true to form, reflection #6

Overwhelmed: A Tale of Pre-Production Woes 

Filming at night is proving to be the most challenging idea I’ve ever had. When writing the script for Mary In The ‘Burbs, I was under the assumption that Melbourne council’s had plotted streetlights all over the skate ramps, parks and bus shelters… apparently not. Upon driving around town at night in an effort to scout locations, I noticed that all the places that I had wanted to feature were completely shielded in darkness, providing no light with which to shoot a scene. This has forced me to rearrange a few scenes slightly and consult with Brendan on ways to possibly illuminate the various spaces.

The Park/Dinner Scene will now be shot in the backyard of an extremely suburban house. I didn’t want to lose the randomness of this scene and so I thought that it would be quaint if Mary was strolling along a street, whereupon she stops as she hears classical background music in some distance. She peeps in the hole of a metal gate and opens it to find Mr. Mime enjoying a lavish soiree by himself, under the shelter of a lemon tree. Having a space such as this for a scene which requires a lot of props and different lighting is furthermore a bonus for us because we can fully control the set without having to worry about being out in public.

The telephone booth that I found is so far my favourite location. The booth itself provides an eery fluorescent light that casts shadows against the Milk Bar behind it. Brendan is confident in using this space and we’ve discussed various possibilities that the haze of purple cellophane can cast upon it. There’s also much space around the booth to conceal our LED lights and an aesthetically pleasing house to the left of it, which has fuchsia flowers growing out the front. Since Mary In The ‘Burbs is not so much a film but a collection of four scenarios, Brendan also thought that it would be a good idea to begin and end every scene in a wide-shot of the surroundings as a way to glue them altogether and create some consistency.

Now I just have to find a Skate Park, or a substitute for one since none of them are lit up at night – WHAT IF THE KIDS WANT TO SKATE PAST 6PM!? (Side note: Also seriously stressed about the weather conditions because it has been raining every night.)