Aesthetic is as important to us as the content of the film.

It must be the servant to it.

DC and I share a common love for film that embodies mood, dynamic and superbly 'human' performances.

From the moment we began discussing 'Broken Kingdom' we shared a common vision:

Our desire is to create a kind of 'voyeurism', the objective being to expose the audience to moments of tremendous intimacy and honesty. A disembodied perspective allowing us to see ~

'that which we should not be able to see.'

We are detemined to accomplish this. Rarely do I see it in cinema and yet there are a number of ways to achieve this.

Shooting through foreground objects, the use of shadow, evocative lighting and unconventional perpspectives are just a handful of methods we will employ. Our desire is to create an energy and a drama within a shot before an actor even steps in front of the camera.

We want to integrate the naked quality of documentary with the raw beauty of stylistic imagery. We seek to capture the environment in all of its horror and splendor; bestowing the city of Bogota with the qualities of a character.

When we transition to Los Angeles, I want to feel a striking contrast.

In Bogota I want the feeling of vibrancy, chaos and sexuality. In Los Angeles I want the feeling of inertia and slow, candy-coated doom.

Documentary-like performances and gorgeous cinematography do not have to be mutually exclusive entities. We discovered this in 'WAIT FOR ME'.

Christophe and I are both fans of Gus Van Sant, Wong Kar Wai, Ken Loach, Cassevetes, Scorsese and Innaritu. The common thread between these creators being an uncompromising devotion to life with all of its terrible beauty. The ruthlessness. The holiness.

We like to allow audiences the dignity of seeing life as it is. Film which beckons you into a 'reality' from the moment it begins. Our audience must be regarded as a significant part of the creative process. If we were to deliver a 'packaged' concept, replete with opinions, political ideas and subjections, we will have failed.

Such art belittles an audience. Such cinema has no place for someone who wishes to grow from an experience. Sadly, this is the scourge of cinema today.

We seek humanity. I want my actors to feel the permission to fail. The freedom to discover and surprise themselves within an environment that feels like a part of life, rather than something removed from it. And although scenes will be structured and scripted, I don't want to confine any performance to boundaries. The moment you do that, you destroy the miracle. I seek candor and truth. No affectation. No facsimile.

Each storyline brings its own voice:

Valentina is a vehicle for subversive middle-class apathy and the growing desensitization to dangerous behaviour. We wish to juxtapose the savagery of child prostitution in the case of Serafina against the recklessness of Valentina's decision to compromise herself for the sake of financial relief.

Marilyn slams us back into a very Western context whenever she appears. Surrounded by the pettiness of Los Angeles dilemmas, while waging a personal war against her own grief and loss.

The relationship between Serafina and Jason definitely has properties of 'Lolita' and 'Taxi Driver', and yet - unlike either - their relationship mutates into a co-dependency based on a mutual yearning for hope. Jason's character emerges from despair, at the hands of a girl who has seen more darkness than he will ever know.

Serafina and Jason are more akin to a dark version of 'Pretty Woman' - with issues of paternity and sexuality playing violently against one another in their interaction.

I want our audience to be thrust into the style of 'Broken Kingdom'. Hurled into the streets of Bogota with the characters. Film can sometimes create a barrier between the audience and the movie, because the location doesn't 'feel real'. With HD, there is no escape. It is for this reason that I think it's critical to use this medium. With steady-cam and hand held footage, I want to create an effect where the audience feels as though they are undergoing the same moments and trials as the protagonists on the screen. To contrast this, I want moments of stillness and breadth of frame; almost a 'theatre' of film. I want moments of calm and terrible isolation, followed closely by the voyeuristic proximity and back again ~ depending on what the narrative dictates. Within this, I will punctuate the visceral naturalism by inserting moments of haunting 'fairy-tailish' abstraction and stylism. Especially when protagonists are reading from the children's poem 'A Prayer for Edie.'

Put simply ~

When we want the movie to look like a movie, we will do that. Especially with the more stylistic moments of the piece. However, we will also swing into a very documentary-type aesthetic at times ~ never denying the audience the carnival-ride of being in a completely alien environment.

For examples of the kind of style we aspire to, I'm recommending people see ~

'Elephant' ~ Gus Van Sant
'Amores Perros' ~ Innaritu
'Ratcatcher' ~ Lynne Ramsey
'Sweet Sixteen' ~ Ken Loach
'In the Mood for Love' ~ Wong Kar Wai
'City of God' ~ Mareilles