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Here are a couple of stills from the rushes we got back last week. These are only “one-light” prints, therefore have not been colour corrected.

All these shots were dependent on natural light. Shane often overexposed the light coming in from the windows to give the interior of the house a surreal quality.

I’ve started working with my production designer Sabrina Hale. I often use references from other films to get inspired, as well as to give the crew a better idea of what I’m going for. A couple of weeks ago I watched Muriel’s Wedding and was really taken by it. I thought the production design by Patrick Reardon was amazing. This is a great still from the film.

I love how the pattern on the cushion (which is on the table) matches the pattern on the lamp base (center of two boys) or how the orange Pringle container matches the orange ash tray on the table, the orange on the girl’s sleeve, the orange blanket behind the boy on the right AND the orange lamp shade in the back. Everything is so carefully manipulated yet the end result looks naturally chaotic. The colours work so well together and nothing feels forced or contrived. I also love the use of the green and brown earth tones. I had a similar colour scheme in mind for Birthday Girl so this film is going to be a wonderful reference.

I took sample colours from the still frame above to create a separate colour palette for Birthday Girl….

We’re sponsoring an art contest for Birthday Girl. We’re looking for kids who are around twelve years old to come up with the most unique birthday invitation. We’ve provided basic information (plot, date, party address etc) and want the kids to come up with the rest. No matter how good a production designer is, s/he will never know what it’s like to be inside the head of a twelve year old. Several schools are participating and we’re all pretty psyched to see what their kids come up with. Invitations will be in by early February and I’ll post the winning card on this site. The winner gets a $50 gift certificate to Omer DeSerres, the card featured in the film as well as a credit for the creation of the card in the credits.