THE LAST PROM – STARGAZING

After the frenetic pace of the WAR promo (and the anarchic nature of One Pot Punk Rock), it was bliss to work on something languid and deliberate.  I had the idea for this scene, then Nick and I went back and forth on the script.  It’s only three shots, but I’m pleased with all the nuances, both in the editing and the camerawork:

• Car tail lights (bokeh’ed into blinking orbs) as stand-ins for stars (both already shorthand for longing and desire – I recently re-watched Idiot Box and love the scene on the overpass where they imagine the bright futures of the people zooming past underneath them). 
• How the tail lights initially lead Death towards The Antichrist.  When they return, they push away from her.
• Death’s footsteps falling in time with the music.
• Pulling focus on Death’s face when The Antichrist directs a question at her, then having the focus shift back, in time for the line, “… distant and mysterious and inscrutable.”. Depth of field as subtext.  

I also had fun with the text – finding the right shade of honeyed moon, and bunching it together for a bespoke look.  Just little things, but that’s all filmmaking consists of – tiny, constant decisions building towards a whole.  I love how every shoot teaches you something for the next as well – filming live music in a car gave me a couple of tricks for getting decent sound in imperfect locations. 

If I could make another 89 minutes just like this, I’d have a hell of a feature.    

Tickets for the show are available now at MOSHTIX.COM.AU