I’m Adam Davis, writer/director of BROKEN CEILING, a feature film I shot in just four
days in one location.
The film is about a woman who after countless disappointments and chronic mistreatment at
her job decides to turn a routine meeting into a life-changing confrontation.
If people would like to check it out, BROKEN CEILING is available on iTunes, Google Play,
Vudu and is free for Amazon Prime members.
And I can be found at Adam Davis film on Twitter and Instagram.
When I set out to write the film I had a unique challenge.
How do I make four people stuck in a conference room together interesting for 90 minutes?
How do I keep the tension up so that the audience stays engaged?
I decided to incorporate a lot of narrative twists and turns and use flashbacks to help
the audience understand how the characters got to such a dire, dangerous situation.
If you’re constantly keeping the audience guessing and surprising them with unexpected
moments, they’ll be along for the whole ride.
I also wrote scenes taking place in the cubicle farm and the boss’s office, in the restrooms,
which was able to break up the monotony of the conference room narratively and visually.
From a production standpoint, having all of these side locations in the office building
we shot in was a godsend.
The cast and crew could just land at the location and everything we need was there.
Spaces for hair and make-up, restrooms people could use, a kitchen we could base lunch and
crafty in, there was no need to travel which was key to shooting the film in four days.
Since about 60% of the film takes place in the conference room itself, I had to figure
out a visual style that would keep things looking interesting as well as figuring out
the blocking to move the actors around the room as the dynamics of the characters changed.
For the visual style I had the language of the film change as the story progressed.
So I started with a lot of shots on sticks and some steady handheld shots.
I did not want the camera to be noticeable when things were just getting started.
As the story got more intense I switched to a more handheld style, looser and intense
itself like Paul Greengrass did in the Bourne movies or that great opening scene in JJ Abrams
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3.
I also put the camera physically closer to the characters so that you really felt that
you were part of the situation.
Now for the blocking I wanted everything to be motivated by the power dynamic in the room.
So at the beginning of the film the boss Ken has all the power.
He’s at the head of the table lording over the three employees.
But as each of the employees take their shot at the throne (so to speak) the positions
around the table change.
Over time our protagonist Angela goes from the assistant position way off to the side
unnoticeable really to slowly making her way closer and closer to the throne.
More and more in frame of the wide shots for example.
But of course the other two employees Tyler and Garret engage in the power struggle as
well so their positions move and then you’re getting this very dynamic dance motivated
by each character’s desires.
You couple that blocking with the visual style and you have something that the audience can
really sink their teeth into.
What could have been a boring, static, one-location story becomes meaty and thematically engaging.
What I would say is give yourself limitations when you’re thinking about your next project
or your current project.
Box yourself into a corner because you’ll be forced to dig deep into the material to
make it as creative and interesting as possible.
Finding the depth in the story will help keep the cast, crew and even you really, really
motivated to bring it to life in new ways.
Again, please check out the film at BROKEN CEILING movie [dot] com and let me know your
thoughts at Adam Davis Film on Twitter and Instagram.