SONG
Director's Statement
© David Lowe, 21/1/2002
For me, directing has always been a logical extension of the writing process. The ideas behind the words on the page are brought out and expressed in conversations with actors and department heads, but the script always remains the map through the minefields of pre-production, production and post-production.
Before shooting, my approach is to mark up two scripts, one for working with actors, and one for working with the camera department, continuity person, editor and 1st AD.
The actor's script breaks every scene up into a series of beats, or units, for each character, analysed according to what each character's objective is at that point (both overt and subtextual), how they are working to achieve that objective, and what is blocking them. These beats tend to evolve fairly dramatically during conversations with the cast, and particularly during the rehearsal period, when different approaches are tried and discarded.
The camera script shows the planned coverage of each scene, and also includes notes relating to design. Again, this document evolves during discussion with the DOP, designer, camera operator, editor, continuity person, sound designer, first AD, and producer. The script will be re-written as actors come up with novel blocking solutions during rehearsal, as I believe the camera is always there to support the actors, rather than the other way round.
In the past I have found it helpful to write detailed backstories for each character up to the point of their appearance in the film. These are discussed with actors and modified as necessary. In a short film like Song, where there is little time for the audience to build emotional links with the people on the screen, a sense of a real character behind the eyes of the actor is most important, and I believe backstories are a great help in this regard.
In addition, I will write a full audio/visual scene breakdown, containing notes to myself about design, sound and camera elements at each moment of the film. As for my previous films, key sequences from this document will be drawn up as storyboards to make my intentions clear to collaborators.
SPECIFICS
Preliminary casting has focused on Nicholas Hope (Bad Boy Bubby, The Goddess of 1967) as the Man, with his extremely expressive eyes and voice, and ability to look equally at home in the modern world or the Middle Ages. (Nicholas appeared in a production of one of my TV scripts at AFTRS, Doubting Thomas). Gosia Dobrowolska (Lust and Revenge, Silver City) would make an ideal Wife/Queen, two roles which really have to be approached quite separately, while we are hoping to cast Jeanie Drynan (Soft Fruit) as the Mother, with Hugh Keays-Byrne (Mad Max, Moby Dick) for the role of the main Enemy Soldier/Orderly, and perhaps Mitchell Butel (Strange Fits of Passion) as the Doctor/Courtier.
The crucial role of the Woman (music therapist) has not yet been decided. One possibility is the noted singer/actor/director Mishline Jammal, who has read the script and is keen to be involved.
In this film, sound will be the primary story-telling medium. As a student at AFTRS I learned a lot about the power of sound. Unfortunately, the 16mm optical mono soundtrack didn't give me much of a chance to develop these ideas in a practical sense, or share them with others! For Song, which is planned as a 35mm Dolby Surround production, the soundtrack will have primacy. Instrumental in this will be the composer/sound designer, Greg White, with whom I last collaborated on the award-winning film Freestyle, (when Greg was a visiting lecturer at AFTRS).
We intend to adopt a slightly unusual approach as far as the schedule is concerned, in that some traditional post-production elements, particularly the creation and recording of the song itself, will take place prior to the production period, as for a musical. If possible we plan to cast an actor who is also capable of singing the part of the music therapist, and she will mime to her own voice during the singing sequence, in the manner of a rock video. While there is a minimum of sync sound in the film (allowing us to concentrate on visual elements during the production stage), the existence of the song in advance will also have structural and rhythmic consequences for coverage and editing; possibilities will be less open-ended than for a normal narrative/dialogue film, putting a greater emphasis on planning.
Greg and I both believe that the traditional separation of sound design and music is a misguided notion, especially in an age of complete digital manipulation of all aural elements. As for Freestyle, we intend to blur the line between these realms, approaching all elements of the sound design in a musical way, while also remaining open to the possibilities of non-musical sound, and indeed noise, in the music.
A major task for both editor and sound designer is to connect the principal worlds of the film; the battlefield (interior space), and the hospital ward (exterior space).
