Listen Carefully...

"When you hear what we've done, Nick... Just you wait--"

That was Devin's voice on the phone to me last week as I went to visit him and Mike on one of their final sound editing sessions before our mix. He was referring to the last few minutes of the film -- the ending. An ending that, in order to be pulled off right, requires the perfect combination of performances, music and sound design. I had been waiting two years to hear the last few minutes of the film the way I did last week and all I can say at this stage is... Mike and Devin were right. It packs a seriously powerful punch. I am so proud of the work and bravery every one has put forth to make this ending (and the entirety of the film) such an intricate and layered piece, and I hope it will churn many discussions amongst audience members as the end credits roll, set to a song I am so proud and honoured to be including in this film (more on that... later!)

I am so incredibly impressed with the work these two gentlemen have done. The care and thought they have put into every sound and every edit is incredible and truly shows as the intensity and rate or your heart rises over the course of William's Lullaby. Sound Design has always been an important factor for me with this film, along with music. It is the missing layer -- the layer of story that brings it all together and truly makes it click for an audience. Mike and Devin have gone above and beyond what is written in the script and have added a layer of subtext and subliminal foreshadowing into the film that will take multiple viewings to unravel. That's Sound Design with purpose and I love it. One of my early talks with Mike discussed how Sound Design was done on The Sixth Sense, a film I have mentioned on here in the past. For those of you that do not know (and I hope this isn't giving anything away), The Sixth Sense follows a young boy who has the ability to speak to the dead. What the sound designers did on that film was brilliant. If you strip the dialogue, strip the foley, strip the music and leave only the ambience -- crank it up, what you are hearing; that hum, that buzz, is the sound of hundreds of people breathing. Of course, this would be next to impossible to figure it out if it weren't for the filmmakers saying it in interviews, but it is chilling to know that even in scenes where Bruce Willis or Haley Joel Osment are alone, you are hearing multiple breaths along with theirs -- there is an added presence. And it adds a layer of sophistication to that movie. Similar to how Hans Zimmer used a switch-blade dragging across the strings of a Cello to compose his theme for the Joker in The Dark Knight. Using this as inspiration, Mike and Devin have added original and unique, subtle details to their sound design. I can't tell you more without giving away crucial plot points. But when the time comes and you are sitting in a theatre, viewing our film -- listen carefully!

We will be heading in to our final mix session next week, and as we do, I find myself reflecting back on this process. The end is near -- or is it really the beginning? True, I would probably compare this process more to the birth than anything else. It's just been a really long labour. While work is still being done on colour and minor touch-ups happening here and there, Mike and Devin will be done their work on William's Lullaby by the end of the month. For Mike this is a big deal especially as he has, in a way, been a part of this journey since its conception - back when I emailed him a 140 page script called Ducklings and Swans.

William's Lullaby has always been there. For the last two years, it's been sitting here, waiting for me while I'm at work, stirring in my mind as I sleep. It's always been that 'unfinished symphony.' It's been incredible watching people grow over the course of this adventure, watching friendships strengthen, talents develop, and watching the film itself take shape. We've learned a lot and there is certainly much more to learn in our journey as artists. William's Lullaby is just a stepping stone, for all of us -- but we'd like to think it's a big one.

Patiently, and methodically, we will continue our work over the next few weeks -- perfecting what we have designed and built over the last two years so that it is the best it can possibly be within our ability. And when the time comes for us to sit back and close the book on this chapter, expect an even sappier post from me here. From there, we will breathe life into the film -- a project in and of itself, one that could take another two years to reach its maximum potential. Who knows? That's why I tend to compare filmmaking to having a child (like I could even begin to know what that's like!) but there are similarities. If these next few weeks are the birth, then the next two years are going to be the most crucial as we help the film grow and develop into the piece of cinema it is going to be.

Stay tuned! It's about to get exciting!

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE

N.

I'm Ready For My Closeup

Lots being said about our recently released Official Soundtrack Preview. In case you've missed the news, Paul Barton has finished the score and we've been giving you a little peek of what to expect on our FACEBOOK page. If you haven't seen the video yet, take a listen here and let us know what you think!

OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK PREVIEW

Things have been busy, resulting in some irregular posting schedules with this blog -- but I'm keeping at it. I am just on my way out the door to visit Mike and Devin on our first sound studio pre-mix screening of the film with the score in place. From there we'll move on to tweaking the dialogue, foley and atmosphere edits and preparing the film for its final mix session which will likely be spanned over two days.

Still I'd like to keep going with the theme of the previous blogs! The next few blogs following will likely be devoted to updating you on the final leg of our journey -- video, pictures etc... Expect it all!

Jada McCullough was Key Makeup Artist on William's Lullaby and hired based on her impressive portfolio. She brought with her a great sense of what the film and, most importantly, the characters needed. She also had an excellent vision for showing the transition in our protagonist over the course of the film as he continues on his downward spiral towards an inner hell. It's always jarring to me to look at some of these make-up tests, especially when I am so used to seeing the finished product on screen for two years. But take a look at some of the sickly and disturbing looks Jada and her Makeup Assistant, Csilla Lasso were able to conjure up with our two leads, Richard and Toby.

Toby Bisson on the set of William's Lullaby

Toby Bisson on the set of William's Lullaby

Richard Roy Sutton on the set of William's Lullaby

Richard Roy Sutton on the set of William's Lullaby

Richard Roy Sutton on the set of William's Lullaby

Thanks for reading/viewing! Catch you next week folks. Share this blog with your friends if you can. If it's your first time here, check out the archive on the right and catch up on what you've missed. 

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

CHECK OUT OUR NEWLY IMPROVED WEBSITE!

N.

Dressing the Cast

Hi again folks!

I had the pleasure of being away in Arizona for two weeks touring with The Best of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and have only just returned. I am looking forward to focusing solely on the finish line for William's Lullaby. It's been a little tough leading a double life as an entertainer, but we're making it work!

Jerry Lewis, actor/filmmaker/entertainer, on the set of "Hardly Working"

We have production meetings in place all month as we put together the separate pieces that everyone has been working on so diligently.

The blogs will get more and more interesting from here on out. I hope they have been somewhat interesting for you thus far. But as we lead into our final production meetings, we hope to provide with well documented updates on the process of bringing William's Lullaby to fruition. And things are going to be a lot more revealing as we pull back more of the curtain -- stories from set, actor and character profiles, scene breakdowns and tid-bits of information that only you, the blog-reader, will be able to read exclusively here are some of the many things to look forward to in the weeks and months ahead as you wait for William's Lullaby to show up in a city near you.

Keeping along with the thread of "Creating the Look of William's Lullaby" this week, we'll take a look at the wardrobe. This was not too difficult a task for my team in the summer of 2011 as, when one worked off the original script, the wardrobe pretty much presented itself and it was just a matter of locating specific items and organizing them throughout the script breakdown.

I always am thinking of colour when I direct my attention to wardrobe. One of my earlier films, The Vicious Circle, featured a lead protagonist with a wardrobe colour palette that mirrored his downfall to rock bottom (going from light baby blue to dark black). It is arguable that in William's Lullaby, Thomas Splinter has already hit rock bottom by the start of the film, but I indeed resort back to this tactic of a shift in colour with his wardrobe as we get closer and closer to revealing the true thesis of the film. The other thing we tried to focus on with Thomas was the idea of dressing him almost like a teen -- in that, with his present state of mind, he would not be paying much attention to his outward appearance and likely wearing and re-wearing the same clothes. This was likely the smallest wardrobe collection for a lead character in the film.

 Richard Roy Sutton wardrobe test [2011]

Richard Roy Sutton wardrobe test [2011]

This fits with the idea that Thomas carries on through his adult-life with the emotional stability of a child with certain areas of his past not yet confronted, creating within him a wounded inner child.

For William, we had the luxury of choosing from Toby Bisson's own wardrobe to create his character. Where we zeroed in and became specific was in the accessories. As you come to know more about William's Lullaby you'll learn that a pair of glasses become a very powerful, significant and symbolic item recurring throughout the film and creating a general thread that ties the pieces of the mysteries together. We tried a number of different glasses ranging from child sizes to adults, different shapes and frames and eventually settled on this awkwardly fitting, slightly over-sized pair that engulf most of the top portion of Toby's face -- a poor man's band-aid for poor eye-sight and one that Thomas Splinter would likely buy for his son as a temporary way of fixing the problem.

