During the 2023 actor strikes, writer strikes, election year - Jazz and Jaya, were left with nowhere else to turn. They took an office job. Cue vomit noise. They barely made it out alive. Depression set in quickly. Friendships were tested and broken and mended. It wasn’t the worst, but they had never missed a film set so much before. Trapped in the monotony of the drive to work in commuter traffic, talking about lunches brought from home, discussing the spectrum of odd coworkers with the other weirdo’s we were able to find, equally trapped amongst the white walls and fluorescent overhead lighting and corporate bull-speak. These were the conditions in which the concept for Southern Gothic was created in. The Southern Gothic shoot was incredibly cathartic. Our rage and borderline manic psychosis being actualized by the incredible Amanda Tito, Mel Oderdra, and Amelia Reynolds set to the soundtrack of Skilaa's equally hectic single.
Some of the inspirations for this video were the creepy corporate vibes of Severance and the absurdity of Greenwing. We made the bold choice to shoot mostly handheld with minimal lighting and opting to use the fluorescent lighting at the location. This added to the sickly, uncomfortable tone we wanted to create.
Tameka Vahatu joined us again to build the barrier wall. The level of detail is truly something to behold. Criss-crossed chains of paper clips and safety pins, defunct printers stacked up, and sharpened pencils shoved into every crevice. The icing on the cake was a constantly self-feeding paper shredder rigged to the ceiling showering the barricade with endless paper. Shout out to Click Studios for letting us go ham with all the office bits.
Testing the ultra wide angle lenses during our recce, also the most accurate representation of us.
Story-based pieces are where we thrive. We wanted to capture that uncomfortable office dynamic of relationships with people you see every day but wouldn’t have been friends with otherwise. When stuck in adverse conditions (minimal windows, fluorescent lights, too much coffee), tensions start to rise, and you begin to turn on each other. All the actors that feature are dear friends, and they truly brought the chaos we envisioned to life.Where would we be without our mates?
The editing process took a bit longer than expected. Some of the story elements we shot didn’t quite come together in the way we imagined. We clocked many hours with our dear friend and talented editor Sam Small, piecing together the crazed narrative it is today. Having an editor who shares your creative vision is truly priceless. Love you, Sam.
It all started with a cooked voice note and a dream.
Made by Night Watch
Directed by Jaya Beach-Robertson
Produced by Jazz dos Santos
Director Of Photography Will Prosor
Camera Assist James Ashenden
Gaffer Kyle van Tonder
1st AD Alex Murphy
Sound Recordist Tom Dennison
Art Director Tameka Vahatau
Stills Finn Gowan
Editor/DIT Sam Small
Catering Chelsea Prastiti,
Tom Dennison
Production/Art Assists Jaimee Poipoi,
Shoko Kurata
Cast
Amanda Tito,
Mel Odedra,
Amelia Reynolds,
Jess Hong,
Indigo Paul,
Alex de Vries,
Daisy Lawless,
Annah Stevens,
Michael Waldegrave
Thank you!
Imagezone,
Click Studios,
Phil @ Charles Parsons,
Liz Laupepa,
Craft Services,
PISA,
Zarn Borgers,
Alix Whittaker,
Jack O'Neill,
Paddy
©Nightwatch 2024