Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1072449
7 0 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 9 With director of photography Julie Kirkwood and costume designer Audrey Fisher, the conversation continued, discussing the overall aesthetic and color palette of the film. Karyn wanted the film to reflect the female point of view, specifically Bell's vision of the world. She had a stack of photography books with pages flagged featuring works by Joel Sternfeld, Pamela Littky, William Eggleston, Fred Herzog and Nadia Sablin. These became the building blocks of our visual references. Eventually, we expanded the collection with work from Ash Thayer, John Humble, Jim Goldberg, among other documentary photographers. Karyn stated that she hated the color pink but was drawn to it for this film. The color showed up in various shades in a lot of our references. Pink seemed to resonate a range of emotion, from pure innocence to insidious violence, depending on its hue and saturation. We discussed the idea of using this, along with purple in a symbolic and strategic way throughout the film. Inspired by color combinations from Sanzo Wada's A Dictionary of Color Combinations from the 1930s, we settled on a color palette of deeps reds, pinks, purple, mustard yellow and olive green. To me, it represented the stages of bruising and healing. I was ready to start preproduction at the end of September when I received the call that the schedule would push by one month due to Nicole Kidman's availability. I would have normally considered this a blessing, but now that I was to deliver in the middle of production instead of the end, concerned that I would need to leave the project, I openly discussed everything with Karyn and Nate. I have been fortunate to have worked with some very talented people in the Art Department for several years now and I trust them implicitly. Eric Jeon (Art Director), Michelle Peters (Graphic Designer), Danielle Levesque (Art Department coordinator), Jennifer Hwang (production assistant), Lisa Son (set decorator), Tim Stuart (leadman), Jim Ondrejko (construction coordinator) and Scott Maginnis (prop master) came onboard and created a tight- knit safety net. The goal was to have everything planned out before shooting. The only problem was that we had no idea what our Art Department budget would be. This was an ambitious location-based project with two bank robberies and a car crash, all squeezed into thirty-three days of principal photography. When Nate sent me the initial budget for construction, my immediate reaction was "This is not enough." It was only $20,000. All hope rested on whether or not the production would be granted the California Tax Credit. In the last week of preproduction, the morning after a late-night budget meeting where all were left beaten and depressed, the production finally found out that we won the lottery. I remember cheering in the office, or maybe that was just in my head. In any case, we could finally attempt a semblance of what we had worked so hard to conceive. But, for me, time was running out. I only had three weeks left before my due date. With the budget in place, the Art Department was finally able to figure out a game plan. In the script, Bell is followed as she navigates her way through Greater Los Angeles, weaving between past and present day as she obsessively hunts for Silas. The landscape of the film needed to support the concept that Bell was trapped in a maze of her own design, whether physical or mental. Robert Foulkes, the location manager, was given the task to find this landscape. There were fifty-two sets requiring locations that captured the underbelly of Los Angeles from the outskirts, and only five weeks remained to figure it out. As with most location- based films, the look was assembled in the scout van, spending countless hours scouring the city for unique gems. With the push, the shooting schedule was separated into two sections. The first block started December 4 and ended December 20. This worked to the production's benefit. The plan was to shoot out all the easy sets, saving the heavy hitters until after the hiatus, buying time to scale up and adjust our plans accordingly. On December 10, I gave birth to my daughter, Emilie. She decided to come early, but I was able to stay connected using Facetime and leaned on Eric Jeon to enact the plan in place. By January 4, production resumed, and thankfully, I was able to bring Emilie to work with me every day. Rather than becoming a distraction, I soon found that her presence was a good stress reliever for cast and crew alike. A. HIGHLAND PARK LOCATION USED FOR BELL'S HOUSE. B. WALLPAPER SAMPLES FOR THE INTERIOR OF BELL'S HOUSE. C. BELL'S HOUSE INTERIOR. PRODUCTION STILL. D. & E. BELL'S HOUSE INTERIOR. SET PHOTO.