In a daily existence punctuated by digital interruptions, the uninterrupted opening of 10,000 KM is the perfect set-up for a story that goes on to be told through every digital technology a long-distance relationship has to offer.
No Film School sat down with the director Carlos Marques-Marcet and cinematographer Dagmar Weaver-Madsen behind the SXSW 2014 award-winning film to talk about anything from the seventeen takes for the opening tracking shot, to knowing when to cut. Go behind the scenes on the film in our interview below, and check out 10,000 KM, that after a much-anticipated wait, is finally available for your viewing pleasure!
NFS: In this digital era, love stories across long distances mean computer screens and emails, which are challenging things to capture cinematically. How did you come up with the strategies to make 10,000 KM (Long Distance) an engaging film using these technologies?
Carlos Marques-Marcet: I think our main point with this cast was to think, okay they're talking to a computer, but we're treating the computer as if it were another person. Of course it's not the same, so our point of departure was to explore what are these differences. How can we make it dynamic, interesting visually? At the end was the question, "What is the difference of being in front of somebody and being in front of the image of somebody?"
Dagmar Weaver-Madsen: There are so many options you could go with in this situation. We could see one person talking and then cut to the other place and also see them doing it, for example. But we made some strict rules that we would always stay in the footage of one character —
Carlos: — we would see the whole scene in one space.
Dagmar: We see the scene through their eyes, and we only see the other person in the image, the Skype or the video chat version.
Carlos: The point of view was a matter of one of the most important questions. At the same time we would break it at some moments. We set a rule and we break it. How can you bring together — or separate — the distance between the two of them, also with the cinematic language.
...when Carlos first came to me saying "I want to do the first act of the movie as one moving master," I was like wait, really? There are so many cool details, don't you want to see them? He was like "No". But it's so smart, and so right.
NFS: It’s a lot cooler than the split-screen telephone conversation, e.g. "Hello, Alice."
Dagmar: Like Doris Day rolling around Rock Hudson!
Carlos: These rules brought us to decide that the beginning of the movie would be a twenty-two minute master shot. We wanted to be with them without any cuts. Because then once you cut, they're not the same space anymore. So that was the option we came to in the beginning when we decided to make this very, very long shot with the [two main characters] together.
Dagmar: It was cool when Carlos first came to me saying "I want to do the first act of the movie as one moving master," I was like wait, really? There are so many cool details, don't you want to see them? He was like "No." But it's so smart, and so right. Because you really feel them together, you feel their whole world and their interaction. And then suddenly they are separated and you feel that.
Credit: 10,000km
Why don't we do steadicam? The problem with the steadicam is that it doesn't actually get totally steady...It doesn't stop. We had a lot of very still moments and the steadicam always has to be moving or floating. It's beautiful for some things, but sometimes it's too floaty. You don't feel the earth connected underneath it. We wanted to have that connection.
NFS: So what are the logistics of shooting a master shot for that long…twenty minutes?
Carlos: A lot of preparation. Two years of preparation! We thought a lot about it because we already shot a short version of it in the same location that we were shooting. When I was in LA, we were already having meetings. We drew a plan of what it could be. I was already writing the scene knowing where I was going to shoot. I rewrote it thinking it was already going to be one shot.
Dagmar: Carlos is really great working with his actors, letting them have space to take over the area and do what they want. But when you're doing something so technical, you also have to have them commit to being in certain spots. We have to figure that out. We did rehearsals with them, we were like, well we have to make this work because you can only do so many things technically on a real location in a small space. I think it ended up a really good combination of the two.
Carlos: We were debating a lot.. we were thinking, how can we do that? How are we going to do it? It's such a long scene. The first thing, let's try handheld. But it didn't work for us, for the language of the movie we wanted to establish. Why don't we do steadicam? The problem with the steadicam is that it doesn't actually get totally steady.
