Sun, Jan 20th 11am
Wed, Jan 23rd 2:30pm
A young couple go to a deserted lake for some time alone and during a walk in the lakeside hills a past indiscretion is confessed.
Tell us about the premise of The Whole Day Through? What informs it and when did you conceive of it? What I think is the base of the film is my relationship to the place I am from, Saskatchewan. In that sense it’s a regional film and I am proud of that fact and I think it’s a strength maybe even radical. I watch a lot of world cinema too and have heavy influences from some of my first loves like Bergman and Antonioni, but recently I have been drawn towards the Taiwanese New Wave, particularly the films of Hou Hsiao Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang. In this way, I have two forces pulling me in different directions, one desire to make films for my hometown and another to make films for the Cannes’ and Toronto’s. The film is almost the literal translation of those feelings, the desire to be free and unencumbered while simultaneously craving the familiarity and stablity of home.
What we're the biggest challenges in creating the look and filmic texture? Why 35mm? When you work with black and white film you have a range from deep blacks through shades of greys to brillant whites. The ideal is to have that range in every shot. Lea Nakonechny, the cinematographer, did a fantastic job getting that range using mostly available light and creating the moonlite night scenes. The other great attritbute of B+W is that patterns and textures come to the fore and when you’re making a film of static shots you can’t rely on camera movement for visual flair so you start bringing in different textures for visual excitement.
The choice to shoot on 35mm was because I have great respect for the medium and for the filmmakers who used it before us. When you go to the cinema and see your 35mm film print projected on the big screen you feel a part of a great tradition. We (Arid Sea Films) went out and bought an old ’68 Arri 2C 35mm MOS camera, the same Stanley Kubrick used back in his heyday, and used it to shoot the film. The camera is a tank. It’s a simple mechanical device so it’s completely fixable and usable forever.
What are the biggest challenges that you face as a short filmmaker in a world that prioritizes and commercializes feature filmmaking in ways that shorts aren't? The biggest challenge is always the expectation that your film is a stepping stone. I’ve had comments made to me that I shouldn’t be wasting my time with shorts ’make features that’s where the money’s at!’ I am a part of the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative and they make a couple dozen shorts a year and the films are so important to the community and the filmmakers that it makes the above comment seem ugly and repressive. Short film may not be important in the mainstream, but on the local level it’s vital to a communities sense of identity.
Tell us alittle bit about your background. I am from Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada and have lived in the province for my entire life, save the last eight months in Montréal. I was educated at the community college in Swift Current and then moved onto Regina, the capital, where I studied film production. By age ten I had snared and killed several gophers, by age thirteen I was driving double-axle grain trucks for harvest, and by sixteen I owned a bar in a small town named Elrose. I also played hockey, was on the school wrestling team and played baseball in the summer. Now I make film, art video and performance art.
Can we expect more of the same, or do you plan to work in other genres and forms? The next work will be taking the concept of the static image to the next logical step - cinematic stills.
What projects are down the pipeline?The next project will be a short film from Lea Nakonechny. We take turns at Arid Sea Films with productions, so I have to wait a couple years to direct again.
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posted by Brandon Harris @ 1/23/2008 09:31:00 PM
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