Sound design/editing references for Song include: The Double Life of Veronique, Hilary and Jackie, Farinelli, Dancer in the Dark, Amadeus, The Wizard of Oz, Amy, Diva, Jesus of Montreal, Orlando, Moulin Rouge and the productions of Dennis Potter; also the music of Kate Rusby, Yunchen Lhamo, Natasha Atlas, Hans Zimmer, Loreena McKennitt, Björk, Mary Black, Ofra Haza, Ennio Morricone, Sinead O'Connor, Mishline Jammal, Arvo Pärt, Yvonne Kenny.
In addition we will draw upon the literature and recordings of the music therapy discipline, particularly the CD and accompanying book of case studies Music for Life: Aspects of Creative Music Therapy With Adult Clients, by Gary Ansdell.
Editing and sound design are strongly inter-related, as both are concerned primarily with rhythm. As for my previous films, editor and sound designer will work together from the earliest stages to the completion of the film, each being encouraged to engage with the other as much as with me.
Similarly, I see the design and lighting departments as two halves of a whole; jointly responsible for the physical world of the film as it appears through the camera.
The central challenge here is to make compelling a largely immobile central character by making tangible the conflicts within and around him. In order to accomplish this, I intend to make the inner, battlefield world utterly realistic (as in a vivid dream), while being somewhat expressionistic (playing increasingly with space/time/light/colour), while in the 'real world' of the hospital.
In Song, music will act upon the world of the film much as the Sun acts upon the Earth; bringing light, and motion, almost like a gravitational force (the singer and her song are intertwined in this respect). In practise, she brings light and colour to the clinical darkness of the hospital ward (life conquering death), is momentarily subdued, and then literally brings the light of day with her in the final, somewhat surreal shot. In terms of camera movement, music will bring the interior and exterior worlds into motion, unifying them, before banishing the coma reality.
To elaborate, in the hospital ward, the camera is barely moving at first; extremely subtle, and always objectifying the man, tending to look down upon him, while empowering those in charge in the room. When the music therapist arrives, the balance of power shifts to her, building energy and light. Then, when the wife intervenes, this energy is thrown wildly out of balance - the camera is moving now, but largely handheld and chaotically, as hope and light dims. As the therapist concentrates on her song, order gradually returns, along with a more subjective approach to the coverage of the therapist and the patient; shot by shot we come steadily closer to their sightlines until we are looking through the characters' eyes - each into the eyes of the other - in the final two shots of the film.
In the battlefield/coma world, the arc is from subjective to objective coverage of the wounded man, then back to highly subjective coverage for the horrifying final moments before the therapist lifts him out of that reality, and saves him (or helps him save himself).
The eternal, feminine, healing element of the stream (later joined by the rain, washing away the blood) is linked with the singer's voice, a contrast with the masculine rocks and transitory carnage of the battle's aftermath.
The light of the therapist cannot penetrate the battlefield world, but her song can, and as it builds, the narrow, side-on perspective of the man to his circumstances (shared by the viewer via POV shots and reversals) is replaced by more fluid, upward camera moves, as his spirit soars to meet the healing music. These floating shots will be intercut with jagged, long lens and close-up coverage of the queen and her soldiers' activities, emphasising their looming threat to the man; their disruption and cruelty. (Crucial moments of violence will be left to the audience's imagination for maximum effect).
Design-wise, the battlefield will be no pre-Raphaelite pageant, with elegant corpses, but a killing field, as real and immediate as Bosnia or Rwanda. The exact historical context depends on a number of factors, not least the involvement of the Society for Creative Anachronism - who will be engaged to supply extras and period armour - but will emphasise the vulnerability of armoured men without horses in enemy country, wounded and immobile in mud and water.
Excellent locations have been found on the New South Wales south coast, with its soft, green rolling hills and pastures cleared of distinctively Australian trees, replaced by mournful willows along the creeks. Shooting in winter should make it easier to create and control mist and rain effects, while the era of armour will help us hide necessary thermal underwear (and wetsuits for those with limbs in water) for extras.
Make-up design will play a crucial part in enhancing realism on the battlefield. Under the direction of designer Melinda Doring, I intend to reunite experts who made major contributions in this area on my earlier films, such as Troy Follington.