Toby Bisson wardrobe test [2011]

Actors Ila Lawton and Robert Lawton portray the only true sense of grace and stability with their characters in William's Lullaby and both serve as sort of wise mentors for Thomas as he pushes through his grief and mental anguish. Their wardrobe and colour palette both needed to suggest a warm and inviting, paternal and maternal feeling with a strong contrast to Thomas' rough and unkempt appearance.

Ila Lawton wardrobe test [2011]

Robert Lawton wardrobe test [2011]

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment below. Share the blog, share our FACEBOOK PAGE, TWITTER PAGE, and don't forget to LIKE and FOLLOW!

N.

The Splinters

The Splinter Family, as it existed, is only briefly seen throughout William's Lullaby through glimpses and in the background. This is one of the benefits of tuning into this blog each week. Here you'll get to take a far more in-depth look into the lives of Thomas, Maggie and William Splinter prior to where William's Lullaby begins.

This week, we go down memory lane and take look at the Splinter Photo Album.

Photo credit goes to William's Lullaby Stills Photographer, Emily Arnold

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
BOOKMARK OUR SITE

N.

Let's Say Grace

Not long ago, Mike and I were sitting with our foley artist, Devin O'Haire during a spotting session for William's Lullaby and after a particularly tense scene that took place at the family dinner table, Mike said: "You must have issues with family dinners!"

His comment also came from the fact that the previous film we had worked on together, The Vicious Circle, featured a very dramatic scene set at dinner. I've said this before -- I don't feel you necessarily need to have "issues" with anything in order to feature it prominently in your art. But I have always been fascinated with the dynamics of a family dinner. Family dinners are like the board-room meetings of a house-hold and in film and storytelling, they can have the exact same dynamics if you wish. The mood of these scenes, often taking place in late evening/night with warm, ambient light sets a tone to whatever is going on dramatically in the story.

One of my favourite dinner scenes is this one from American Beauty (warning: course language)

"Lose it? I didn't lose it. It's not like 'whoops! Where did my job go?' - I QUIT!"

I thought I would share my very first attempt at a family dinner scene from The Vicious Circle in 2007. This was our first feature film, and as you can see, there is a great deal of work that goes into the writing, choreography, pacing and acting of a scene like this. Tough to pull off.

I write about family dinners in this blog because, rest assured, William's Lullaby features some extremely tense, dramatic, explosive and emotional scenes that take place at the Splinter dinner table. It is an unusual scenario in William's Lullaby, with a middle-aged man sitting across from a five-year-old. The possibilities that dynamic possessed excited me as a writer and director and I think the result will be extremely memorable.

For more behind-the-scenes looks, like us on FACEBOOK, follow us on TWITTER and bookmark our WEBSITE

Bye for now.

N.

The Splinter House

Things are moving along quite nicely. I am happy to say that Paul Barton has completed the William's Lullaby score and it is truly exquisite. He has done an incredible job of incorporating the themes and story of William's Lullaby in his music and the result is a sophisticated and layered score that will keep you thinking long after the film is over.

I'll be spending quite a bit of time in these blogs speaking about creating the look of William's Lullaby in various posts. I've already begun to do that with last week's post on the transition from storyboards to screen. This week we'll take a look at the William's Lullaby set and specifically creating the look of the Splinter home.

I've always been a fan of art direction and set design. I love the idea of bringing a character to life through his or her surroundings in a play or film. I've mentioned my Vancouver Film School short, "The Boy Who Knew" on here before, but I'll take a moment to show it again in a different light. This was a film where I wanted to explore how you could create a character simply through set design and art direction without ever showing that person in the film. Can it be done effectively? You be the judge.

For the record, in reality this bedroom was originally a teenage girl's room, complete with a bunk-bed. My Art Director at the time, Red Albert, did a phenomenal job, in my biased opinion of transforming this into the bedroom of a boy prodigy and it fits well with the mood of the final product:

For William's Lullaby, I assembled a small team of extremely creative filmmakers and artists from Kingston, Ontario. Together we worked hard over five months of pre-production to create some of the very specific details needed for the Splinter home. Our goal was to create a home that was missing two crucial ingredients -- love and family. 

