When staging the film, I had already written the script with a specific outline in mind, where the actions in the script depended a lot on a similar outline to be believable. Especially the placement of the kitchen in relation to the hallway became important so that Lisa could explore the ring without worrying too much about Oliver seeing her. I also wanted the apartment to be on the first or second floor so we could get the shot of Lisa walking past Oliver’s window when he’s left in bed drinking. I searched all through the greater Stockholm area for something similar to my idea, which we could rent for the weekend we had scheduled the shoot. The more I searched, the more of the details I had to give up, and I eventually came to a point where I would just have to settle for an apartment far out of my vision. I decided to take a step back and look towards theatre instead, where I have my background from as an actor. I decided that instead on compromising on the apartment, I’d rather leave the look of it up to the audience and create a theatre-film hybrid by creating the apartment in a studio with the apartment outline I had in my head.
From film we get the closeups and the follow shots, someone steering us through the center of the actions and allows us to see all the details that we might miss in the theatre. Merging the two worlds has been done before by Lars von Trier in Dogville, where he used white tape on the floor and bird’s eye shots to orient the viewer in the world. This film became an important reference for me when creating my hybrid world finding what I wanted to steal and what I wanted to change. What I Wanted to Say is a more intimate film, with only two characters with a close relationship, which called for a more closeups. Therefore, the taller set pieces, like the doorframes, became important in orienting the audience in the space when the characters were standing up.
Through this, I believe I was able to create the magic I was aiming for with this hybrid, and to create a world that would be a little different for every single viewer of the film, as they allowed themselves to experience the walls differently.
The lighting was also something we used actively in separating the rooms and showing in which room the character is in. We used the same colors in the set design, to highlight that even more. The hallway was a warm brown, in the living room we used red, the kitchen was green and the bedroom blue and white. These different colors were meant to help the audience quickly become emerged into the world, and not be confused about where an action took place. It also became a great way to establish the depth of a frame when there were no walls, they could still be imagined by the audience, and allowed for the audience to see the action going on behind the wall, which the character couldn’t.
In the theatre there is an established culture of playing make-believe with the audience. With just a limited number of props and scenery the actor can create a whole world on a small stage. There is a signed contract with the audience that allows for this magic to take place, and everyone in the space accepts that they must use their imagination. This is what I wanted for my film, to recreate the magic of theatre, but in a film studio. I’d rather leave the look of the apartment up to the audience and create a theatre-film hybrid by shooting the film in a studio, without any walls, and a minimalistic set, using white tape and door frames to create the apartment outline I had in my head. From the theatre we get the imagination and minimalism of the space.
