Director’s Lookbook (Nothing Like the Sun)

Director's Lookbook

The role of Alice Mitchell requires the personality of an elusive, charismatic and intense actress. She speaks in the manner of a snake-oil salesman, sharp and poignant. She sustains herself on taking what she needs from others, but it makes her sick to maintain the pretense. She is at odds with herself; her intense frustration brought on from a society that conspired to keep her in ignorance about a deep feeling she can neither understand nor comprehend. Her hair is short all around, with a modest pony-tail neatly tucked away behind - boyish yet feminine Annabel is a small-town, domesticated American church girl in a pre-Raphaelite innocence. Being at the onset of “womanhood” and sexual maturity, she is characteristic of many young girls of the past who went through the “sweetheart phase”, developing strong emotional affectionate relationship with other girls her age. This leaves her latent homosexual feelings to ripen and bloom. And upon discovering them, can leave her vulnerable, confused, and volatile. Light brown hair, braided, conservative appearance The role of Lillian requires the same charisma and intensity as Alice. She speaks in the manner that is politely condescending, patronizing and self-righteous, masking a repressed lust for Annabel and jealousy towards Alice. When provoked, she becomes fiercely possessive, a raging tempest capable of captivating a crowd to her whim. Contrast this with Myra, who is like a vast calm ocean: serene, solemn, wise, ethereal, with a piercing presence in her eyes Mom and Dad are the archetype of the middle-class mid-western post-WW2 loving American husband and wife who’s conservative attitudes of family reflect their era. Contrast this with the sordid Manger and his youngish-attractive, emotionally distant wife Veale and Henning are the healers of the church. Veale is a devout and austere father, strict but fair. Henning is a jolly fellow, like Santa Claus There are two church communities: Baptist and Pentecostal. The former has a more formal dress attire; the latter is less formal. Downtown block of a small mid-western American community. Sparse traffic, Mom & Pop stores, two-story apartments and shops Mom and Dad’s neighborhood is a mid-western American suburb with identical houses next to each other. Residents frequently brandished American flags along their sidewalk fences The church hospice is a sanctuary home for the church community, put up to help its members. A hospice/parsonage is similar to a residential home. A hospice usually has a room set up with cot beds like a barrack hospital, and an examination office. There are two churches: St. Joseph’s Missionary Ministry, a modest residential Baptist church, which is the main church throughout the story; and Lillian’s church, the Gospel of Light church, a Pentecostal ministry. St. Joseph’s Missionary is a traditional smalltown neighborhood church whose members are from middle and upper-middle class families with respectable professions. Lillian’s gatherings are less formal, very energetic and fever-pitched. Its members include pariahs and outcasts who’ve come to be “reborn” by receiving salvation by become one with the Holy Spirit. She counsels the women of her church regarding matters of marriage and family, and and they confess to her first. In the aftermath of WWII, America became a manufacturing giant that produced many household appliances, including washers and dryers. These greatly simplified a housewife’s tasks but since such appliances were “cutting edge” and very expensive, about $494.90 for a washer/dryer set (roughly $5000 in 2015), they were not in widespread use. Hence, most household chores still had to be done by hand, often taught by mothers to their daughters. A household like Alice Mitchell’s would have handwashed laundry using a washboard scrubber, metal basin tub and drainage hose. Even those who could afford a dryer found it more economical to hang laundry on clotheslines due to the cost of electricity. Brands such as Maytag, Frigidaire, O’Keefe & Merritt and Bendix were particularly successful. A color palette of saturated reds and browns, vibrant hues, and strong skin tones will give the characters and environment a lushness and natural contrast, requiring minimal amounts of artificial light, adding a stark realism to the film’s subject matter as a whole. Unlike most dramas that use close-up shots for emotional impact, the composition in this film will frame the subject like a painting, in “landscape” and from a distance. This is done to illustrate that a character exists in relation, and in consequence, to the world in which they live. “I am the sun, says the Lord, and the light of the world ...” And God is personified as a dominant light filling the scenes. Though one side of our lives shines, the other remains in darkness. Multiple main lights, used with weak fill sources for subtle shadow detail, create strong natural contrast and tone. Key set pieces are illuminated with isolated background lights. The strong contrast of light, photographed with lenses of lesser contrast such as the Super graphed Baltar primes can paint a Vermeer-style composition with Rembrandt-style lighting. The film’s subject matter will require nudity from several female characters. The sex scenes will be performed and photographed tastefully to best convey the mood and to preserve the film’s artistic merit and presentation.