Directors Notes

A potential director needs to grasp the narrative themes and character development that RISEN has in common with a cult hit like Donnie Darko. The DP and Production Designer must be fluent in modestly budgeted tech thrillers (particularly Cube, The 13th Floor). The make-up and effects team has to screen The Matrix and the collected works of Cronenberg to glean the visual conflict of Man vs Machine we are hoping to convey. Composers, sound designers, and editors could harvest much from styles of Tom Tyker and Darren Aronofsky (Run Lola Run, The Fountain). Suffice to say, a hefty period of pre-production will be devoted to critical screenings and stylistic note- taking.

Lighting: From the first shadowy ‘newsreel’ sequences during the opening prologue and credits, to the starkly lit room where we first meet our protagonists, it’s clear that lighting will play an essential role in RISEN. A balance of ‘mechanical lighting’ (to enforce the digitally-driven interior scenes) and ‘natural’ exteriors will help us to convey the thematic conflicts of Man Vs Machine and Man Vs Nature. As well, expect a liberal use of dramatic up-lighting, burning spotlights, intense strobes, and colored gels to strengthen both the ‘horror’ tones of the tale, as well as the transcendent ones in the otherworldly final act.

Production Design / Colour: Color is especially important in the film, as Jacob’s spiritual journey and ‘digital enlightenment’ will be mirrored by the progression of hues in the sacred Chakra system. Reds project anger and fear. Orange reflects sexual energy. Yellow/Gold is the color of willpower and control. Green is synonymous with the heart and emotions. Blues symbolize important communication. The indigo/violet part of the spectrum supposedly lies in the realm of Mind and Spirit. And it is the combination of these colors – their fusion into brilliant whiteness – that will convey enlightenment, transcendence, and an unspoken Mastery of power.

Sound Design / Music: The foundations for a sparse and haunting piano-meets- industrial/electro score are already being laid specifically for this project. Ambient textures have been recorded and sampled. Original songs and score samples have already been composed, along with dark synth and bass-heavy beat lines. A massive library of over 100000 reference-quality sound effects is at our creative disposal. And preliminary discussions with license holders for specific popular songs are about to begin. Now, combine the above to create a soul-stirring 7.1 DTS /Dolby mix that engulfs the audience within a vast dynamic audio range – from unnerving and breath- less pin-drop silences, to overwhelming pillar-crumbling cacophonies – and you begin to get an idea of the true sonic vision for RISEN.

Effects: CG is a powerful tool, but too often in low-mid budget features it’s used to create ‘plastic’ moments that jar the audience out of the narrative. In RISEN, we hope to harness these techniques as more of an ‘augmentation’ device – assisting with make-up morphs, levels of set destruction/deformation, blurred movement and shadows, animation, green-screen backgrounds, character cloning, etc – with a team of top- notch local compositors. Additionally, many of the simple effects in our budget will either be in-camera (lighting, set, and pyrotechnic), or edit-based (transitions, speed-ramping, character/object displacement, strobing/filters, etc).