Reflecting
Hi Everyone,
Well, I saw last year creatively bookended by two very different projects, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how they’ve both reflected—in a small way—on the year in general. My film, Dollars and Sense, brought the New Year in with a story about miscommunication and pride leading to doors slowly being closed on opportunities to heal between a father and son.
Closer to the end of 2020, I was asked by producer/screenwriter, Melissa Farris to direct, Life Reflecting; another short film.
The success that Char-Len has been met with during our last quarter of 2020 in no way diminishes the success that Stella Productions film, Life Reflecting, is beginning to experience. It’s been on the Film Festival Circuit now for just about three months. I was provided with the opportunity to direct the film back in July of last year. Ms. Farris took a substantial risk in bringing me into the project. I trust my eye and ear as a theatre director. But, this was my first experience with film, and directing it during the pandemic posed more of a challenge than I’d anticipated from the onset. Melissa put a great deal of faith and trust in me.
During almost a decade of alert observations on approximately 600 Film and TV shoots, I managed to learn a thing or two other than quietly pretending to chew food while pantomiming dialogue. I witnessed patience on the part of many skilled directors and crews. The very best of the lot always managed to keep the set centered and enthusiastically creative regardless of the time constraints and chaos that inevitably comes with shooting. The worst of my experiences stemmed from insecurity that trickled down from high places.
It still amazes me that Life Reflecting’s production encompassed only 12 weeks from pre to post production. Luckily, my cast couldn’t have been more professional and game to meet the challenges ahead. As we were filming during Covid, as per the union’s guidelines, it was absolutely necessary for us to perform every task virtually. I was unable to communicate anything to anyone in what might be called ‘real’ time. Periodic lags in Zoom transmissions during rehearsals as well as lost connections and weak wifi signals all had to be met with a kind of stoic sanity. The stories told in the film come from three strangers who unwittingly shape a mosaic made up of altruistic acts. Perhaps because of the nature of our situation in creating the film, and those deadlines hanging over our heads, we managed to quickly spark moving measures to play out each of the film’s three scenarios. Although, the pressure over our heads felt a little at times like the sword of Damocles, it in fact compressed all of our energies leading us in a very positive direction. The actors and crew trusted me. I kept the ball playfully in the air while shaping the several varied arcs it was taking. And, importantly, collaboration was always at the forefront of our experience. Actors Allison Siko, Mark Shock and Leslie Lynn Meeker delivered in spades. All three knew from the start that they’d be held responsible for shooting and submitting several takes based on the wealth of notes I’d given them in rehearsal. They’d have the added pressure of delivering them to me, Ms. Farris and our crew in very quick succession over only two allotted eight hour work days.
It’s to our actors’ credit that we knew what we wanted pretty much by the end of our first day of shooting. What followed in post production was my immediate understanding that I had to arrive at a special kind of subtle stillness in framing the film. It was necessary that the focus of the storytelling remain clearly on the eyes of each character. Both my director of photography, Nick Bradshaw and sound engineer, Phillip Bevers, ran with my suggestions and created almost imperceptible manipulations of the film’s framing: underscoring with the simplest use of ambient music and foley effects. Admittedly, it was a bit like being shot out of a canon. But, I felt genuinely good about the work and certainly blessed by the chance at trying my hand at directing it.
As of today, Life Reflecting has entered and been selected by five film festivals. So far, the film has received The Bronze Award at the Spotlight Short Film Festival, Honorable Mention in the Creative Category by The New York Women in Film and TV Film Festival, received two Awards of Merit at La Jolla’s Best Shorts Festival and was recently a semi-finalist at the Top Shorts Film Festival.
To bring this reflection full circle—the often unsettling takeaways I’ve been forced to come to grips with over these past few weeks has in some way been translated and taken shape in the two polar directions of subject matter found in both Char-Len production of Dollars and Sense and Stella Productions film, Life Reflecting. Both films speak of our need to communicate the truth, the damage done by withholding our purest natures and what can come of openly sharing our stories—the healing we witness from their being told—a mitzvah shared by both the teller and recipient.
Be Well.
And remain engaged.
Bye bye for now.
