Dancers in the Dark

A little late on this... It's taken about eight days to get my feet back on the ground and caught up after putting life on hold for pretty much all of February. So: here we go.

Dreams are a succession of images, ideas, emotions and sensations occuring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

Day One: Dancers in the Dark

The day started, as all days on this film will start. With lots and lots of makeup. Thirteen people on camera today that need a heavy amount of makeup for what we're doing. The idea, like all of the ideas in this film, came from one of my dreams involving a group of masquerading dancers that interrupt the flow of the dream.



Meagan Hester and Jason Milani really ruled all of the days. Talk about the weight of the film being on your shoulders- both of them were in anywhere from 2 to 10 hours earlier than everyone else prepping for their workload, which was never light.

By 10:30 am it was time to move into our location, right across the street from the SUNY Purchase Film building, to the Performing Arts Center, where they were gracious enough to open their doors for me. All in all a little over 30 people.



By 2:30 we're in the thick of it. Finding what works and what doesn't. Moreso than ever with this project, it's trail and error on set. I did some extensive posting on my favorite Dream Films on Kickstarter- many of them were not about dreams, nor did they have anything to do with dreams. I've been living in nightmares for the past ten months, with, until recently, extremely vivid nightmares every single night. That can't-quite-put-your-finger-on-that-feeling feeling that lingers after certain dreams has been with me every day for almost a year now. The aftertaste of a dream, if you will. With this feeling so fresh in my mind and continuously being reminded- it was easy to see what, on camera, would sell as a dream, and what is too literal, in simple shot language alone. Some things don't work, it's too... Real. I look on the monitor and go "this shot isn't working." There's no reason for it- but just like that I can see what kind of imagery belongs in this dream world. We shift the angles, change the lights, and there it is. A living, breathing Dream world that really sells. Dreams brought to life.



This was a much different day for me than any other film. In a world where we are taught "oh, it's the digital age, the director can wear all of the hats!" It was... Refreshing to not be wearing all the hats I'm used to. On some productions I've done everything from camera to lighting to makeup to fight choreography and anything in between. Today was all about the control of directing. Focus on what the camera sees. Focus on the actors. For the first time ever (ever.) I was not the one shooting. The amazing Filipp Kotsishevskiy- from My Father's Jacket, my brother in arms, was my cinematographer. An extremely scary thing to take my hands off of the camera. I'm glad to say that it was a liberating experience. There's a reason the director and cinematographer are different people in the big leagues.



The amazing Risé Clemmer was on with us for the choreography. We had a few rehearsals in the weeks leading up to shooting, and the movement was all very much her brainchild. The amount of work she put in to getting everyone lined up for the shoot and on track with what they were doing was amazing, and, just like with the cinematography, there was something so freeing about putting a huge chunk of work in someone else's capable hands and letting it be collaboration instead of control. The dancers she brought in- professional and extremely happy to be there. Everyone was working hard. For a reason unknown to me, it really felt like everyone in the room wanted this movie to be as good as it possibly could be- something that can't always be said for a film shoot.



Lucas McNelly from A Year Without Rent came and visited us as well- go swing by and see what he's up to now. He's spending the year traveling from one set to another documenting the things that they do. Visit him and say hi, he's going to be visiting a lot of great film projects.



I think that's all I should say for now without being too exhaustive. The second day is coming.