Alternate Realities & cinematic style
A film defined by polarities and opposites, needs a visual style that supports these conflicting themes, but also works as a cohesive cinematic aesthetic. The question of whether what is occurring is real or a drug induced fantasy must linger, just behind the narrative. Finding a visual style that allows this ambiguity to remain is vital.
The shifting of states, from one reality to another, that exists within the film needs to be realised with a delicate touch, so as not to disrupt the narrative and emotional arcs of the story. Our story definitively starts in the everyday reality our characters inhabit and the camera style and aesthetic techniques needs to reflect this. Hand-held camera shots, a 16:9 frame, spherical lenses, a smooth and invisible editing style will all allow the audience to become comfortable and familiar with the world of our story. The lighting style should be naturalistic, supporting and enhancing the existing light found on location. We also must see the world through our character’s eyes. As the first half of the film is seen through the prism of Otis’ morose and depressed world view, the colours and tone need to reflect this. Muted blacks, greys and blues meet the organic smoky greens and browns of the nature that surrounds the camp.
If these scenes of normality are our comfortable actuality, the excursions into other realities, via the drugs and the Alien contamination, need to flow seamlessly from this natural aesthetic into something more artificial and cinematic. These scenes will be more composed, using locked off camera angles, slow camera movements and a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Editing techniques that heighten the sense of time passing, jumping and slipping will be used, including crossfades, jump cuts and whips. The lighting will be much more high contrast, accenting colours and deepening the shadows. The tripped-out reveries the group descends into each night will be filmed using anamorphic lenses to add to the state of hyper-reality that the slow motion and brilliant colours already create.
There are scenes where the divide between reality and fantasy is less clear, so one or two of the defining techniques will be used for these instances. This will hint at the divide rather than signpost anything definitively. For example, in the scenes when the Alien lifeform experiments with Otis’ senses, we’ll use anamorphic lenses and a locked camera angles, but leave the aspect ratio at 16:9.
The split between objective and subjective experience also needs to be visually represented though the choice and type of shot created. The narrative deals with both the internal worlds of our protagonists (Otis and Chloe) and the external reality of their place in the landscape of the story as well as the universe beyond. The shots chosen will reflect this: close-up, shallow depth of field for moments where we are inside our characters thoughts; wider, off-kilter framing that positions our characters at odds with the world around them, when they are confused and adrift.
Cosmic journeys & visual effects
The visual effects sequences are designed to represent two possible interpretations – the wild hallucinations of characters under the influence of narcotics, or physical journeys through the space-time continuum that the Alien enables Otis, and then Chloe, to experience. Each segment will take us on a coherent, but abstract, visual journey for the time that it lasts,. They will be designed to mimic and recreate a mixture of visuals inspired by real space photography and honest testimonies regarding visions of people who have taken hallucinogenic drugs. These visual effects segments will be wild, trippy, colourful and otherworldly, but all open to interpretation as either a trip through the cosmos of the mind or the endless expanse of the universe.
The VFX that sit within the main narrative of the film, such as the Alien and the life forces that guide Otis to the new orbs, will appear naturalistic and blend in seamlessly with the cinematography. They will feel as if they have always been part of the shot, as though created in camera, and some elements, such as the orbs, will be. The Alien will appear as manipulations of light, and the VFX employed to create it will use flares and visual particles, to bring its energy to life on screen.
The soundscapes within the film also need to reflect the dual realities that exist within the narrative. A subjective soundscape will enhance and highlight what our characters are experiencing, most notably for Otis’ sensory transitions in the 2nd act. Small, intimate movements – the blink of an eye, an intake of breath, a fire crackling, a wave crashing – will be exaggerated giving the scenes and beats a hyper-real intensity that reflects the unique experiences the characters are going through.
As reality departs, stolen away by narcotics and aliens, the soundscape will follow the visuals in creating an ambiguous, subjective experience for the viewer, that closely mirrors the experiences of our characters.
The music needs to be both real and hallucinatory. An original electronic score, using a mix of natural and artificial sounds, will enable the soundtrack to be both minimal and expansive, real and imaginary, familiar and alien. By establishing a soundtrack that is mutable and adaptable early on also means that as the horror and thriller elements of the film emerge in the latter half of the film, the modulation from a mysterious and other-worldly tone, to a more frenetic and fear-inducing timbre will be seamless.