ErinLaing.com

Birthday Girl synopsis:

Eleven year-old Lindsay Maclean is planning to celebrate her 12th birthday party by staging her own funeral. She’s built a coffin and has decorated with suggestive flair. On the day of her party, Lindsay’s friends and neighbours enjoy the great food and games, all the while bemused by the bizarre setting. Love letters are passed, jealousies rise to the surface and secrets are let out of the bag. Everyone is making the most of Lindsay’s day, and through it all, Lindsay remains front and center, speaking volumes without saying a word.

We’re filming in less than two weeks and things are starting to get a bit crazy.

I finalized the cast. I had an amazing time casting. I met so many great kids but I think next time I will hire a casting director. Over the past 3 months I auditioned over 150 kids from all over the city. 90% of the cast is 12 years old or younger but most of the kids playing these roles are 14/15 years old. It’s a tough age to cast. I had 11 year olds auditioning who looked either 15 or 8. I really couldn’t have done all this casting without the help from my friends and those in the community, such as Josa Maule, Mike Migliara and Bruno Rosato - all seasoned casting directors - who I have had the pleasure of working with on other films.

Here are some great costume ideas sent by Sabrina. I’m not a fan of all the colours but I love the look.

Most kids will be on set in their normal clothing. This white dress will belong to the hostess of the birthday party.

We finally locked our location. It’s a great home with the perfect look, inside and out.

I’ve made a blue print of the interior. This way I can indicate the various camera angles scene by scene and have the AD make sense of it all from an organizational perspective.

I’ve been talking to my DP, Shane Geddes, about the lighting for Birthday Girl. I’ve been trying to find a visual reference for the look and feel I have in mind and was reminded of P.T. Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love. I forgot how great this movie was. It was shot by Robert Elswit, of Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck fame. There’s a pretty interesting article about him here. I love the use of natural light in PDL and how the whites pop, not only on the clothing but in the backgrounds as well. The film has a very dream-like quality. Anderson has some pretty intricate camera work going on. I believe it’s mostly shot with a steady cam - which is not so much the style I’m going for but certainly works for this film. A lot of my shots will be done using tracks and dollies. The effect of this, in my opinion, adds weight to the look and feel of the film. Birthday Girl is not a conventional narrative, often jumping from one scene to the next, giving the film an almost disjointed sensibility. There is however a narrative thread which runs throughout and I want to compensate the flightiness of the script by using structured, grounded camera work.

Here are some stills that inspired me.

I love the light reflected on Sandler’s shoulders…

the way the light hits the table….

And the naturalness of it all.