With a 20 day shooting schedule, how did you manage to get the actors to so realistic portray a family unit?
“The way you manage that is you cast really good actors and trust them. It would have been nice to have had all of us gotten together and lived in the house together for six weeks, but we couldn’t do that. So rather, what I focused on more, to be honest, was working with each actor individually.
We had a little bit of time in the house where we shot and so spending time with the actors in the house - but just myself and the individual actor and what their relationship was to the environment, rather than to each other. So that they were comfortable in the environment, and then letting the other happen more actually when we were on the set shooting. And to some degree, we had no choice so that’s just a given if you’re making a movie for very little money. You don’t have much time with the actors and the time that you have you have to be shooting. Like I said, I had more time with Amy, but that was just Amy, not Amy and other people.
But also we weren’t going for naturalism. You know, this wasn’t the kind of movie that was meant to be about that kind of loose, naturalistic interplay that might come out of that kind of rehearsal period if everybody was together. It was meant to be more of a Movie: a capital “M” kind of movie. It wasn’t all about like the sort of ticks and overlapping dialog either, and the conventions of naturalism that are sort of meant to convey to the audience, ‘Oh look, it’s like you’re not even watching a movie.’ This wasn’t meant to be that good at all.
I always wanted you to know that you’re watching a movie. That this story was a product of these people making the movie hoping to convey something about what people are like. To me the idea of like a movie is best if you forget that it’s a movie – that’s not my idea. I’m not into that. I don’t share that opinion. I think there’s a lot of good movies that are that way, but I think watching something and being moved by it while with the simultaneous awareness that it’s happening is a real kind of transcendent experience. And it’s one that’s really exciting to me. My very favorite movies that I’m moved by, I can’t say that like, ‘Oh, I got so lost in them that I forgot I was watching a movie.’ No, I am like constantly thrilled that this was a movie.
I think you can get caught up in the experience and it can become, like I said, almost a spiritual experience. But I don’t ever say like, ‘I was so caught up in church, I forgot I was in church,’ or ‘That painting was so beautiful that I forgot it was a painting.’ I don’t have that experience. I’m thrilled by the fact that another human being created that painting, and that’s moving to me.”
How does it feel to have your first feature film accepted at multiple film festivals and receiving great reviews?
“Maybe this isn’t the answer that I’m supposed to give, but you know what’s been in my brain is that we’re in kind of a honeymoon period right now. It’s been really, really great and so I’m really trying to hold on to it. I want to try to have this memory forever because it occurs to me that at this point before the movie actually comes out, there’s no reason for anyone to say anything unless they have something positive to say, right? So you only hear about the people who respond to the movie positively - for the most part.
Once the movie comes out, then the people who might not be so psyched about it, then it’s time for them to speak up. So, you know, I’m girding for that. I’m preparing for that contingent. And we certainly didn’t make the movie - nor would I ever want to make a movie - whose intention is to please everybody. So therefore I’ll be very happy if people have very different opinions about it.”
PAGE 3: Phil Morrison on His Working Relationship with Screenwriter Angus MacLachlan
