeing
that these people that arevisiting her almost has a wizard
of oz kind of effect and, um,we start tying her past through
flashback into the story, which,which you understand, like it,
(02:55):
becomes movie about movies.
And that's, that's the funthing about it.
It's a.
It's a movie about movies andwe tap into kind of the ins and
outs of the entertainmentbusiness.
But the tagline is fame is anightmare and the whole thing is
.
I'm really trying to explorethe dark side of the Hollywood
dream.
Okay, so that's pretty much thesummary of what Flux is.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
That's amazing.
I feel like I passed it to him.
Speaker 7 (03:20):
Our last interview, he finally heard.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Rebecca's makes perfect by the way, shallow is
my best friend, so we, we'vebeen friends for forever so I
think that it is so much fun tosee movies about movies at a
film festival because you knoweveryone here is going to just
eat it up.
They're going to love.
But I think that something thatis also very exciting is this
is being talked about as a genreblending film it is what genres
(03:52):
can we expect?
Speaker 6 (03:54):
so, um, that's, that's the fun part about the
movie.
There's not, there's not manyfilms that have done that, like
kill bill is one of them.
Um, but yeah, there's drama,there's horror, there's, uh,
sci-fi, no, definitely noir,suspense and suspense and it's,
(04:15):
you know, and it's a thriller.
Uh, shelly plays, uh, fourdifferent roles in the film and
two of the characters she playsopposite herself.
And uh being able to watch herplay opposite herself with, with
stand-ins, and then me beingthe editor going in and editing
it and seeing how seamless theperformances are, you can't even
(04:35):
tell.
It looks like she's reallythere with herself, and that, to
me, just blows my mind.
That she can do that and justand not even that work with a
double or a stand-in, and beable to give that performance
when she's not getting it backand she's the one that has to
give it back to herself later.
That's insane to me.
She was proud, though yeahthat's a huge.
Speaker 8 (04:54):
I mean, I've never seen an actress like her, like
she was literally playing somany different characters.
Each character had its ownidentity too, and she she would
ask questions she'd had.
She knew more about some ofthese characters than I think
even Brendan did, and he wrotethem, and that was amazing to me
.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
So actually, then I have a question about your
process here, about this processof playing four different
characters.
How are you working technically?
Does your communication changewith the crew from character to
character?
Are you changing the way you'reworking with the lens
differently?
Are you making differentchoices about how you're, you
(05:26):
know, revealing yourself or not,depending on the character?
And is that a lot to keep trackof?
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Yeah, when you started the question, the word
collaboration came into my head.
There was so much that I had todo, but I really did have the
support of these guys.
I'm not just like blowing smoke, like I'm not sure I would have
had that same freedom onanother set.
Maybe I would, I probably would, but this one was, I don't know
(05:55):
it.
Just you didn't have to ask foranything twice.
Everyone was respectful.
You know, I had Kieran behindcamera with me 24-7, brendan and
I, and he, I mean, made melaugh, like I don't know, I just
went with the flow, like I justthere was so much to do and so
little time that I did have alot of notes, like physical
(06:16):
notes, because all my charactersare on.
Either they smoke cigarettes orit's marijuana or it's.
Honestly, I had to do so muchresearch about drugs.
The hardest part was doing aline of Coke in the movie.
Thank you for- Online research.
No, I literally have notes in myphone and it's like drugs, and
then it's like all the differentthings how to do drugs.
(06:36):
It was a lot of physical stuffthat I had to figure out, yeah,
but I just took it day by day,scene by scene.
Brendan and I would talk everybefore every scene.
We would have a littleconversation, and I've never
been that way, but there were somany elements, there were so
many elements in this movie thatI just had to not get too past.
(06:59):
I just had to be in the momentand just take it as it comes,
and I just had all the supportin the world that's being able
to trust your crew like that,yeah trust your crew and trust
yourself and shiloh and I havebeen around for a while.
I've always wanted to work withshiloh, so, so that was such an
added bonus.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
And I really love the way that we work and it just
yeah, I'm just really reallyproud.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Now we are so excited to have a production designer
here today, because we don'tnormally get that.
Can we actually talk about yourprocess with Brendan, how you
created this?
