Still image from ‘Fool’

A venue that I occasionally frequent has a particular combination and aesthetic of light that always steals my attention and leaves me wondering how it might translate on screen. The space is Red Triangle Snooker Room in Fitzroy, a venue with over a dozen pool tables that vary from billiards to pub size.

• Overall, there are only a number of small light sources so the space is dark, moody and atmospheric.
• There are fluorescent lights in fixtures above each table that spot down on to the green/blue felt tabletops. As the light bounces off the felt, a green tint spills into the shadows.
• The carpet and walls throughout are coloured burgundy which heightens the mood and somewhat boudoir feel of the venue.
• This is further exaggerated by eclectic tungsten table lamps scattered around that consequently mix the colour temperature with their warm glow.
• At one end of the room there is a bright neon sign that depicts racked balls and emits a red and white glow.
• The space is on the 5th level of an old converted warehouse and windows line only the north and west facing sides. These windows are blocked with thick burgundy curtains, however the afternoon sunlight beats through and the boxed window panes often cast interesting shadows.

Since Kerry, Ryan, Andrew, Max and I have collectively talked about the desire to be creative and shoot something I suggested we visit the Red Triangle to see if they would allow us a few hours to shoot – and they said yes! So we all did a recce visit while considered references from films with similar lighting. Max linked the quality of light to a scene in David Fincher’s Seven (1995) and Andrew linked it a scene in Three Times (2005), a Taiwanese film by Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

In Fincher’s scene the dark shadows and limited light is integral to maintaining the neo noir/crime/thriller themes while the emotional tone of Hsiao-Hsien’s scene is illustrated through soft, cool light that feels both sensual and cold. These two references show the thematic possibilities the lighting conditions offered and therefore got us thinking about what we wanted to achieve.

Cue Fool, our somewhat experimental, bite sized short about a lonely man waiting for someone that never arrives.