DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHTSophia Parella
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The Streetlight feels very humanist, despite being about an inanimate object. I also saw that this piece was in part inspired by your reading of Sartre’s Nausea, shortly before writing this screenplay for this narrative. Can you tell me about that? Why did you choose a streetlight as your protagonist?
I was in a bookstore in Maine and noticed a cover that spelled out 'Nausea' like ink on damp paper, with the letters beginning to expand. The story, by Jean-Paul Sartre, is about a man's overpowering sense of nausea at the sight of specific inanimate objects. It is a one in a trillion incredible story that ends up answering an existential question; what it means to be alive and if there is purpose to living, how to express that. I always felt strongly affected by certain inanimate objects, especially streetlights, they feel very human to me. I don't think I was aware of it at the time but I was so moved by the main character 'Roquentin' that I characterized James Milord's role in a similar way. An existentialist who meets a humanist with possible narcissism. Without an idea of where the story would go, I could see a man walking aimlessly at night in the middle of winter, and reacting viscerally to an inanimate object, like Roquentin did. I guess I chose a streetlight because it is my favorite inanimate object, and I could see how a Streetlight would care a lot about its purpose.
I was in a bookstore in Maine and noticed a cover that spelled out 'Nausea' like ink on damp paper, with the letters beginning to expand. The story, by Jean-Paul Sartre, is about a man's overpowering sense of nausea at the sight of specific inanimate objects. It is a one in a trillion incredible story that ends up answering an existential question; what it means to be alive and if there is purpose to living, how to express that. I always felt strongly affected by certain inanimate objects, especially streetlights, they feel very human to me. I don't think I was aware of it at the time but I was so moved by the main character 'Roquentin' that I characterized James Milord's role in a similar way. An existentialist who meets a humanist with possible narcissism. Without an idea of where the story would go, I could see a man walking aimlessly at night in the middle of winter, and reacting viscerally to an inanimate object, like Roquentin did. I guess I chose a streetlight because it is my favorite inanimate object, and I could see how a Streetlight would care a lot about its purpose.
I love the pacing of your film. Appropriate pacing is such a key element of effective storytelling, guiding the audience’s experience of the story. There are some really beautiful shots and the tone is very effectively fit to the content - are these things you thought about extensively beforehand, storyboarding everything out, or is this something that you felt developed organically during the process of making the film? How would you describe your style of storytelling, or does it depend on the content/context?
Because we were shooting on film, we had to be very specific with our shotlist, which I think worked to our benefit because our limited options prevented us from spending time in B-Roll land. The pacing was great as a result, to the point and as if you are following the script directly. I drew a few ideas after I wrote the story and then Eryn and I made the shotlist together. She was great in offering a DP's eye in pushing a bit further beyond static images. Like coming up with the camera movement from below James and swinging upwards towards the sky the first time the light buzzes. That was fantastic. Because we could only afford 10-12 minutes of film stock, it basically meant we needed a very specific list that we could not stray from on the shoot. So on our final 'tech scout' Eryn took photos of me as a stand-in, as close to the desired angle/lens look as possible.
My style of storytelling I hope with enough practice will have offbeat and bizarre characters clashing like in Charlie Kaufman's stories, but with the slow burn pacing and objective camera angles of 90s/2000s Japanese Horror films.
Because we were shooting on film, we had to be very specific with our shotlist, which I think worked to our benefit because our limited options prevented us from spending time in B-Roll land. The pacing was great as a result, to the point and as if you are following the script directly. I drew a few ideas after I wrote the story and then Eryn and I made the shotlist together. She was great in offering a DP's eye in pushing a bit further beyond static images. Like coming up with the camera movement from below James and swinging upwards towards the sky the first time the light buzzes. That was fantastic. Because we could only afford 10-12 minutes of film stock, it basically meant we needed a very specific list that we could not stray from on the shoot. So on our final 'tech scout' Eryn took photos of me as a stand-in, as close to the desired angle/lens look as possible.