Speaker 9 (07:39):
There are so many different genres, so many
different is characters,characters, characters, and I'm
playing around with these twoand hoping that I'm landing on
(08:00):
some environments that work,because when you're an
independent, you don't have amonth and a half of prep time
and previs and what do you thinkof this?
And the actors can come in andcomment.
No, no.
It's a 30-minute Zoom call toHawaii and I'm meeting my set
decorator for the first time,and what do I think I want to do
?
Do we have photos of thelocation yet?
(08:21):
No, we don't.
Okay, how about?
So you're swinging wide andyou're hoping that you get it,
and in those Zoom conversationsI'm very intensely writing notes
and trying to see what herepeats at least a couple of
times I'm like aha, payattention to that, pay attention
to that.
And then you try to land on avisual or environmental thread.
(08:44):
In this case it was water, um,because of the bathtub gag.
And then there's a cool thingthat happens.
I'm like, okay, brendan'srepeated water a number of times
now, so water's gonna have tohappen here.
How am I dealing with water?
People don't have reflectingpools in their bedrooms.
Well, james bond villains maybe, but not in this circumstance.
So we landed on uh, rememberall the drapes?
(09:06):
yeah yeah, 80 panels of cottonlinen drapes shipped over from
los angeles to hawaii.
That me and my team sat andshibori dyed.
Yes, I was in the dye roomdoing it because we needed that.
Shibori dyeing will give youthis image of kind of like the
reflection of water on thebottom of a pool.
So these were placed allthroughout the main location and
(09:29):
they popped up in otherlocations that you weren't aware
that we were doing because Ididn't tell you.
You weren't aware that we weredoing because I didn't tell you.
So they're very secretly kindof in places to keep this wet
aquatic nightmare of hersflowing throughout.
So that's like one, you know.
And could we expand on that?
If we had a $200 million?
Hell, yeah, we could.
We could do all sorts of stuff.
(09:50):
But with an indie you swingwide to try to land on something
.
You hope you get it right andyou hope that when the actors
walk into it, that it's not evensomething that they are paying
attention to.
It just feels right and they canmove along with it.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
We have some exciting news.
Cfa has teamed up with we MakeMovies to get you a discount on
production management services,including access to
comprehensive productioninsurance and workers comp.
For your next shoot, visit wemake moviesorg, slash insurance
and use code cfa 23 on yourintake form for 10 off your
(10:27):
quote he also, um, brought thatelement into all the sci-fi
stuff.
Speaker 6 (10:33):
Yeah, because the sci-fi the, the way we set it up
, it's that it's a like asubmerged science I totally
forgot that the biggest
Speaker 9 (10:40):
part of forgetting about that the way so we, the
vibe was all water and that.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
So it all kind of ties into everything and that's
you know to rick's talent also.
Speaker 8 (10:50):
We worked on a budget , a very small budget, working
on volume stages and, rick, youdid amazing work and building a
whole set building volume stageand then having that aquatic
underwater city there were verypanicked moments oh, I know, I
know there was a lot of, therewas a lot of stress going on
this movie.
Speaker 10 (11:04):
But, um, I worked with rick on my first movie ever
, about seven years ago when Ifirst came to hollywood, and I
worked on four.
This is like our fourth projecttogether and he's a freaking
genius like he.
He knows so much about movies,it's, he's so intertwined with
everything you know and he'sjust, he's amazing and he's a
god damn.
He's a good friend and I just,you know, I just can't speak
(11:26):
highly enough of it.
Speaker 9 (11:27):
It's a shame, because I didn't speak highly of you in
that first pilot.
I was like who is this long?
Oh no, in a police uniform.
Who cast this guy.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
So I want to know then, for the actors, even
though you know productiondesigner doesn't want you to
walk in and be like, oh, this iswater, you know, but do you
feel like it informed a littlebit of your decisions, like you
felt that feeling when you werethere on the day?
Speaker 7 (11:52):
Yeah, it was incredible what they did.
I mean truly mind-blowing.
We made short films startinglike 19 years ago with nothing.
So the fact that there was areal set and it looked
incredible was sort of on itsown just to me sort of
overwhelming, you know, becauseyou're just like wait, my
friends are actually pulling offsomething really incredible the
(12:15):
volume stage thing.
I don't know if you guys haveever talked about the volume.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
We have a little bit and I wish Indiana were in here
to help you talk about itbecause, she's got a lot to say,
come on, I was literally goingto talk to her and be like I'll
trade you out.
