Original Title: Sculpting Realism: Eliza Hittman Discusses " Never Rarely Sometimes Always " / Sculpting Realism: Eliza Hittman on "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"
Published: March 12, 2020
Original address: https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/sculpting-realism-eliza-hittman-discusses-never-rarely-sometimes-always
Author: Aaron E. Hunt, Translator: Lumine, Proofreading: Xiaonan Plays Xiaonan
NOTEBOOK (an online publication of MUBI, an art film streaming platform, hereinafter referred to as " NB "): People may have an expectation of naturalistic films, thinking that it depicts the reality of characters with straightforward emotions, rather than ups and downs and twists and turns. People don't necessarily notice what you're doing to bring out the emotion, but they feel it. Autumn felt a pang of nausea at work, and we could hear screeching noises from outside the frame adding to her discomfort. Are these highlighted elements always determined by what was captured on set? Or are you going to add something in, what are you sure about?
Eliza Hittman (American director, director and writer of Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always, " EH "): A little bit of both, actually. We mostly work at the level of narrative space, but we're always asking ourselves if we could be more subjective or more psychological. This is a very thin film. The story is delicate and the acting is restrained, so it's hard to overwhelm the film with sound or soundtrack. It can be said that it was a cautious process.
NB : Are there any places that you use so much that you end up recycling?
EH : It's interesting, we go to New York to determine things like how much the urban ambient sound around the characters should be raised. We don't have a lot of wide-angle lenses, so it's especially important to get a feel for the city through the ambient sound. But without wanting to make the city sound too dangerous, there really needs to be a balance.
NB : The details of everyday life are very naturalistic to you, like the scene where Ocho's thick sleeves roll up the footer of the registry of crisis pregnancy centers. The sterile clinic setting seems indifferent to these random details and little surprises. Did you create a private space for these details to unfold on their own? Or are they purely coincidental?
EH : No, I don't think there's anything accidental in this film. The only surprise, to tell you the truth, was the protest sign they encountered outside Planned Parenthood. We knew in advance that there would be peaceful protests there every month, and we went to check it out a month before the shoot, when there were not many participants. When we went to shoot, it was crowded, which was the only thing I didn't expect. We have to get used to the chaos and energy of that day. All the details are set in the script. When I write the first draft of a screenplay, I often just write the plot. Then grasp the script like a sculptor, sculpting more specific perspectives and details.
NB : It reminds me of Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool (1970), where he shot the actors in a real parade. Are there any other examples of crews filming in real-world settings? What would be the effect of doing so? Also, did you "candidly" the part in New York? How much can you do within your budget, such as fulfilling Screen Actors Guild (SGA) obligations, etc.? How did you plan for this?
EH : There aren't many examples of what actually happened in the film. We are very good at using the background group performance in the venue, because we have expectations for a part of the space. For example, at the Port Authority, where ensembles are all hired and paid in accordance with SGA regulations. At the Port Authority, we were shooting from 12 am to 4 am and encountered some logistical challenges because we were shooting during off hours. As for the subway, most of those footage were taken secretly. But it's all narrow-angle (telephoto) lenses and I haven't met many people. One of them has a couple kissing and a guy masturbating, and they're all group actors. So, it can be said to be a hybrid - where necessary and critical, the use of the real world and group performances is mixed. We didn't get permission for that part of the material that was [candidly filmed]. We don't have such a big production to rent an entire strip in New York to shoot and set up the group.
NB : Some directors scare the actors in a scene unexpectedly to provoke their reactions. Would that go against the trust and candor of your way of directing? Would this give Sidney Flanigan (Otchi) and Talia Ryder (Skyler) more real material to play?
EH : I don't believe in scaring actors. I think it's a bit unethical. My job is to make them feel comfortable and not be around corners. I'm also looking for actors I trust to achieve the depth and emotion of performance I want on screen.
NB : You combine the symbolism and functionality of everyday details into plots, characters and ideas, an approach that makes an otherwise trivial act poetic. Ao Qiu's nose piercing has a strong meaning, and for such a delicate story, that part is a strong beat.
EH : In my opinion, nose rings are probably especially complicated. I don't know, it's like she wants her body back when she finds out she's pregnant. But that passage is more about how she feels about herself, and at the same time suggests some kind of sexual violence. So, yes, it's a small gesture, but it's a bigger issue that resonates and talks to.
NB : On the one hand, people think the film talks about abortion through a dialectic of information and education. But just as in audiovisual details, the message is emotionally shaped and often conveys the connotation of the theme. Can you talk about how you did your initial research and then shaped the material to fit the style of the film?
