HOW WE MADE WHOLE
WHOLE is a film directed by Anastasia Yules and Produced by Damian Palli. The film is inspired by true events with the shot being produced with hopes of producing a feature film based on the full story. The project was very ambitious as a result we crowdfunded a part of the budget to help produce the project.
ABOUT WHOLE
WHOLE, is a short film based around a cam girl who is currently in her early 30s, she lives by herself for most of her life in a one-bedroom flat in Yorkshire. One night, her client abuses her and it instantly sets her off. The mounting pressure of life and the incident hurt her dignity and leaves her feeling miserable. She then turns to therapy where she explores her tumultuous past– digging deep into her subconscious mind where she finds herself in a strange yet familiar place and unexpectedly meets someone. MISSY, a curious and innocent 8-year-old girl invites her to sit together for a cup of tea on a picnic. As the conversation goes by, the Woman eventually discovers that her inner turmoil results from her deeply rooted childhood trauma–a trauma that she shares with Missy, who is her younger self. The Woman then comes to terms with her past and starts her healing journey to become whole again.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The film’s cinematographer, Rita Machado Pais aimed to work very closely with the director Anastasia to achieve a unique look and tone which was described in the script. After considering Anastasia’s influences on the story Rita did some research and found a great range of visual references. Rita concluded that elements like lighting were crucial because they divided the time periods in which the film would take place. In this case; the neon and fluorescent lights for the woman present life as a cam girl, and the natural and dreamy like light for the dream sequence in the meadows. It will be one of the most important elements in her visual creation since it’s what sets the mood and emotion of the story, along with a very intimate use of camera work, such as close-ups, the use of handheld, etc.(examples of the tone for present-day below)(examples of the tone for dream sequence below)
PROOF OF CONCEPT
To shoot this version of WHOLE we decided to produce a no-budget proof of concept that captures the essence of the story and give a taste of what the final film would be like. The proof of concept featured similar techniques to ones we planed on using in this version of WHOLE. In addition to that, It was a great practice run and an excellent opportunity for us to experiment to see what works. It also provided us with a bit of content that allowed us to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds.
A BIT ABOUT THE HODs
Anastasia Yules - Director
The Director of WHOLE, Anastasia, hails from Indonesia. Shes briefly worked in the film industry in New York and Melbourne before finally landing in Sheffield. She was inspired by her own personal experience with hypnotherapy where she met her inner-child, her younger self. This project was very close to her heart, and together with her crew shes trying to make this as true as possible so that the audience can feel something and relate to it. Many people aren’t aware of how they became who they are today, and many people aren’t aware of how much their childhood has shaped their adulthood. We all have an inner-child living inside of us. Some might have been hurt physically, some might have been hurt verbally and some might have been hurt in other ways unintentionally. Just because we don't realise it, it doesn't mean that it's not there. She hopes through this film people can love themselves more and when they look back to their past, they can eventually begin their own healing journey through acceptance, self-love and forgiveness.
Damian Palli - Producer
Before venturing out into film, Damian worked as a Portrait and Fashion Photographer. Since moving over to the film industry he has been working in dramas, documentaries and music videos for the past few years. He's currently producing a range of films varying from stories based on the Rwandan Genocide to Korean folklore. He recently got one of his documentaries screened at Sheffield Doc Fest and has produced music videos for the likes of J Fado and TeeDee whilst also working alongside leading production houses and advertising firms in Sheffield, London and London.
Damian mentioned that being able to develop "WHOLE" from the ground up alongside Anastasia had been a pleasure. He added, The film had come a long way from when it first started development in October 2021. I've been lucky to work alongside an incredibly talented cast and crew. I've got some big plans for the future of "WHOLE", currently looking at developing the film into a feature after the festival run.
Rita Machado Pais - Director of Photography
Rita has worked on various projects as a cinematographer which helped her develop her own visual skills. Her interest in cinematography began with photography work and short films. Her proudest career moment till this point was winning the Welcome to Yorkshire Student Film Competition with the short film Victoria Street (2021).
Shay Bonilla-Allard - Production Designer
Shay is an aspiring Production Designer and Producer from Norwich, currently based in Sheffield and is a partner of Goons Production. He aims to continue to support independent films in the north at various capacities. Previously, he has picked up experience within a diverse range of credits in order to optimise expertise on set. To keep it brief, Shay has worked for a range of BFI projects and music videos for artists signed to Sony Music whilst also working for a range of production companies based in Sheffield, London and Manchester. Going forward aims to get into the film industry working as Producer and Production Designer.
Max Clibbon - Editor
Max is based in Sheffield, originally from sunny Norwich. Specialises in editing, but is also experienced in CGI and graphic design. He aims to one day work in feature drama editing, but has also found interest in creative Advertising & Marketing too. He worked closely with Anastasia when cutting the film and later work alongside Rita when grading the film.
Brian Matichecchia - Composer
Based between London & Milan, Brian has worked worldwide with countless a-list musicians and composers over the last 20 years. Brian has been kind enough to support WHOLE by providing a score and managing the sound design for the project through his agency Timotico.
Paul Handley - Colourist
Our colourist Paul Handley, hailing from the south brought the film to life! He’s worked on a range of short and feature-length films and commercials for the likes of Sky, Sony Music and other major production companies over the past few years and graciously contributed time to grading this film for us.
PRE-PRODUCTION
This is kinda boring, no one wants to know about pre production…..
THE SHOOT
We shot WHOLE within one day in two different locations! We did thoroughly plan and rehearse each scene, so every crew member knew exactly what they had to do when we got to the location.
We helped this process pre-lighting and set dressing the day before shooting. However, even though we did all this planning we still ran into minor hiccups on the shoot day, for instance, we went over schedule due to not factoring in time to shoot still images for the poster. Not sure how, we were an hour ahead on the first half of the day, but somehow still finished an hour late.
POST-PRODUCTION
The first pass of WHOLE was completed in May, and then screened locally to friends & family. Based on this feedback we revisited the edit to improve a few things. One of the main issues we faced was the noisy audio. Due to us filming near a stream the microphone picked up a lot of water noise, which meant that we had to ADR the ‘WHOLE’ film (hehe).
We completed post-production on the film in October 2022. It was late due to a variety of reasons, mainly due to a lack of money and the crew’s prior commitments that got in the way of completing the film on time.
ADR got in the way of completing the film too, with ADR scheduled in the middle of summer when everyone is on holiday made it a bit tough to get the film done on time.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE FILM?
The film is currently due for a 2023 festival run! It’ll be entered into a variety of film festivals in the UK, Europe and Asia. Damian and Anastasia are in the midst of developing a feature-length version of the film. They are hoping to begin production on the film in 2024/25!
to begin