Talk about their volume.
Top note, top note.
Hi everyone.
It's Indiana fromCinematography for Actors,
joined with a wonderful kieranmurphy, who I want to talk about
volume work as well.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
so continue, because I know, talk about this yeah,
that set was just so incredibleand I think, like you know,
green screen stuff has alwayssucked um, it's not super fun,
uh.
So having an environment thatthey created was incredible.
And then to walk onto that setwhere you're like, wait, there's
, it's a computer and it's ascreen.
Um, but the way that that worksnow and the fact that you
actually feel like you're in anenvironment was kind of
(12:57):
incredible.
Um, and I knew that's what theywanted to do.
Speaker 10 (12:59):
I'd like to give a shout out to AJ wedding and
orbital studios because theywere an integral part of helping
us out make this and from thebeginning, aj and I are really
good friends and that's how Imet this character over here and
, um, they really did, theyreally helped us out a lot and
it was, um, it looks absolutelyamazing.
Yeah, orbital came through forus big time big time that's
awesome so thank you yeah, Iknow it was.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It was a lot of fun working on a stage like that
because we we had done somethingsmaller, in a sense, for a show
on history channel calledhistory's greatest heist, so we
had some knowledge of what wewanted to do.
However it was I mean, it wasone crazy day of filming with
one day of prep to do all thisintense work and yeah it's in a
(13:40):
fight scene and and it's noteven that there's, you know,
there's different looks withinthat one environment, so there's
like a whole, you know, sunsetscene.
Then it turns it to evening, soit's, it's a, it's fascinating
because you're creating thisenvironment in this world for
the actors to play in.
It's like this awesome sandboxwhere you can just create all
these little like sandcastlesand stuff.
But it's it's about being in itand feeling it and for them, I
(14:05):
think, and for me, it just comesto life more than if you were
enhancing the green screen oreven like a practical location,
because if we're able to likemaintain that look consistently
so that we are able to kind ofmove forward and as quickly as
possible, green screen.
Speaker 9 (14:19):
Suck, yeah, garbage.
Yeah, it's hard, you know,until the volume is being
persnickety, and then yes choice.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
But you could shut it down and wait 30 minutes and it
comes volume volume design is avery different horse to work on
.
Speaker 9 (14:35):
This was my seventh volume shoot, kieran.
This was your second.
Yeah, kieran and I both.
Well, me, kieran, this one didHistory Sites together.
A very different way of workingwith the set, very different
way of working with the actors,but still the same technology.
So how does you know it'sadaptable to a degree.
(14:57):
You have to sort of like learnto play with it and then learn
how to break it, to learn how toplay with it again.
You know it's big as inpre-production.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So you really you're thinking about what you want and
it all has to happen beforehand, because that's what's showing
up on the screen Right, sothere's.
Whereas green screen you can belike, oh, maybe I have some
city in the background andthere's the sun or something.
So for this you really had tobe specific, and Brennan and I
had talked about this for a longtime.
We saw some concepts.
We're like, oh, what would becool for a futuristic apartment.
And then, sitting with Rick,we're like oh, we want this.
Speaker 9 (15:27):
Yeah, something different, neat, and I gave you
this.
This was the fun part of this.
Yes, I took a hundred andthirty year old trick that
george millier invented andmarried it to 21st century.
We had a hanging foregroundceiling.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
So when you see the film, I was gonna yeah, the
ceiling is amazing, aone-quarter scale.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
Yeah, all forced perspective yeah that was the
most incredible thing yeah I'dever.
I was like, like you know itwas like a model.
Speaker 6 (15:56):
It was a model in front of the camera that made it
a ceiling.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It was so, because you have to get it right in
camera and it worked.
Speaker 8 (16:02):
Yeah, george Melier, yeah the crazy thing was we had
this.
We had the model like two yearsbefore when we first initially
started shooting and I rememberRick was telling me, oh, putting
out the money?
And I hadn't seen it and I hadno idea really what the hell it
was and he kept telling me itwas forced perspective.
So then we get there and I seethis model, I'm like, and I see
what the shot looks like it wasso amazing.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
It is one of those things where you have to see it
in camera to believe it, becauseyou look at it from the
three-dimensional world outsideof the camera and you're props
that we're going to interactwith.
