Preparing for the Shoot

Now that I'm about seven weeks out from directing this movie, there is so much that has to happen. But the nice part at this stage is that we have other people helping us out. Until now, it's mostly been Megha and I doing everything. Now, we have a casting director and a line producer on which is super exciting, and we are moving ahead with a production designer and AD very soon. All of these things help. Now, I can focus on the job of directing, which is exciting. For me, the performances are crucial to this movie, because it's such a small and personal film. So, once we have everyone cast, it'll really be about working with the actors to get the performances I want. I know how I'm going to approach this, in the sense that I want to rehearse the actors for blocking and some movement, but I don't want to over rehearse them in terms of the performances, especially the kids. I am also starting to work on some shot lists and story boards. Story boards are helpful, but I also don't want to get too bogged down in them because I want the freedom to move in the moment. I want to create a look that has a bit of a surreal/dreaminess to the forest, and generally use some interesting movements to visually explore Monica's relationship to the plants. I have a lot of ideas visually in terms of how Monica's relationship to her plants will be shown/externalized, but of course, you'll have to see the movie to check those out! For me, this script is much more about the visuals and the way that the characters' relationships change to them than anything else...