Dagmar: It doesn't stop. We had a lot of very still moments and the steadicam always has to be moving or floating and you don't feel the weight of the camera. It's beautiful for some things, but sometimes it's too floaty. You don't feel the earth connected underneath it. We wanted to have that connection.
Credit: 10,000km
We were not able to use lav mics because they start naked with a sex scene, so we had to have four boom guys and how do you hide them? And then they had to move quietly while the scene was going on.
Carlos: And we had the reduced budget so we thought a lot about it and the space was small. It was complicated. But then finally we figured out how to put tracks and a dolly across the two rooms. The good thing is the location has many openings. So we actually choreographed it exactly to fit everything.
Dagmar: We made it through one take almost perfect and then suddenly somebody's boom bumped into the light switch and the light went on and everyone was like "awwww" and then we had to keep going.
Carlos: And then she cut all the light bulbs from the house.
Dagmar: I did. After that I was like no more. I'm taking all of these out.
Carlos: I think it's a combination with coordination with the art director to be able to do that. And of course the sound people. We were not able to use lav mics because they start naked with a sex scene, so we had to have four boom guys and how do you hide them? And then they had to move quietly while the scene was going on.
Dagmar: One time I was operating and I looked up to my left and there was one of our sound guys, kind of a bigger guy, hiding contorted under the window and I almost started laughing. It was just like a dance, every single person was moving organically together, the whole team, my camera assistant, the dolly grip. You didn't want to change anything because your body became used to these set of movements and you learned it. And if you even just changed your handle, even a little bit, you'd have to hit it blind.
Carlos: And she's a f*ing amazing operator. She nailed it every time. I couldn't believe it!
Credit: 10,000km
NFS: How many takes would you say you went through to get it right?
Carlos: Seventeen.
Dagmar: A lot of them were technically useable, it was just different variations. Different versions. Different tastes. It was one of those great things though. We dove into that as our first shot of the whole movie. The crew was doing it together, never having worked together, everyone was finding it out. After we nailed it, all the crew was hugging each other, high-fiving. Then the rest of the movie, Carlos and I were like "We already did this, the rest of the movie is easy now."It just bonded the crew together and bonded the actors.
Carlos: Although it also felt a little bit like, "Wait guys, this is not the end of the shoot!"
Dagmar: I can't shout it enough how thankful I was for an amazing crew, the best to work with. Carlos and I are sitting here talking about how amazing it was to do this 22 minute shot, but without that dedicated army running around behind the scenes…it couldn't have happened.
Carlos: And she was the only one who wasn't speaking Spanish on the whole crew.
Dagmar: I don't speak Spanish, and I shot a Spanish movie!
I hate using too many lenses. Dagmar would have to narrow it down to two lenses. This time, we used three lenses, and I was like, “Oh wow.” I don’t like to change lenses often, because it feels too arbitrary — it takes away from the feeling that we want to create. To me, changing lenses too often drags your attention to the image instead of letting it flow.
NFS: Carlos, how did you communicate what you wanted to Dagmar for the film in general?
Carlos: She knows what I want. We know already what we're going to complain about, and argue about. It's obvious that we're not going to agree on everything but that's okay — that's part of the deal. I think a lot of it was also from experiences, we watched clips from lots of movies, and she sent me pictures she takes with her phone and we look at a lot of photography as well.
Dagmar: For this one we were trying to find the language of each of the cites and their architecture. How can we subtly play with that for our framing? How we would find to frame the two cities differently?
Carlos: That was the concept. Because for me something that really shocked me when I went to Los Angeles from Barcelona, something that surprised me, was that they are completely opposite cities in the sense that Barcelona everything is vertical; everything goes up and even the rooms and how they are built, there are always corridors and theres always rooms inside rooms, so you always have these vertical lines. Frames within frames. Because that is the natural way that apartments are built there, like all apartments. And in Los Angeles instead it's all flat like the houses are flat. Horizontal.
