Director's Statement of Intent: Shot for Shot (Warrior) 2011

Director’s Statement: Shot for Shot

Warrior 2011, opening scene

1.     What is the story of this scene in two or three sentences? In other words, what happens in the scene?

Tommy reunites with his dad for the first time in many years. He wants his Dad to feel guilty for being drunk when his mom passed away. His dad wants some closure and forgiveness.

2.     What is purpose of this scene in the larger story? (Or, if there is not a larger story, invent the purpose of this scene.)

The purpose of this scene is for Tommy to let his dad know how he feels about him being drunk but he is coming to him because he needs a trainer for his upcoming fights. The dad used to train him when he was a kid.

3.     What is the emotion I want to communicate?

I want to communicate pain and guilt. This is a dramatic scene and the end of the scene does not resolve the conflict. At the end of the film, the son and father feel more love for each other and have forgiven each other.

4.     Why is this scene personal to me? What previous personal experiences does it remind me of? Why do I need to make this scene?

This scene is very personal to me. I still remember the first time I watched this film before I left on my mission. The brother’s story with the father’s story is similar to my experiences with my brother and father. My brother has been sober now for five years. So with this scene, the father is sober but Tommy is not. Tommy can’t let the pass go and brings it up to make the father feel guilty and ashamed. There were times in my life that I was tempted to do the same with my brother. Many experiences were missed out because he would be drinking and he would be too drunk to come spend time with me. I really want to do this scene because the pain and guilt you feel throughout is a reminder how destructive addictions can be. Also, how we need to be careful how we treat our family and is it worth it to forgive someone even if they hurt you badly.

5.     What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively and feel at the end of this scene? How do you intend to make sure this will happen?

I want the audience to understand that Tommy is the father’s son. I want them to understand that the kid in the pictures is Tommy’s brother. I want them to understand that the father is a recovering alcoholic. I will use the pictures along with performance to help the audience understand that the kid is his brother. Dialogue will help in knowing that the two are related, the father and the son. I will use dramatic lighting to help convey the pain and how the shadows of the past are upon them.

6.     What two visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) will you use to help communicate the emotion of the scene?

I will use tone and movement to help convey the pain and guilt in this scene. The tone of the whole scene is a lower one. The colors are less saturated. It’s more low-key lighting. The tone reflects the mood of the scene and doesn’t allow much light on both of their faces. The movement will help us feel the beats of the scene. The camera is mainly handheld so we follow Tommy in his father’s home picking up things like someone would as they first come back to a house after a long time. The actor’s movement stops when a beat or discovery occurs so that will help us. The camera movement will not distract the viewer.

7.     What are some potential obstacles to creating a successful scene? How can you be prepared to overcome these?

Some obstacles are the smooth camera movement, the location, the pictures, the lighting, and the performance. We are planning on using shoulder rig for the camera movement and I will ask Sariah to do camera tests with it. We need to make sure the focus is right with all of the camera movement. We will get marks for her to pull. The location is tricky because I need to find a space where we can go very wide and see the father in the back room as Tommy is at the pictures. I need to get many picture frames and place them on the wall and on tables. The lighting is going to be difficult because there is some mixing of lighting going on. It is mainly tungsten however there is some daylight coming from an overhead light. There isn’t much back lighting. We have practical lamps in the set up as well and we need to make sure those are the right color temperature. The performance needs to be spot on because this scene will fail if the actors are not in character. This scene is dramatic and requires all effort to stay focused on wants. Also, we are crossing the 180 line with the handheld like crazy so after the movement we need to know where is new line.