Here's the physical set.
How much depth do I want tocreate?
And then, what is theresponsibility of adding in all
the unreal artists and everyonein order to create the world
behind us that is going to sellwhen we look through that
viewfinder?
Speaker 9 (16:42):
well, there was a bigger reason to do the model
too, because we've all seen, youknow, behind the scenes on the
mandalorian with the led ceiling.
Yeah, led ceilings are a painin the ass unless you have
something that reflects onto it.
Yeah, dps don't like them.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yeah, because you cannot get light over, or you
can't do anything interesting.
Speaker 9 (17:02):
So I was like I can't tie Kieran's hands.
There are battle scenes, thereare like private scenes between
two people that are veryintimate and dark, and you know
we're not gonna be able to pullthat off with a ceiling.
So I did the hanging foregroundminiature, opened the whole
space up for him that way and hehad a whole new sandbox to play
with I hope it's nice when it'sjust an extension of the set.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
You know, instead of being the whole unreal like
world yeah there's nothingagainst that, but it's nice that
it wasn't green screen and itcreated that.
So when they were looking outthe window, when shelly sees
this whale coming across,they're actually physically have
an eyeline and a movement ofwhat's going on, instead of
being like a tennis ball orsomebody in the background
walking like you know, in agreen screen suit or something.
Speaker 9 (17:43):
Oh, there's the whale you know, yes to the tennis
ball.
Shelly emote to the tennis ball.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
I mean, I'm used to that that's usually what the
experience is.
I mean, look, kieran, you, youmade this indie look very
expensive.
I mean, you all did, but you'relighting all day it was a
teamwork.
Speaker 7 (18:00):
Do you remember the whale, though?
Brendan wanted your hand at avery specific place and even
though it was there in real life, we couldn't get the hand.
I'm like she'll just put yourhand down.
I know he wants you.
I know it looks like I can't.
I know, I know I try I try, ohno fair.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Maybe you didn't give me enough props to work with,
throw another prop in there.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
You all rock and I can tell that this was a
wonderful collaborative piecebecause of just like the
relationship on the couch andthe chemistry here.
So thank you so much.
We are so excited to see it.
I think we have tickets tonightfor it.
So tonight is at 8 pm, or 8.30?
8.30.
Tickets tonight for it.
So, um, tonight is at 8 pm, or8 30, 8, 30.
So flex tonight 8 30, um, andI'm sure you'll be able to see
it after mammoth, uh, everyfestival, um, and if not, I'm
(18:43):
soon for distribution, so thankyou.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Just a real quick shout out to everybody who could
make it because of the blizzardlike my sister caitlin midwell,
and you, just you know you evermiss it our co-writer, uh
because the blizzard, and ourand our uh composer, nicholas
fitzgerald, uh mary simmons, oneof our actors, and uh emily
tremaine fernandez who's havinga baby shower tomorrow baby
shower tomorrow.
(19:05):
The whole gang, the whole gang.
We love you and miss you allfantastic.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Congrats everybody.
Amazing.
This is all good news today.
Thanks everyone so much.
We'll see you next time.
Bye everyone, bye everyone,bye-bye.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
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We had done something smaller, in a sense, for a show
on History Channel calledHistory's Greatest Heist, so we
had some knowledge of what wewanted to do.
However, it was one crazy dayof filming, with one day of prep
to do all this intense work.
And it's in a fight scene andthere's different looks within
(00:20):
that one environment.
So it's fascinating becauseyou're creating this environment
, this world for the actors toplay in.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
This is the Cinematography for Actors
podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
More than a podcast.
Cinematography for Actors is avibrant community devoted to
bridging the gap between talentand crew.
Each week, our show offerstransparent, insightful
conversations with industryleaders.
We unveil the magic behind thescenes, from candid discussions
about unique filmmakingprocesses to in-depth technical
exploration.
Join us in unraveling theintricacies of filmmaking, one
(00:53):
episode at a time.
It's more than just cameras andlenses.
We aim to inspire, educate andempower as we peel back the
curtain on the art of effectivestorytelling.
Now on to the episode.
Hi everybody, welcome toanother special episode of the
Cinematography for Actorspodcast.
Here on the couch at MammothFilm Festival, I am seated with
(01:13):
a large amount of the team fromthe film Flux.
Hi everybody, thank you so muchfor being here.