Hospital sequences are planned to be created in the studio or a studio-like space, using a custom-built set, to give us full control over lighting, camera movement and the physical environment. This is necessary in order to achieve the theatrical effect discussed above. For wet weather cover, we plan to organise this studio space to be near the battlefield location.
Design and lighting/camera references for Song include: Macbeth (both Polanski's and Welles' versions), Ivan's Childhood, Lulu on the Bridge, Glory, My Left Foot, Culloden, The Bone Collector, The Thin Red Line, Richard III, First Knight, Spartacus, Awakenings, Gallipoli, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Joan of Arc (particularly Luc Besson's version), Seven Samurai, Andrei Rublev, Full Metal Jacket, Come and See, Henry V, the historical battle of Agincourt, (plus other battles described in books such as Knight and Horse, by Graham McLennan); also the combat photography of Donald McCullin and Neil Davis and the paintings of Goya, Bosch, Bruegel, Caravaggio and the Australian war artist Ivor Hele.
SOME NOTES ON SCENES
1: This scene is the only one requiring a city, and we plan to shoot it with a reduced unit, possibly in Canberra, to avoid council fees and be closer to the main location on the NSW south coast.
The line of voiceover ties the man on screen with Nicholas Hope's voice, and is necessary both to build audience identification and to support the following lines of voiceover (scenes 10 & 19) which carry ideas impossible to explain clearly in any other way.
The collision must stun the audience, grabbing them immediately to concentrate on what follows. It is planned as a straightforward digital compositing effect, supported by intense sound, in which at the instant of the collision the actor is photographed from behind in mid-shot, camera locked off. He steps out. Absence of traffic is filmed from the same position, and then again with a light truck travelling through the frame where the actor was standing earlier. When the three images are combined, the actor's body will be motion blurred and shunted off screen for several frames, ahead of the truck (squealing tires sound morphing to horse's scream). This will possibly be supported by the shocked reaction of an extra.
Transition shot between the two worlds to be an image of the sky from the ground; blue sky disappears and grows cold as mist fills the frame and blots the sun, the mobile phone wheels into the sky in slo-mo and disappears (perhaps tall glass buildings also morph into mournful trees). Sound of horse galloping away...
2: The man's short hairstyle is common to both worlds - must be instantly clear to the audience that this is the same man who was holding the mobile seconds earlier, reinforced by consistent movement through the frame from right to left, as though he has been thrown by the truck/horse. Sound morphs from modern world to 15th century battlefield.
After the man falls, there is a weird moment of peace and near silence; enough time to realise we are not where we were. No real visual context in this scene, apart from the man's armour, the bed of the stream, the drifting mist.
3: Scene establishes hospital environment. The room is dark, a circle of light around the bed diminishing with distance, high key like a Caravaggio painting, contrasting with the soft, misty battlefield. Technology and costume clearly place the scene in the modern world.
Camera circles very slowly, character of mother established by approaching footsteps and then hand on shoulder of wife leads to mother's face. Wife clearly vulnerable at this point - must not be demonised here or later - she wants what's best for her husband, but doesn't realise what that is, at least not yet.
4: The man is very much alive. Important to emphasise this with his eyes, although he is fairly still, and wounded (perhaps in this reality he has been wounded earlier by a pike, and has fallen from his horse when it reared).
Context must be clearly established in this scene, with the dead and dying soldiers around the man in the bed of the stream. Coverage includes the man's lopsided perspective on his frightening reality, building audience identification with his predicament.
5: The arrival of the woman music therapist will bring light into the darkened room, the bright back-light half-haloing, half-silhouetting her at the door.
The tension between the different characters, and the changing balance between them must all be conveyed clearly and wordlessly - here and later - via eyelines and body language. Mime techniques, and the silent films of Chaplin and Harold Lloyd will be referenced here.
Subtext of Middle-Eastern woman therapist, and blonde-blue eyed wife, reflects current uneasiness in Australian society towards the 'exotic other' and the good and bad things which come from outside the country, challenging the status quo but also bringing new energy and solutions.
In terms of structure, the arrival of the woman is the disturbance which energises the first act of the story.