My style of storytelling I hope with enough practice will have offbeat and bizarre characters clashing like in Charlie Kaufman's stories, but with the slow burn pacing and objective camera angles of 90s/2000s Japanese Horror films.
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Love the performance of your lead actor. The film has a magical realist element to it, and yet he responds to the situation with almost a flat affect, sort of unimpressed and quick to accept the surreal situation and what’s being asked of him by the streetlight. What were you trying to do by directing his performance? How did you convey the relationship you saw in your head to help him? How much did he bring himself to the role?
I saw James Milord perform at the Huntington Theater in Boston. He played a leading role in 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' where his character underwent a spiritual awakening. He was like lightning on the stage, but at the same time the acting was perfectly understated. He just has this incredible presence and voice, the kind of actor whose eyes are so full of emotion where I swear he can just stand there and THINK the line and we know what he's feeling. I love theater and I love that no matter what, our perspective as an audience far from the stage is objective. There are no close ups. It forces you to feel more than viewing emotion. It gets you to put your own perspective and experiences into the character as you see fit and I think as a result it's a more emotional experience. I wanted to try to capture that theater experience with objective filmmaking, where emotions aren't spoon fed through close ups and the actor gives us space to decide his emotion based on his actions. I think it feels more exciting that way and more immersive. |
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You have a degree in psychology. What inspired you to start writing screenplays and making your own films? How did you make that transition and what was that like?
I used to always write narrative stories in class ever since I was little (Bob the Dolphin was a hit in 4th Grade). I also shot Twilight Zone re-enactments with my siblings growing up. I ended up loving horror movies as soon as my dad allowed me to watch them because to me, it is the only genre that essentially creates a world almost identical to our own, with one additional rule that we don't know yet. I love finding out what that new rule to life is, that everything is the same except aliens are abducting people. Or everything is the same but ghosts are climbing out of the walls. In a weird way it makes life feel so magical to me, like I could walk at night in the winter and look up at gigantic swaying pine trees and feel this larger than life feeling, like something that defies physics is about to happen. The interest was always there, and honestly I forgot that I enjoyed writing until after college. And then I almost immediately began writing again.
I used to always write narrative stories in class ever since I was little (Bob the Dolphin was a hit in 4th Grade). I also shot Twilight Zone re-enactments with my siblings growing up. I ended up loving horror movies as soon as my dad allowed me to watch them because to me, it is the only genre that essentially creates a world almost identical to our own, with one additional rule that we don't know yet. I love finding out what that new rule to life is, that everything is the same except aliens are abducting people. Or everything is the same but ghosts are climbing out of the walls. In a weird way it makes life feel so magical to me, like I could walk at night in the winter and look up at gigantic swaying pine trees and feel this larger than life feeling, like something that defies physics is about to happen. The interest was always there, and honestly I forgot that I enjoyed writing until after college. And then I almost immediately began writing again.
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What is next for you? Are you developing any new creative projects? What other ideas have been floating around your brain?
I am so excited to be in development for my next short film, Zippy's House, which will be my first horror film. It is about a young boy, Michael, whose mom forces him to attend the birthday party of a younger boy named Zippy. Zippy has a zipper-like scar on the back of his head, Michael is both repulsed and obsessed with the scar, along with other questions that arise in Zippy's House. I am hoping for it to feel like nostalgia horror/liminal and analog. At its core it will be a house horror. The Creative Producer, Shintaro Shimosawa, is brilliant and began his film career on the Grudge so I am also obsessed with his brain and all of his guidance and ideas, I'm so lucky to have him bring this story to life. It's been a working progress for a couple of years. |
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Sophia Parella is a writer/director inspired by quiet, dark spaces, where the eyes strain to see. Where an intent stare in the dark finds indistinct outlines grow fuzzy and begin to shift. Her stories focus on inanimate objects, houses, and places alive with emotional energy from the past.
You can find more about her work at : https://www.sophiaparella.com/ |
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