… FILIPA . RUIZ ……………………………………………
developing I felt I got to know the person behind the writer and that was the last motivation I needed to write the first draft . Once again it the people who inspire me . I grew up listening to Hans Christian Anderson stories but it was the complexity of his thoughts that attracted me now , as an adult . This worked as the last missing key that I needed to find - in order to complete my vision . I am a visual person and I need to ee or fully understand the character I am building in order to write it .
As The Days Went By is an immersive film : mixing humor and emotional depth , the character of Hans is rendered through a sapient game of silences and looks . Can you tell us something about the shooting of your film ?
We had five shooting days . And we were shooting right outside of Paris , in a town called Marcoussis . It was the perfect setting for a short film crew . We rented out a three-storage Ch eau in which we could all stay in . Our set was on the ground floor ( we shot both interiors and exteriors there ). Then , on the first floor , we had our basecamp ( with make up room , costume , production base and on the last floor the dormitories . For such few shooting days , staying all together in the same place and away from the big town really brought everyone together .
I remember we all arrived at the location the night before , with the exception of the Art department that was obviously there before everyone else - building and dressing the set . Dimitri Michelsen ( the actor who plays Hans ) really wanted to stay with the crew at the Ch eau and so , when he arrived , we all had our first dinner together . It was only after that , that we walked him in the room that the production designer , Sophia Jacques , together with her assistant , Martina Bragadin , have meticulously prepared for him . It was dark , all lit by candles . The bookshelves filled with novels , poetry the papercuts all laying down on his desk , the fish swimming in the bowl , the dried out leaves over the fireplace , the bedsheets roughly placed as if he had just been laying there a minute ago Dimitri walks in the room and becomes speech less . Walks around in silence . Then , he sits down on the bed with a tear in his eyes and is only able to say : n my mind , I had an idea of how this room would be but it is so much better than I could ever imagine . Thank you . This all makes so much sense !
The next day we had our extras coming in , and it the day in which we would be shooting all the scenes where Hans plays alone . We are confronted with the first unexpected situation The phone rings , and it the makeup artist who got a flat tire on her way to the set and needs to take her car back to Paris It is the 1st AD who brings me the news while the electricians and camera crew were already setting the equipment down stairs . I knew that whatever we would capture on the first take , would be our reference for the rest of the shots . And being on a short film , we could not afford to wait half a day or a full day even to get someone else on set . Therefore I remem ber turning to the 1st AD and saying : ive me one hour . and that moment I was so glad to have attended drawing classes at the University ! I had that in common with my 2nd AD . So I went to talk to Dimitri while Lauren Brown ( the 2nd AD ) went to collect all the make up available in the house a couple of eyeliners , different colors ( so great to have girls on set !). I wanted Dimitri to look pale , sick and needed to emphasize the wrinkles in his face to make him look a bit aged too . So I sat with Dimitri and Lauren in the Make Up room and one hour later we were ready to shoot . The humor and emotional drive , was possible through an immense sense of trust that we have built with the actors and the crew from day one . Everyone was aware of the film we were doing , and the intensity is built with every single choice that we make along the line . If you e talking to a friend , or someone you just met , and you look in their eyes They might be trying to persuade you to believe last night they had a blast at a party they went to , for example . But their eyes tell me more than that , the way they stand , a slide look away ... Their eyes will tell you the truth . They might bring you more intensity to the enthusiasm , more depth , or they might just give it away . If you give the right keys to an actor , he / she will suggest you things . That where my work lays on , setting the tone and giving soul and texture to the characters .
The staging of As The Days Went By is elegantly simple , as if the play were a Greek tragedy . Your narration-by-subtraction no doubt owes something to Vitor Erice . How