PRODUCTION NOTES
In February 2007, while in our third year as undergrads in New Media at Penn State, we embarked on what would become the most grueling experience of our lives: the endless production of our second feature length film, DETERMINISM. (Our first, AN OPTIMISTIC PERSPECTIVE, was shot during our junior year of high school.)
Armed with a Sony FX-1 HDV camcorder and a two-man crew (us!), we set out to tell a story we felt needed telling. We believed we could shoot, edit and complete the film within four months. However, our four months stretched to nearly three years of re-writing, re-shooting, re-editing.
A major challenge in creating the look of the film was sticking to fluid and carefully composed camerawork for a guerilla-style production. Inspired by German expressionism and film noir, we avoided sunlight and focused on the dim streetlights and deep shadows of the night. Because we were shooting on HDV, we were able to use natural and available light. And, at times, battery-powered camping floodlights marginally brightened things up. We wanted the atmosphere to be thick and to reflect the desperation of the central characters.
Looking back at the interminable nights of sleep deprivation (stoked by high energy drinks), the countless empty packs of cigarettes, several hundred rough cuts, six wrecked hard drives, and now, considering our prematurely receding hairlines, we’re relieved we’re still breathing.