6: This scene sees the introduction of overtly non-realistic sounds - things which are supposed to help the man in the hospital world are perceived as antagonistic from within the coma (distorted fragments of sound escape from the hospital reality) - his body 'knows' that none of this will help.
In terms of editing, from this point on the breaks between scenes defined by the script will become less rigid (as the division between the two worlds breaks down).
7 & 9: Much information conveyed by images of hands, eyes and ears here.
Introduction of individual aural perspective, as well as practical demonstration of a key concept in music therapy; that the therapist and patient must interact in a musical sense for healing to occur, and that this is possible no matter how incapacitated the patient (research suggests that even in cases of coma and patients on life support, musical interaction is possible via individual, variable breathing rhythms).
The man's breathing will be manipulated electronically and given a musical dimension, as well as possibly being made an element of the storm when it comes.
These early breathing/singing scenes demonstrate the necessity of a high quality, multi-channel, 35mm soundtrack to convey the subtlety required, as well as delivering the aural power necessary in later scenes.
8 & 10: The beginning of the song opens the second act of the story. The song connects the two worlds. The arrival of the queen introduces the idea of parallel characters - loved ones and helpers transmuting into other forms under the influence of the coma, as in a nightmare (and incidentally reducing the number of actors that need to be hired).
In terms of performance, the queen is a quite different character to the wife, although she is played by the same actor.
Anticipated problems with mist continuity can be alleviated by the ability to cut away to the hospital world.
The second line of voiceover, which appears here, is minimal but necessary to underline the key story idea of the song empowering the man to live.
11: Conflict in the room augments and heightens the conflict in the man's mind (the battlefield world) - these two strands must be carefully balanced for the following scenes to work properly.
The breaking of contact between the woman and the man, both physical and musical, is the structural midpoint of the film. The room darkens when the song and singer are disturbed - light and colour retreats to two pools containing the man and the woman.
The addition of the drum, recalling a battlefield drummer boy, will have no source within the frame, but add to the mix of soundscape elements (including the conflicting rhythm of the life support machinery) now present in both worlds as the singer seeks to bring the man out of his coma.
12: The musical evolution of the song will link the medieval European and middle-Eastern elements, bringing to mind on a subtextual level the clash of the Crusades.
Rain effect to be achieved with bushfire hoses, or rain machines, depending on availability.
Blood washing imagery here referencing Christian iconic paintings, also images of faces witnessing songs of sirens, angels etc.
13 & 15: The ambient sounds suggesting the wider life of the hospital disappear over time. Room steadily lightens and pools of light link up as the intensity of the song builds; the singer is the cause, if not literally the source of the light.
The presence of the same actors playing the orderly/enemy soldier and nurse/peasant should create a shock of recognition in the audience; while looking very different, they must not be unrecognisable. This idea plays on the latest research about the surprising amount of detail coma patients extract from the world while in that state.
Not too much clutter revealed in hospital room as the song brings light into the room, like a rising sun. Costume and life support equipment are all that ties the setting to the modern world.
14, 16 & 18: More layers of aural complexity added with evolution of storm and song's melody and delivery. Return to POV perspective for crucial moment of threat at end of Scenes 16/18.
17: Third act begins with the man's heart line going flat.
For me, the rose symbolises the man's spirit. Visible initially, but caged in glass, unconnected to things. The final note of the song breaks the glass, causing the spirit to fall, drifting dangerously, before reconnecting with the earth, somewhat wounded but free, and still beautiful. Of course the audience can and will make of the shot something entirely different, which is fine by me. Breaking vase shot will probably require CGI support...
19: Biggest emotional kick of the film must reside in the final moment, which brings the magical realism of the battlefield to the hospital environment. The conflict in the room is reconciled with the return of the man from the dead.
The singer has travelled to meet the man in his reality, and through her song she has changed that reality, and been changed herself in the process.
The man and woman are not connected in physical space, but on a higher level, hence they are only connected via editing at this point, reinforcing the idea of a meeting of minds and spirits, beyond the physical realm, in another space. If all goes to plan, the audience should also be in another space as the screen turns black...© David Lowe, January 2002