FILM DETAILS
Duration: 4 min 46 sec
Screen Ratio: 1:78
Date Completed: June 30, 2022
Language: English
Format: Color / Black & White
LOG LINE
Frustrations with daily life give rise to erratic dreams and the lure of escape.
SYNOPSIS
Confined to an underwhelming life in a dull gray city, dreams are the only means of distraction. Fleeting glimpses of an unknown woman wandering a foreign countryside provoke first curiosity and then dependency. The lure of escape overwhelms the dreamer who relinquishes himself to the fantasy.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Feelings of isolation, confinement, and stress reached a collective fevered pitch during the pandemic. The desire to escape was palpable but inaccessible for the vast majority of people. With “Reverie in Strings” I wanted to portray, from an emotional standpoint, just how overwhelming that desire for escape can be for someone; so powerful that a person might lose their interest in the real world.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
During the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, having not left NYC in over a year, the stress was taking its toll on Kate’s sleep. She found herself tormented almost every night with insomnia between 2am and 4am. On one of these sleepless nights, she woke from a vivid dream of a woman in a red cloak wandering the hills of a country Kate had only seen in pictures: Wales. Clearly, the desire to escape NYC had infected Kate’s dreams. She wove her dream into the “Reverie in Strings” screenplay that juxtaposed the weight and chaos of life in the city against the serenity of the Welsh countryside. By the summer of 2020 the UK travel ban began to ease, and we set our sights on Wales. We excitedly bought our plane tickets to finally break the repetition of our solitary pandemic life and also the opportunity to shoot the script she had composed that summer.
Over the next several months, Kate and I meticulously planned our film shoot in Wales knowing it would only be the two of us as the production team. Using the internet, we scoured the country of Wales for location shoots and backup spaces. Lookbooks and maps were created, while costume pieces arrived in the mail. As equipment lists were assembled, I grew more excited to see and shoot in Wales for its beautiful landscapes and its sparseness of people.
Upon arrival the beauty of Wales exceeded all our expectations and the remote locations we had selected proved absolutely perfect. Very few people and gorgeous castle ruins made for ideal film shoots even for an improvising two-person crew. On days where we found ourselves in more trafficked locations such as the Pembrokeshire coastline, we were still blessed with opportunities to capture dreamlike scenes. Patience was the theme of the entire shoot.
Whereas in Wales I primarily used an objective camera style to create the feeling of 19th century impressionist fairytale paintings, I chose to make the NYC scenes kinetic and handheld to give a feeling of urgency and frenzy. Empty subway stations and alleyways were shot late at night, juxtaposed with the madness of the rush hour commute. The choice to use black and white for the NYC dream scenes further pushed the sense of isolation and chaos in contrast to the verdant Welsh pastorals.
After locking in the look of the film, we knew the score had to play a crucial role. We needed something that would not only create emotion, but also bridge the duality of the Wales/NYC scenes. The score would be the only way we could unify the disparate pieces. Years previously, Kate heard violinist Mabis Chase play what she always referred to as “whale songs in space”. Tapping Mabis for the project, he tracked down a Welsh traditional from 1701 called the “Bishop of Bangor’s Jigg” and then transposed it into a minor key to match the tone of the film. Once we had a basis for the score, Mabis composed approximately 25 pieces of music in E Minor to buttress the theme. I then took those pieces and arranged them into a cohesive score that provided true depth and unity to the film.
CREDITS
Directed by: Joseph Parks
Written by: Katie McCarthy
Cinematography by: Joseph Parks
Editing by: Joseph Parks
Produced by: Katie McCarthy
Score Composed by: Mabis Chase (Score inspired by, “Bishop of Bangor’s Jigg”)
Sound Mixing by: Zack Hagan
Sound and Score Editing by: Joseph Parks
CONTACT INFORMATION
Name: Joseph Parks
Email: joe@parksinmotion.com