I'm going to run through namesso you know who they are.
We have someone that ourcommunity knows already.
It's Kieran Yep, kieran Murphy.
I didn't look at you.
That's a problem.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
This is Kieran Murphy .
Speaker 3 (01:33):
And then we have Lance Paul and you guys met
Shiloh Fernandez already ShellyHenning and Brendan Gabriel
Murphy and Jeffkins and RickReifel.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Let's get into Flux.
We have 15 minutes.
Okay, first of all, shelley,will you give us a little
(01:53):
logline of Flux?
Speaker 5 (01:55):
Tell us what it's about.
No, no, no, but Brendan wouldlove it.
Okay, brendan wants to, or?
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I can do it, but I think one of you is going to do
a much better job.
Speaker 6 (02:04):
That's me and Shelly's deal.
I talk about Flux and she talksabout the character.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Okay sounds great.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
So Flux is a psychological thriller.
It's blanketed under subgenres,so it's definitely a
rollercoaster ride of a film.
It came about during COVIDbecause we were all stuck in our
houses and it's about anactress who's at home, who
cannot leave her home, and everytime she tries to leave her
home she gets looped back intoher bathtub and all of a sudden
(02:32):
you know something strange isgoing on and she starts getting
visited by these differentcharacters.
Once you start getting throughthe story and you start seeing
that these people that arevisiting her almost has a wizard
of oz kind of effect and, um,we start tying her past through
flashback into the story, which,which you understand, like it,
(02:55):
becomes movie about movies.
And that's, that's the funthing about it.
It's a.
It's a movie about movies andwe tap into kind of the ins and
outs of the entertainmentbusiness.
But the tagline is fame is anightmare and the whole thing is
.
I'm really trying to explorethe dark side of the Hollywood
dream.
Okay, so that's pretty much thesummary of what Flux is.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
That's amazing.
I feel like I passed it to him.
Speaker 7 (03:20):
Our last interview, he finally heard.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Rebecca's makes perfect by the way, shallow is
my best friend, so we, we'vebeen friends for forever so I
think that it is so much fun tosee movies about movies at a
film festival because you knoweveryone here is going to just
eat it up.
They're going to love.
But I think that something thatis also very exciting is this
is being talked about as a genreblending film it is what genres
(03:52):
can we expect?
Speaker 6 (03:54):
so, um, that's, that's the fun part about the
movie.
There's not, there's not manyfilms that have done that, like
kill bill is one of them.
Um, but yeah, there's drama,there's horror, there's, uh,
sci-fi, no, definitely noir,suspense and suspense and it's,
(04:15):
you know, and it's a thriller.
Uh, shelly plays, uh, fourdifferent roles in the film and
two of the characters she playsopposite herself.
And uh being able to watch herplay opposite herself with, with
stand-ins, and then me beingthe editor going in and editing
it and seeing how seamless theperformances are, you can't even
(04:35):
tell.
It looks like she's reallythere with herself, and that, to
me, just blows my mind.
That she can do that and justand not even that work with a
double or a stand-in, and beable to give that performance
when she's not getting it backand she's the one that has to
give it back to herself later.
That's insane to me.
She was proud, though yeahthat's a huge.
Speaker 8 (04:54):
I mean, I've never seen an actress like her, like
she was literally playing somany different characters.
Each character had its ownidentity too, and she she would
ask questions she'd had.
She knew more about some ofthese characters than I think
even Brendan did, and he wrotethem, and that was amazing to me
.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
So actually, then I have a question about your
process here, about this processof playing four different
characters.
How are you working technically?
Does your communication changewith the crew from character to
character?
Are you changing the way you'reworking with the lens
differently?
Are you making differentchoices about how you're, you
(05:26):
know, revealing yourself or not,depending on the character?
And is that a lot to keep trackof?
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Yeah, when you started the question, the word
collaboration came into my head.
There was so much that I had todo, but I really did have the
support of these guys.
I'm not just like blowing smoke, like I'm not sure I would have
had that same freedom onanother set.
Maybe I would, I probably would, but this one was, I don't know
(05:55):
it.
Just you didn't have to ask foranything twice.
Everyone was respectful.
You know, I had Kieran behindcamera with me 24-7, brendan and
I, and he, I mean, made melaugh, like I don't know, I just
went with the flow, like I justthere was so much to do and so
little time that I did have alot of notes, like physical
(06:16):
notes, because all my charactersare on.
