Hear Me

 Hear Me Production Breakdown

Hear Me was produced and directed by the same team that did Zarephath - Toprock Productions. There were many similarities with this project and the previous that prepared us for the challenges we faced. But with all projects there will inevitably be new challenges to face and I’m grateful for that. We filmed in Daylesford, Victoria over 7 days with roughly 20 main cast and crew staying at accommodation. This was a unique project for me as the location was somewhere I had previously been to as a camera assistant during my early years. I would never have imagined back then that I’d be back to light and shoot my own project there. It’s certainly a blessing that I had the team that I did behind me for this film.

Pre-Production

Pre-production began in Feb 2021 amidst the 2nd Covid wave in Melbourne, we were in lockdown almost right up to the shoot date in mid-November. As the restrictions eased we made 3 trips back and forth to the location. As the location was used as an AirBNB and there was also another film crew using it before us, we were limited to 2 weeks before our shoot date before we could make any physical changes.

The biggest changes we needed to make were to paint away any bright purple that were on the doors, window frames and cabinetry. The original colours felt too outlandish and wanted something that was a little more grounded and wooden. Frames and doors were a light off-purple/blue which did not suit the tone of the film. My concern with these colours were how comical they looked and how they clashed with the orange wall. We opted for a dark brown colour to replace these but kept the walls orange.

Floorplans and storyboarding

As the set location was pretty far away and we wouldn’t have easy access to it we needed to create floorplans to discuss the blocking before I could make a shotlist. The blocking discussion was done through a zoom call while we figured out where actors and cameras would go as well as lighting. Once these discussions were done, we moved on to shot-listing and storyboarding.

Storyboarding and pre-vising have become a crucial part of my preparation work for every project that I do. To accurately create the set in 3D space I would have to take measurements of the set. This would allow me to check with the virtual camera how accurately my shots would look compared to the actual location. All these storyboards were made in the early access UE5.0.0 build together with the metahumans creator for the actors. All objects were imported from sketchfab, turbosquid or cgtrader.

Pre-vising in UE5 allowed me to easily move around the world and quickly affect lighting and shot choices. During meetings with the director and Production designer, we were able to easily visualise blocking, looks and frames on the go. Although it takes some time to build the sets, once it was done the process to finding the frames was invaluable.

From left to right - some progress stills from location scout to pre-vis to the final frame.

Past/ Present

Our story has a flashback sequence where we watch an event that occurred in Louise’s past that defines her today. Although it is just a single scene, there was quite a huge discussion over the floor plan and layout of the room as we had to re-dress the lounge to show this effect. The theme of the past was oppression, we wanted large blocky shapes that symbolize her husband’s control over her. We had a large bear rug on a wall and black-out curtains hung over the windows. The most noticeable redecoration would have been swapping the dining table to be infront of the fireplace and the couch to a window in order to open up the space in the present.

Production

Car Crash

Car Rig

Dinner Tables

Train Station

Shed