EH : You know, I was very concerned that the movie ended up being too informative or too didactic. I have always carried this layer of fear in the writing process. Planned Parenthood and I both knew I wasn't going to make a documentary, and I wouldn't and didn't have the time to show every detail of what a woman who had an abortion would go through. So I'm just exploring the most important part of my story to make it make sense. Truly subjective exploration is the key. For example, Aoqiu didn't have much medical information when he underwent the second part of the procedure*, all of which were Aoqiu's previous hunch.
I think the story is a character study rather than a documentary. This movie means a lot to me; it's also a teen movie, a road movie, a melodrama, and it's also about female friendship, sisterhood in emotional crisis.
(*Translator's Note: Induced abortion is generally divided into medical methods and surgical methods. Since Aoqiu's pregnancy is more than 16 weeks, medical abortion and catheter surgical abortion are not suitable, so the procedure or process discussed here corresponds to the dilation of the cervix and the uterus in the video. Surgery (D&E) procedure, which begins with the placement of a seaweed rod that expands the cervix, followed by surgery the next day.)
NB : I love the scene where O'Church says "go away" to Skylar towards the end of the trip, but after a short walk to the lounge, they go back to their usual routine very quickly and even before they know it , and help each other with makeup. This often happens between girlfriends, but it's rare on the screen.
EH : I think it's important to show this aspect. I want some friction between them, but I don't want to do it on purpose. It's hard to go through this long journey with one person without creating a gap, because the journey is full of challenges to the relationship.
NB : When Aoqiu did the B-ultrasound for the first time, there was a side-shifting shot with a stabilizer, which introduced a more first-person head perspective to separate Aoqiu from the default context. In the rest of the film, this side-shifting shot is also used as an embellishment throughout the film.
EH : We used a camera stabilizer for the first ultrasound scene to show her resistance to looking at the fetus. It is not routine to choose a stabilizer in a cramped examination room. Stabilizers are generally not used in small spaces. And in the last part of the abortion operation, we also used the stabilizer, and everyone surrounded Aoqiu on the operating table. At this time, the camera moved around them until the critical moment when they asked Aoqiu what surgery was going to be next. On the first day of surgery, we used the slides to track the doctor putting in the laminaria* for Otto.
(*Translator's Note: "laminaria" seaweed sticks or kelp strips are medical devices based on natural seaweed. They use the principle of water absorption and swelling to dilate the cervix and reduce damage before artificial abortion. This is translated by many subtitle groups. Inaccurate.)
NB : In the climax, the scene where O'Church is asked a series of questions before surgery, it looks like Sidney is responding to those questions for the first time. How did you arrange this scene for her?
EH : This is the only scene I've rehearsed multiple times. I can tell you that the women in that scene are really counselors. So I spent a lot of time developing the scene of the counselor and the family planning center, in order to make the work of the counselor truly respectable, but then I still had to make this part consistent with the script style, after all, this is obviously not a documentary. So to get Sidney ready, a lot of work went into the script for this scene - my advice to her is to let her answer the questions from her own perspective. So when the counselor asked, "Does your family have a history of heart disease?" she was really thinking about her family's situation. This deepens that scene. I think Sidney is a great actress, she knows acting is about creating a gift about herself. She's performing, but drawing from a very personal space.
NB : In Beach Rats* you use an unmotivated form factor, where the camera front light hits the character's face at night. I don't seem to see such a stereotype-breaking element in Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always.
EH : We actually used the same hand-held motorless lighting because it was more cost-effective for night scenes without lighting large areas. We only hit the face lights. Indeed it is often done. I think it's probably because our city (which has more lights at night) isn't as obtrusive as it would be at the beach at night. In this film, there will be a little more pre-light and fill-light effects.
(*Translator's Note: "Beach Rats" is a work written and directed by the director in 2017.)
NB : When I was talking to photographer Hélène Louvart* about Beach Rats, she said that you would lay out the storyboards like a planner, but more to determine what was going on in the production process. Unwanted effects, rather than directly looking for the desired effects.
EH : If I want to say, the process this time is similar to "Beach Rats". We start with a rough storyboard, which contains the basic work we have to do on site. Based on that we make adjustments, additions and edits, because Helena is quite an amazing director of photography, she is very able to catch the mood of the story, and I will give her a lot of freedom to play, just like doing a documentary.
She has a set of her own special equipment, and many movies are made with her equipment. This is difficult to describe. She may tell you more about it.
(*Translator's Note: Helena Leva, French photographer, director of photography for this film, other works include "Beach Mouse", "Happy Lazaro", "The Beach of Agnès", etc.)
NB : I've met some men who were very excited to deny Aoqiu's experience, and they were even very angry. Most of them denied that the men around Aoqiu were real. Have you encountered this kind of reaction and what do you think about it?
EH : Weinstein also denied the reality around him, feeling that women misunderstood him. In my opinion, that way they would be able to join the club. The men in the "men's club" are paranoid that their behavior is not out of bounds.
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