Either they smoke cigarettes orit's marijuana or it's.
Honestly, I had to do so muchresearch about drugs.
The hardest part was doing aline of Coke in the movie.
Thank you for- Online research.
No, I literally have notes in myphone and it's like drugs, and
then it's like all the differentthings how to do drugs.
(06:36):
It was a lot of physical stuffthat I had to figure out, yeah,
but I just took it day by day,scene by scene.
Brendan and I would talk everybefore every scene.
We would have a littleconversation, and I've never
been that way, but there were somany elements, there were so
many elements in this movie thatI just had to not get too past.
(06:59):
I just had to be in the momentand just take it as it comes,
and I just had all the supportin the world that's being able
to trust your crew like that,yeah trust your crew and trust
yourself and shiloh and I havebeen around for a while.
I've always wanted to work withshiloh, so, so that was such an
added bonus.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
And I really love the way that we work and it just
yeah, I'm just really reallyproud.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Now we are so excited to have a production designer
here today, because we don'tnormally get that.
Can we actually talk about yourprocess with Brendan, how you
created this?
Speaker 9 (07:39):
There are so many different genres, so many
different is characters,characters, characters, and I'm
playing around with these twoand hoping that I'm landing on
(08:00):
some environments that work,because when you're an
independent, you don't have amonth and a half of prep time
and previs and what do you thinkof this?
And the actors can come in andcomment.
No, no.
It's a 30-minute Zoom call toHawaii and I'm meeting my set
decorator for the first time,and what do I think I want to do
?
Do we have photos of thelocation yet?
(08:21):
No, we don't.
Okay, how about?
So you're swinging wide andyou're hoping that you get it,
and in those Zoom conversationsI'm very intensely writing notes
and trying to see what herepeats at least a couple of
times I'm like aha, payattention to that, pay attention
to that.
And then you try to land on avisual or environmental thread.
(08:44):
In this case it was water, um,because of the bathtub gag.
And then there's a cool thingthat happens.
I'm like, okay, brendan'srepeated water a number of times
now, so water's gonna have tohappen here.
How am I dealing with water?
People don't have reflectingpools in their bedrooms.
Well, james bond villains maybe, but not in this circumstance.
So we landed on uh, rememberall the drapes?
(09:06):
yeah yeah, 80 panels of cottonlinen drapes shipped over from
los angeles to hawaii.
That me and my team sat andshibori dyed.
Yes, I was in the dye roomdoing it because we needed that.
Shibori dyeing will give youthis image of kind of like the
reflection of water on thebottom of a pool.
So these were placed allthroughout the main location and
(09:29):
they popped up in otherlocations that you weren't aware
that we were doing because Ididn't tell you.
You weren't aware that we weredoing because I didn't tell you.
So they're very secretly kindof in places to keep this wet
aquatic nightmare of hersflowing throughout.
So that's like one, you know.
And could we expand on that?
If we had a $200 million?
Hell, yeah, we could.
We could do all sorts of stuff.
(09:50):
But with an indie you swingwide to try to land on something
.
You hope you get it right andyou hope that when the actors
walk into it, that it's not evensomething that they are paying
attention to.
It just feels right and they canmove along with it.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
We have some exciting news.
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For your next shoot, visit wemake moviesorg, slash insurance
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(10:27):
quote he also, um, brought thatelement into all the sci-fi
stuff.
Speaker 6 (10:33):
Yeah, because the sci-fi the, the way we set it up
, it's that it's a like asubmerged science I totally
forgot that the biggest
Speaker 9 (10:40):
part of forgetting about that the way so we, the
vibe was all water and that.
Speaker 6 (10:45):
So it all kind of ties into everything and that's
you know to rick's talent also.
Speaker 8 (10:50):
We worked on a budget , a very small budget, working
on volume stages and, rick, youdid amazing work and building a
whole set building volume stageand then having that aquatic
underwater city there were verypanicked moments oh, I know, I
know there was a lot of, therewas a lot of stress going on
this movie.
Speaker 10 (11:04):
But, um, I worked with rick on my first movie ever
, about seven years ago when Ifirst came to hollywood, and I
worked on four.
This is like our fourth projecttogether and he's a freaking
genius like he.