For William's bedroom (as seen above) we decided that a running theme throughout his environment would be a love for medieval knights and mythology, and this can be seen subtly with everything from the frame of the bed, the royal bedsheets, the knight's helmet on his dresser to the hand-drawn images of kings hanging on the wall. At the same time, we wanted William's bedroom to be very stark and bare, cold and unwelcoming -- as though slightly unfinished. The baron white walls leave much to be desired, casting harsh dark shadows which we can only imagine would terrify a young five-year-old in the dark.

For our next image we see the Splinter basement:

The script originally called for a living room environment, describing Thomas as often sleeping on the couch. During our location scout, this house provided us with an unfinished basement that peaked our curiosity and provided a much darker, sombre environment for Thomas. It made perfect sense to us that this man, suffering from depression and perhaps even a fear of raising his own son would create a safe haven from that world, a sanctuary of his own, off limits to his young five-year-old son where lost memories and ghosts abound in photo albums and home video flickers in the night light.

Thomas' bedroom had to have the same stark, bare and cold feeling of William's but on a very different scale -- from the adult perspective. And my art team, made up of the wonderfully talented Amanda Shaw, Kat Rush and Sierra Chaykowski did a wonderful job of adding subtle details, bringing to life Thomas Splinter's past AND present in one single room. Fantastic work, if you ask me. I won't spoon-feed you, rather I'll leave you to explore the clues. Very telling reveals of character in these pictures.

That's it for this week folks! Remember to join in the conversation on FACEBOOK, TWITTER and comment below! We love to hear from you.

N.

From the Pen to the Screen

We have been working like crazy these last few weeks and will continue to for the next while as we near the finish line. Mike and Devin are working hard on preparing the film for a pre-mix and I'll be sitting down with Paul Barton in the coming weekend to go over the score in what will possibly be our final spotting session.

Meanwhile, on my end we've been colour balancing the film and preparing it for grading. Amazing progress has been made in regards to licensed music and we have a few surprises for everyone that we will reveal in due time. Biggest lesson here is -- never give up and exhaust all resources. Never assume the answer is 'no.' You will be surprised at what happens when you simply ask.

Gary Carr also began work on the end credits of the film. He is responsible for the ghostly "William's Lullaby" that appears in our teaser, using Leslie Martin's design. So to make a long story short, the end is in sight and the pieces are falling into place. But we are all aware of the fact that it is going to take a great deal of work in the coming months to get there. Game on.


A few posts back, I talked about how I storyboarded the entire film prior to casting as a way of preparing myself mentally for the task of bringing the visual style of the film to life. I thought I'd do a little less talking in this post and show you some examples of how those storyboards influenced the final product. If you take anything away from this post, it's that you don't need to be a great artist to storyboard -- stick figures will do! It's the idea that counts.

In most cases I was able to use stills from my location scout to visually lay out my shots. I would read the script line by line and picture the film, cut together in my head. What did I visually see? I would then do a few rough outlines, then pen the final drawing. Spending a great deal of time on each frame allowed me to really contemplate my reasoning for that shot and as you can see, for the most part, I stuck with that blueprint once I got to set.

As you can see in this scene, Richard and Toby bring a great deal of life to the image that I, unfortunately, can't quite express with my pen. Often, their motivation for blocking and action dictated slightly different camera positions and movements as seen by the slight difference between what is going on in my storyboard vs. the final scene.

Again, we were quite flexible with straying from the drawn image once we got to set but you can see that the essence of it is still there. Toby is a ball of energy and his jumping up onto the bed (as seen in the final scene) is far more dynamic than what's on the page and offers more excited camera movements to match his energy.

I said I wouldn't talk much in this post. I lied. There you have it. An example of just how much storyboarding helped me, and continued to help me in the editing room.

To see more behind-the-scenes stills from the film, make sure to LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

For news and updates and to join in the conversation, FOLLOW ON TWITTER

Haven't seen our teaser yet? You can WATCH IT HERE

Comment below!

N.