Mark: ”Ok, so this was 2020, we were all still very much in pandemic mode and as such this was never going to be a big shoot. As it was, in the end, it became just Katja and myself where I was shooting mostly handheld.”

Katja: “I think this is where working with Mark became very interesting and we synched up well. In film-making there is this tendency to want everything scripted and fixed before the filming is done whereas for this project we put everything on its head, and that gave us permission to experiment freely. This is also the way I like to work as a choreographer where you let the context, the material and the moment guide you to a result. I am an improvisation teacher as well, so I am fully into trusting ‘chance’ as an approach.”

Mark: ”One thing I did insist on was starting super early in the morning as I wanted to shoot in natural light. Given the building’s relationship to the sun, it was really only 3-4 hours of serviceable light before everything got “murky-Berlin-winter” on us. That all said, I have to say there was something really liberating about this shoot and filming hand-held. Since I didn’t know exactly what Katja was going to do or when she was going to do it, everything became very instinctual. Now, in a way, having worked as a photojournalist, this actually felt like the most natural thing in the world. In just responding to events as they unfold, it really gave a very loose and organic approach to the shoot.”

Katja: “One of the other starting points for me was also the costume — which again I had bought by chance on the internet — and the notion of skin. I move inside what basically is an enormous stocking and I had no idea how it would look like. However, after hours inside it, I started noticing that I felt protected inside it. The space had a womb-like quality. Everything felt very delicate and soft, as when touching something very fragile.”

Mark: ”So, right from the outset, I must give credit to Katja for giving both myself and Ashley a lot of trust when it came to editing and assembly of the story.”

Katja: “I basically left you to it (laughs).”

Mark: “Yep, pretty much (laughs) … But in a way, I guess that was what was needed. Given the way that I had shot it and the fact that we decided to shoot for an extra morning after the first shoot, there was a lot of leeway in how the story could be told. Yet, in its own way, this can also create a different kind of pressure. Suddenly you’ve got too many alternatives and it can suddenly become impossible to know which door you’re going to have to close.”

Katja: “You were “killing babies”, I remember. As in choreography, we say you need to cut, cut and cut, relentlessly.”

Mark: “They were all darlings but some of them had to go…”

(laughter)

“…So again, thanks to Katja, I could sit down and play with the footage until these two different ideas would work together. I already knew the stillness of Katja’s performance was exceptional but the real challenge was layering the narrative in such a way that it didn’t announce itself.”

Katja: “Cue the music…”

Mark: “ Yes, regarding the music, that was a bit strange. I had been listening to Ashley’s CD whilst cutting most of the footage together and on whatever level my head was at, there was one track that just seemed to gel in my mind. So, I played it to Katja and you thought…”

Katja: “I thought it fitted very nicely. It needed a few changes here and there but the key atmosphere created by the musical signature was already in place.”

Mark: “So, by this point, I’d got most of the shots together and I was thinking about Ashley’s track and then he called me – literally two days later. Totally out of the blue. I mean, it really was one of those moments where the universe not just answers you but kicks-the-door-in and says you need to speak to this guy”. He wanted to tell me all about this new game and I was like, “hey, since  you’re on the phone, do you fancy doing a soundtrack?”

Ashley: “And I did…”

Katja: “-Very smooth, Mark.” (laughs). “Very smooth”

Mark: “And so that’s when we set about it. I sent him a showreel of some rushes and bless him, he immediately came back to me and said “I know like that CD track but how about me doing something fresh for this?”

Ashley: “You see, initially Mark asked me for a piece of music based on something I’d written towards the end of last year. However, upon seeing the imagery and instantly connecting with it, I felt that a new piece of music would better serve the project. To start with, I worked to a long edit pieced together from the rushes Mark and Katja’s had filmed. I think it was about 18 minutes long but it suggested the pacing, mood and tone of the music. Essentially, I sent Mark 18 minutes of “ambient droning”, which seems nuts now but that got the ball rolling.”

Mark: “But that first sketch that you sent me was so in sync with the visuals and Katja’s performance. I mean, it’s pretty much all in there in the first section of the film.”

Ashley: “Fortunately you gave me a lot of audio from the apartment and that really helped lend a sort of conceptual element to the sound design. As such, many of the sounds in the end film were created using recordings from within the space itself.”   

Mark: “However, with me being in Berlin and Ashley being in Bristol, there were many lengthy zoom conversations going over the minutiae of those sounds…“

Ashley: “Indeed, I did find  myself having strange internal dialogues about how many supernatural voices would be channelled if only one hand is touching the wall? -Is it more or less than two elbows and so on?  I think Mark and I also had a couple of conversations where we were even trying to create the sound we wanted to hear with our own voices!”

Mark: “Yep, it got to that stage. (laughs)

…You see, I really liked the idea of having a soundtrack that was really close to the sound design. Add on top of that, that it needed to also be minimalist and yet occupy the location without feeling forced either.”

Ashley: “So, you didn’t want much did you?”

Mark: “Nah, not really.” (laughs)

Ashley: “Fortunately in the end though, the sound design and music kind of blended in together as one. So, at times the sounds (although the musical) are also suggestive of a certain kind of visual movement whilst still being part of the score. Of course, there were stumbling blocks and challenges to overcome… Sections that didn’t really work for a while or deciding how best to create a certain kind of sound.  However, that said, it’s hugely satisfying to overcome these hurdles and feel all the parts slot into place.”

Mark: “Agreed. I’m super proud about how the soundtrack has come together because for me it was such a different process from what I’m used to. I mean when I finally showed the finished version to Katja, I’ll never forget the look on your face.”

Katja: “-Wha-at? -What look?”

Mark: “When I showed you the finished cut with the music. I was watching your face and you kept darting back to me with these big eyes, especially during the big reveal, and you said “-Oh really? So we’re going there?”

Katja: (laughs) “I did.”

Mark: “It was really bizarre and yet rewarding to see because… you clearly knew what was coming but you just didn’t know how.”

Katja: “-But that’s why it works!”

Mark: “Indeed.”

[End]