He knows so much about movies,it's, he's so intertwined with
everything you know and he'sjust, he's amazing and he's a
god damn.
He's a good friend and I just,you know, I just can't speak
(11:26):
highly enough of it.
Speaker 9 (11:27):
It's a shame, because I didn't speak highly of you in
that first pilot.
I was like who is this long?
Oh no, in a police uniform.
Who cast this guy.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
So I want to know then, for the actors, even
though you know productiondesigner doesn't want you to
walk in and be like, oh, this iswater, you know, but do you
feel like it informed a littlebit of your decisions, like you
felt that feeling when you werethere on the day?
Speaker 7 (11:52):
Yeah, it was incredible what they did.
I mean truly mind-blowing.
We made short films startinglike 19 years ago with nothing.
So the fact that there was areal set and it looked
incredible was sort of on itsown just to me sort of
overwhelming, you know, becauseyou're just like wait, my
friends are actually pulling offsomething really incredible the
(12:15):
volume stage thing.
I don't know if you guys haveever talked about the volume.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
We have a little bit and I wish Indiana were in here
to help you talk about itbecause, she's got a lot to say,
come on, I was literally goingto talk to her and be like I'll
trade you out.
Talk about their volume.
Top note, top note.
Hi everyone.
It's Indiana fromCinematography for Actors,
joined with a wonderful kieranmurphy, who I want to talk about
volume work as well.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
so continue, because I know, talk about this yeah,
that set was just so incredibleand I think, like you know,
green screen stuff has alwayssucked um, it's not super fun,
uh.
So having an environment thatthey created was incredible.
And then to walk onto that setwhere you're like, wait, there's
, it's a computer and it's ascreen.
Um, but the way that that worksnow and the fact that you
actually feel like you're in anenvironment was kind of
(12:57):
incredible.
Um, and I knew that's what theywanted to do.
Speaker 10 (12:59):
I'd like to give a shout out to AJ wedding and
orbital studios because theywere an integral part of helping
us out make this and from thebeginning, aj and I are really
good friends and that's how Imet this character over here and
, um, they really did, theyreally helped us out a lot and
it was, um, it looks absolutelyamazing.
Yeah, orbital came through forus big time big time that's
awesome so thank you yeah, Iknow it was.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It was a lot of fun working on a stage like that
because we we had done somethingsmaller, in a sense, for a show
on history channel calledhistory's greatest heist, so we
had some knowledge of what wewanted to do.
However it was I mean, it wasone crazy day of filming with
one day of prep to do all thisintense work and yeah it's in a
(13:40):
fight scene and and it's noteven that there's, you know,
there's different looks withinthat one environment, so there's
like a whole, you know, sunsetscene.
Then it turns it to evening, soit's, it's a, it's fascinating
because you're creating thisenvironment in this world for
the actors to play in.
It's like this awesome sandboxwhere you can just create all
these little like sandcastlesand stuff.
But it's it's about being in itand feeling it and for them, I
(14:05):
think, and for me, it just comesto life more than if you were
enhancing the green screen oreven like a practical location,
because if we're able to likemaintain that look consistently
so that we are able to kind ofmove forward and as quickly as
possible, green screen.
Speaker 9 (14:19):
Suck, yeah, garbage.
Yeah, it's hard, you know,until the volume is being
persnickety, and then yes choice.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
But you could shut it down and wait 30 minutes and it
comes volume volume design is avery different horse to work on
.
Speaker 9 (14:35):
This was my seventh volume shoot, kieran.
This was your second.
Yeah, kieran and I both.
Well, me, kieran, this one didHistory Sites together.
A very different way of workingwith the set, very different
way of working with the actors,but still the same technology.
So how does you know it'sadaptable to a degree.
(14:57):
You have to sort of like learnto play with it and then learn
how to break it, to learn how toplay with it again.
You know it's big as inpre-production.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
So you really you're thinking about what you want and
it all has to happen beforehand, because that's what's showing
up on the screen Right, sothere's.
Whereas green screen you can belike, oh, maybe I have some
city in the background andthere's the sun or something.
So for this you really had tobe specific, and Brennan and I
had talked about this for a longtime.
We saw some concepts.
We're like, oh, what would becool for a futuristic apartment.
And then, sitting with Rick,we're like oh, we want this.