Dagmar: The thing I like about working with you is that sometimes you push me out of my comfort zone. Like I don’t want to do that, and I do it. Later I’m like, “I’m so glad we did that. It was such the right thing to do!” And that’s what’s so cool, to collaborate with someone who respects you, but also wants to try to go further. You end up growing as an artist.
Carlos Marques-Marcet: She does that to me, too. For example, I hate using too many lenses. Dagmar would have to narrow it down to two lenses. This time, we used three lenses, and I was like, “Oh wow.” [Furrowing brow.] I don’t like to change lenses often, because it feels too arbitrary — it takes away form the feeling that we want to create. To me, changing lenses too often drags your attention to the image instead of letting it flow.
Los Angeles is so bright and everything is white, and in Barcelona there is the darkness and the shadows. Even when they share the same space in the first single take, they kind of have their own lighting already happening for what's going to happen later.
NFS: What were the lenses you narrowed it down to, and what did you shoot on?
Dagmar: The 35mm and the 50mm are probably always going to get used by us. The 35mm is your favorite and 50mm is my favorite. We shot on the EPIC with 5K. We shot 5K for some scenes, but not for the others. So, it actually sort of looks like a different lens, but nope, it’s still the same lens. We tried to be very naturalistic with the lighting also. Because if you go too flashy with it, it's someone sitting in front of the computer at the end of the day. Hers is brighter, because Los Angeles is so bright and everything is white, and in Barcelona there is the darkness and the shadows. Even when they share the same space in the first single take, they kind of have their own lighting already happening for what's going to happen later. So it was kind of nice to play with that.
The thing that was interesting about the process of shooting the computers was that both computers were also active cameras recording the actors performances in addition to the RED. So we had three angles recording at once. What we had to do — since whichever set was in night, the other set was in day — we would have to call over to them on the phone and tell them how to set the lights, some people were walking around with iPads showing us the 'set' and the set is the computer. And you're like, "Where is the computer in relation to the light?" We had a remote gaffer!
Carlos: It was good for the actors, not being one with the other.
Dagmar: They actually are video chatting.
Carlos: Yeah, and don't spend a lot of time trying to light a video chat! That's impossible.
Dagmar: It just corrects itself! I'm like darker, darker, and it keeps getting brighter!
NFS: So one actor doesn't says their lines into the camera, then record later the other actor's response?
Carlos: No, it happens for real, and that's one of the things that helped, it's just one shot!
Dagmar: It's cool nothing is screen replacement, it's all live, with each other. That's one of the reasons it all worked so well. It wouldn't work as well if they were trying to act to the video of the other person!
I would do many takes for the acting, ten takes every time, but I wouldn't take more angles than I needed. So all the angles you see in the film, that's all we shot.
NFS: You've been an editor before, this is your first feature as director?
Carlos: Well, I directed documentaries.
NFS: So this is your first feature narrative. Was your experience as an editor helpful as a director?
Carlos: I think editing created a mindset to understand where you have to be with the camera at each moment. Not all directors, I feel, have that ability. Luckily most of the directors I've worked with do, so that's good because you learn about it with them. But its something good editors need to know: when they need to cut. For example, during this first master shot, in some way you should be editing while you're shooting. You need to know if the rhythm is right. Calculating these timing issues is very important, and I learned a lot of that from editing. At the same time, many editors, when they try to be directors, they try to do as little cuts as possible! You know, because at the end you often appreciate how minimalist it is to go one frame before or one frame after. What is the exact cut? When you have a twenty-two minute take, is it one second before or one second later that you cut? That's a very important decision! And i think that informed how I directed a lot. And it informed to me to take risks. I would do many takes for the acting, ten takes every time, but I wouldn't take more angles than I needed. So all the angles you see in the film, that's all we shot.
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Thank you Carlos and Dagmar!
If you'd like to watch 10,000 KM for yourself, check it out on Amazon, iTunes, or a handful of other great platforms!
Source: 10,000 KM
