Hey man, thanks for kind words.

We did discuss shot construction in pre pro and I was always against the idea of shooting it the same way for the very reason you give.

However saying that, we wanted the whole piece to have a consistent feel throughout. So I guess it was just a case of getting the balance right.

Yeah dude, will have to head to one of those short n sweet events again.

Thanks .

We experimented with the pauses and beats during the rehearsals... It took a while for me to actually slow the actors down... they're so use to moving at a certain pace when it comes to dialogue (or action)... I'm more interested in the silences. There's no actual communication in the words... I only really wanted them to talk when they absolutely felt the need to do so. I guess Tsai Ming Liang was my inspiration, particularly for the 1st one.

Whether consciously or not, the film follows the acting advice not to do anything until something happens to make you do it--wait until you experience the thoughts and feelings that would make your character do whatever they do next.

Maybe in this case the whole phenomenon is reversed--the actors are pausing ambiguously (hence the tension) but that silence creates a potential space for viewers. Always ready to close the gaps, we see them as thinking before they act and come up with our own explanations for what they say and do.

For me much of the fun of watching this comes from watching people interact and trying to figure them out. Either it's just something people naturally enjoy or I just figured out why I like psychology so much.

The dialogue was written quickly and was initially written for the young girl and man (at the time I was writing a script about a girl who meets the father she never knew etc.) but this passage gave me the idea for the triptych and I tweaked the dialogue accordingly.

The 1st part in the film was actually the 2nd part in the script, but things changed in post; main reason being it just didn't work pace wise coming out 2nd... the 1st part's the longest section... once the audience knows what's going on, there's no need to drag it out.

My new film differs from this but also plays with repitition... and it evolved in a similar fashion to this... I was writing a script for something else, then took an idea from it and ran with it else where.

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't interpreted that the young girl and man were father and daughter. I'm not sure what I thought, but it makes great sense now. The "father"'s subtle head nod toward the girl on the line "Besides..." was missed. Perhaps too subtle?

Each time I watch this I do appreciate the acting, camera angles for each scene, and the meaningful silences more.

I'm reminded of "Run, Lola, Run!"

Redcam

Paranoid, that's interesting and also very valid.

To be honest I gave the actors a lot of freedom when it came to creating backstories etc. It was really important that they knew who they were, what they were doing in the cafe, and what had just taken place in the beats before the opening line of dialogue. It was probably the most fun I had on the project.

and rehearsing everything was really rewarding too, I learnt loads as a director doing this.

Oh, that's actually really interesting. I'll have to share this video with my class. I think this is something a lot of people should see.

It's cool. Like a sort of... acting.... experiment. That worked out really well, without self-imploding.

Thanks Terrence, appreciated.

Thanks.

Hey Carlo, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Everything you say about the film inviting the viewer to form their own opinions is exactly what I was hoping to achieve with this project. So I'm really happy to know that you took a little time to think about their relationships. Thanks for watching.

Am glad you liked it. The script differs slightly from the finished film in that the 1st part is the 2nd part and vice versa... send me an email with your address to mike@talkthefilm.co.uk and i'll send u the script.

*email address* sorry.