Speaker 9 (15:27):
Yeah, something different, neat, and I gave you
this.
This was the fun part of this.
Yes, I took a hundred andthirty year old trick that
george millier invented andmarried it to 21st century.
We had a hanging foregroundceiling.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
So when you see the film, I was gonna yeah, the
ceiling is amazing, aone-quarter scale.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
Yeah, all forced perspective yeah that was the
most incredible thing yeah I'dever.
I was like, like you know itwas like a model.
Speaker 6 (15:56):
It was a model in front of the camera that made it
a ceiling.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
It was so, because you have to get it right in
camera and it worked.
Speaker 8 (16:02):
Yeah, george Melier, yeah the crazy thing was we had
this.
We had the model like two yearsbefore when we first initially
started shooting and I rememberRick was telling me, oh, putting
out the money?
And I hadn't seen it and I hadno idea really what the hell it
was and he kept telling me itwas forced perspective.
So then we get there and I seethis model, I'm like, and I see
what the shot looks like it wasso amazing.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
It is one of those things where you have to see it
in camera to believe it, becauseyou look at it from the
three-dimensional world outsideof the camera and you're props
that we're going to interactwith.
Here's the physical set.
How much depth do I want tocreate?
And then, what is theresponsibility of adding in all
the unreal artists and everyonein order to create the world
behind us that is going to sellwhen we look through that
viewfinder?
Speaker 9 (16:42):
well, there was a bigger reason to do the model
too, because we've all seen, youknow, behind the scenes on the
mandalorian with the led ceiling.
Yeah, led ceilings are a painin the ass unless you have
something that reflects onto it.
Yeah, dps don't like them.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Yeah, because you cannot get light over, or you
can't do anything interesting.
Speaker 9 (17:02):
So I was like I can't tie Kieran's hands.
There are battle scenes, thereare like private scenes between
two people that are veryintimate and dark, and you know
we're not gonna be able to pullthat off with a ceiling.
So I did the hanging foregroundminiature, opened the whole
space up for him that way and hehad a whole new sandbox to play
with I hope it's nice when it'sjust an extension of the set.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
You know, instead of being the whole unreal like
world yeah there's nothingagainst that, but it's nice that
it wasn't green screen and itcreated that.
So when they were looking outthe window, when shelly sees
this whale coming across,they're actually physically have
an eyeline and a movement ofwhat's going on, instead of
being like a tennis ball orsomebody in the background
walking like you know, in agreen screen suit or something.
Speaker 9 (17:43):
Oh, there's the whale you know, yes to the tennis
ball.
Shelly emote to the tennis ball.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
I mean, I'm used to that that's usually what the
experience is.
I mean, look, kieran, you, youmade this indie look very
expensive.
I mean, you all did, but you'relighting all day it was a
teamwork.
Speaker 7 (18:00):
Do you remember the whale, though?
Brendan wanted your hand at avery specific place and even
though it was there in real life, we couldn't get the hand.
I'm like she'll just put yourhand down.
I know he wants you.
I know it looks like I can't.
I know, I know I try I try, ohno fair.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Maybe you didn't give me enough props to work with,
throw another prop in there.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
You all rock and I can tell that this was a
wonderful collaborative piecebecause of just like the
relationship on the couch andthe chemistry here.
So thank you so much.
We are so excited to see it.
I think we have tickets tonightfor it.
So tonight is at 8 pm, or 8.30?
8.30.
Tickets tonight for it.
So, um, tonight is at 8 pm, or8 30, 8, 30.
So flex tonight 8 30, um, andI'm sure you'll be able to see
it after mammoth, uh, everyfestival, um, and if not, I'm
(18:43):
soon for distribution, so thankyou.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Just a real quick shout out to everybody who could
make it because of the blizzardlike my sister caitlin midwell,
and you, just you know you evermiss it our co-writer, uh
because the blizzard, and ourand our uh composer, nicholas
fitzgerald, uh mary simmons, oneof our actors, and uh emily
tremaine fernandez who's havinga baby shower tomorrow baby
shower tomorrow.
(19:05):
The whole gang, the whole gang.
We love you and miss you allfantastic.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Congrats everybody.
Amazing.
This is all good news today.
Thanks everyone so much.
We'll see you next time.
Bye everyone, bye everyone,bye-bye.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
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