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Est. Reading Time: 6 Minutes

MARK (M) Tell us a little about yourself - when did you become interested in film and filmmaking?

STANLEY (S) It was an unusual encounter that first sparked my interest in moving images. I first became interested in editing at 15 when I came across a highlights video in NBA Live 2007 on my PlayStation Plus. I was interested in how the combination of just images and music resulted in a viewing experience that’s emotionally thrilling.

Not long after, I went on to study editing on my own using the internet and then subsequently enrolled myself in a video production course where I was introduced to the world of filmmaking. During a cinema history class, our professor screened clips from pioneers such as Lumiere Brothers. I remembered being very mesmerized by it, as I found it magical and surreal to see people from a century ago moving as if they were still alive in front of my eyes. It felt like I travelled to the past, especially watching them on a big screen in a cinema setting. So that’s basically how I find myself falling in love with cinema.

M I think the ingenuity of your film lies within the amount of information you withhold from the audience - the lines between reality and fiction are cleverly blurred. So I’m curious to know, how much backstory and context did you give to the main actors about the relationship of their characters?

S In order to help with their performance, I had a rehearsal with the actors prior to the shoot. During the rehearsal, we discussed the personality of the characters intensively, and then I had the actors do improvisation exercises based on fictional scenarios related to their characters' backstory. One such scenario would be their breakup, which I had them act out freely and spontaneously based upon their understanding of the characters. What I wanted to achieve through this exercise was getting them more involved in the process of building the characters and their backstory together in a more organic way. Rather than just telling them the backstory, I wanted the actors to go through the process of figuring it out and internalizing themselves with the characters.

On Casting

M I love Shan Yunjia’s performance so please tell us a little about your process of casting and auditioning her? What qualities did Shan possess that made you believe she was the right person to play the lead role?  

S Initially we had about 100+ applicants for the role so we had to narrow them down to 20 applicants, who were then invited to our audition. During the process of the audition, I asked them to act out the same scene twice, but with their own take on it each time. Back then, what I was looking out for was their ability to interpret and perform the same dialogue with different emotional subtleties and variations. Shan Yunjia had this unique mystifying, charming and spontaneous quality to her audition performance, which for unknown reasons somehow reminded me of the main actress (Jeon Jong-seo) in Lee Chang-dong’s Burning (2018). Shan Yunjia’s performance was so distinct that it clearly stood out from the rest, making it a pretty straightforward decision to pick her for the lead role.

On Cinematography

M I thought the contrast between the camera movement of the opening and closing scenes was very interesting - the camera's steady and slowly pushes in during the opening, but is hand-held and shaky in the closing scene - please discuss this change and evolution in camera movement? Did you shoot hand-held to reflect the woman’s fractured headspace and inner world?  

S The contrast between the different camera movements was intentional. I wanted to slowly draw the audience into the inner psyche of the protagonist when watching the film, starting from a perspective that’s more objective and then slowly moving into a perspective that’s more subjective. The gradual progression of objectivity to subjectivity also serves as a reflection of the protagonist’s emotional journey within the film. As the film plays with the idea of blurring reality and fiction, I thought it would be interesting for the cinematography to similarly reflect the collapsing of objectivity and subjectivity. I had a few shots framed via mirrors and glass reflections to convey the idea of the protagonist being trapped by her mental trappings of the past.

On Sound Design

M Can you please tell us about your approach to the film’s sound design - it's fairly minimal and quiet which I think matches the subtlety of the film’s style and themes. How deliberate were you in keeping it fairly low and silent?

S My approach to sound design has always been rooted in the idea of it being diegetic, as I believe it would help make the world in the film much more realistic and convincing for the audience. Hence, I often try to avoid sounds or music that overly dramatize or heighten emotions within a scene, as I believe in the idea of ‘less is more’. In Reprise, I think the quietness or the lack of sound adds to the uneasiness and tension felt by the two main characters in the film, as seen quite evidently in the awkward hugging scene. Because the story takes place in a film set, I also thought that a minimal and quiet soundscape would help build the atmospheric feeling and quality of the audience being on a film set too.

‘Rather than just telling them the backstory, I wanted the actors to go through the process of figuring it out and internalizing themselves with the characters’

— Stanley Xu

On Process & Discovery

M In making and finishing the film, what did you discover and learn that you might adopt or further explore in future projects?

S Upon finishing the film, I find myself drawn to the idea of withholding information visually through certain compositions and framing, so audiences can make their own connections to the characters and setting of the film. I also find myself enjoying the use of long takes because I believe it helps the actors have a more authentic performance, as seen in the opening scene of Reprise.

On Inspiration

M What are some of the films and who are some of the filmmakers that inspire you, and why?

S I’m a huge fan of works from auteurs such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Yasujirō Ozu and Robert Bresson. I admire their ability to portray so much depth despite their minimalist approach. Prior to the making of Reprise, I did a bit of research as it was my first time doing something meta-fictional. I came across various movies, but none of them were similar to what I had in mind in terms of the execution and approach. The closest one I came across was probably Certified Copy (2010) by Abbas Kiarostami.

On The Future

M What are you planning to make next?

S I’m currently working on my next short film that deals with my first childhood impression of death as well as writing my first feature film that is based on my personal relationship with my mother.

Mark’s Final Thoughts

• Really enjoyed reading Stanley’s approach to casting, cinematography and sound - I think it highlights the fact that his film is a culmination of simple but really clever and effective choices.

• I think he did a fantastic job in directing Shan - I think the beauty of her performance is that it fills in a lot of missing gaps and information, which is extremely important in a film that isn’t interested in providing straightforward answers or resolutions.

• And it’s not the first time Burning (2018) has been mentioned within our interviews so I definitely recommend everyone to watch it - great mystery with very strong lead performances.

  Tags Cinematography  Drama Live-action

  
  
  

The founder of Hommage, Mark Shaba published this interview on 07.10.2021. Mark is a filmmaker from Victoria, Australia. He respectfully acknowledges the past and present traditional owners of the land on which he creates, promotes and screens art, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation who are the custodians.