Didirri - Obsolete Machine
Director - Jesse Leaman
1st Asst Director - Taylor Adams
2nd Asst Director - Marcos Vacchio
Producer - Nicole Freeman
Director of Photography - Joey Knox
1st Assistant Camera - Anthony Taranto
2nd Assistant Camera - Monica-Jane (MJ) Saade
Behind the Scenes - Oliwier Gesla
Photographer - Peter Foster
Production Design - Maite Martin Samos
Make-Up and SFX - Daniel Ruth
Editor - Samos
Colourist - Oliwier Gesla
Special Thanks - Fyansford Paper Mill
In his memory.
Sometimes the memory of someone can be a place, moment or item. These things can either haunt us or help us along the way. With Obsolete Machine, I wanted to explore the effort we as humans put into maintaining someone's memory.
I explored my own life and landed upon a memory of an old family friend who maintained these large properties solely after his father's death. In observation, this was to keep the memory of his lost father. He hoarded what would seem to be meaningless things to anyone as an observer. But to him, they were special, the last link to a lasting memory of someone.
Photo - Peter Foster Photography
The process.
Let’s dive into this example of how my concepts evolve from a chaotic, freehand sketch to fully formed scripts. Even with music videos, I treat them the same way as narrative projects and will write them out as a screenplay to make sure they hit those beats and narrative points along the way. I know most Directors will approach music videos quite purely as a visual form, but for me, it is more. And I like to delve deeper into the characters' backstories than that, even if only a small percentage of viewers pick up. It’s there. The love, the effort, and the world is there.
This chair, this weight of hanging onto the past was in direct relation to ourselves. This was my grandmothers favourite chair.
This early sketch captures how I pictured the opening shot. Years ago, I took a photo here, feeling the heavy presence of someone watching, like Didirri’s past, a father’s guilt, and the burden he now carries.
The Axe.
The Chair.
The weight.
Here are some examples of how some motifs and ideas don’t make it through to the final cut.
I encourage you all, once you have an idea. Throw it down, start a new one for a moment, if you urn to open it back up, if it feels right, then go back to it and continue. But sometimes, just going with the first thing is just convenient. And that, then,is not in service of your best expression.
And inevitably, some do give in to grief. The moss became a symbol of its haunting beauty, taking over him. As he finally accepts.
EXT. FINAL FORM - EVENING
Didirri sits covered in moss, he takes a moment to breath and accept that this is where he stays. He looks at his hand, now engulfed in the beauty. We move back to a wide shot showing his final state, sitting alone covered in moss.