Locations

ESSENCE

Locations

In the pre-titles sequence, it was important to find an area that - through editing - could appear both utopian and dystopian, without actually altering it in-camera. So, I chose a small forested area, that by simply changing the contrast and saturation of the colours, appeared quite lush and full of life, and then the complete opposite of that. This area was a  simple pathway surrounded by grass and trees; the pathway connotes that in this world, people have somewhere to go - someone like our protagonist has a future ahead of him, even in dark times (the time of year, that being autumn, also helps illustrate this with the falling leaves and such); but as the setting becomes more and more dull and dystopian as expositional text appears on the screen, the audience is subtly told that in this world, that might not be the case.

For the second scene, a different, larger but similarly forested area was chosen. I wanted to shoot this scene outside in a pleasant environment to contrast it from the rest of the short film, which takes place entirely in the house. To maintain this feeling, I chose to present this scene in black and white so that the audience didn’t notice the time of year, as it was important to keep the tone of the scene light and summery. The time of day was important, too - the daylight helped capture the warmness of the environment and of the two friends. The area is surrounded by trees, to create an isolated feeling; but one that was opposite to the house. This is isolation by their own choice. It’s private and intimate - a place where they can be free.

The remaining scenes all take place in Original Ben’s house, to create that claustrophobic, trapped feeling. The sets within the house are small, which only accentuates this; and this is especially noticeable in the primary set in the house - the bedroom. It’s tight, which helps elevate the threat of Original Ben in the opening scene. Similarly, the kitchen was a versatile environment that allowed for different moods to be created just by the filter is shown through. When we eventually reach the garden, the use of natural light (or lack there of) allowed to capture certain visuals to again paint Original Ben as a viable threat to Ben #38. It also retained the through-line of isolation and entrapment with the bolted gate and fences all around.