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Country: Germany
NILS KELLER, DIRECTOR This is my thesis film combining my passions for visually enticing genre films and deep, character driven drama. It is to be a topical coming-of-age story set in the remoteness of space where every conflict is confined to the tiny few square meters of a spaceship. I think that, above all, this short film stands for the unpredictability and complexity of every life’s path, which rarely goes as planned. Biography Nils KELLER (1991) studied film directing in the city where he was born. Munich, Germany. He is working as a film, commercial and TV director. His short films have been screened at several renowned film festivals around the world, such as LA Shorts and Sapporo International Short Film Festival. His SciFi short ALMOST HOME has won a Student Academy Award®. As an advertising director, he works for clients such as Pringles, BMW and Sodastream. His commercials have been honored at the New York International Advertising Awards and The Golden Award of Montreux among other festivals. As a TV director, he just finished his first German TV-series project. Inspirations My filmmaking was influenced early on by directors who aim to create an immersive, cinematic world for their audience while conveying an emphasis on storytelling and relatable drama. Foremost among these is Denis Villeneuve, who I consider to approach his subjects in a unique way. Although he often strays from reality and ventures into different genre, his films touch me on a very deep emotional level as his characters struggle with issues of growing up, losing a family member, protecting loved ones, etc. Another big influence on my work is fellow German filmmaker Roland Emmerich, who studied at the same film school as me and whose successful international career inspired me early on to broaden my view to the global film industry. Artistic Choices Following my intention to tell a genre film with a strong dramatic core, I wanted to make sure that all the technical aspects served the story and character development rather than the other way around. For this reason, we built as much of a real set as possible, resulting in a full-size walk-in spaceship. In this spaceship, it was important to have an idea about the function and purpose of every single detail in order to convey a certain level of realism to the actors, to us, but also to the audience. This starts with haptic things like Jacob's precious printed photos in a comparatively cozy cabin, continues with an idea about shared and private spaces that was already laid out in the production design, the functionality of the spacesuits, the rather small number of screens, the design of Nico's greenhouse and the nature of holographic projections. Another core element was the search for cinematic mechanisms to show Jacob's connection to Earth and at the same time his detachment from it, as he is enclosed in the dead material bubble of a spaceship. Let’s take for example the views through the window of his room, where Jacob’s home, Earth, feels very close and yet unreachable. This feeling was to be furthered by the alternation of day and night and the changing colors of light traveling through the spaceship, that was created using a huge spotlight. A reminder of what life down on the planet feels like. On the level of score meanwhile we only used natural instruments that were gradually distorted to meander between life on Earth and dead space. Whereas in the sound design, the background hums and sounds change over time. From the feeling of being enclosed in a protective womb, to tension-filled emptiness, to the strange feeling that the massive object of the spaceship might actually become fragile and break apart. Visual Style On the visual level, the imagery focuses on the relationship between Jacob and his mother Nico, and the changes it undergoes, with one key turning point that we wanted to accentuate in particular. At the start of the film, Jacob experiences weightlessness and the freedom it gives him with his condition. But then gravity kicks in again, confronting him bluntly with his disability. We symbolized that with a stark contrast: the camera initially floats around with Jacob exploring the freedom of weightlessness. Afterwards it is locked in, as if in cement. As Jacob's body then recovers, the camera also gradually learns to walk again. Nico and Jacob have become estranged over the course of the long journey through space, but at the same time they remain closely bonded as mother and son. We wanted to underscore this dichotomy with the larger format of the ALEXA Mini LF, using longer focal lengths to visually separate and isolate them, without losing the confined feel of the small space they inhabit. The reduced depth of field was another stylistic device for entering the characters' emotional mindset, in combination with shot sizes and the mise-en-scène. The ALEXA Mini LF was ideal for us, not only because of its large sensor, but also because of its compact size. On the visual effects level, the imagery serves primarily to set a massive stage for a very confined drama. While there are hundreds of very small visual effects shots, such as pieces of window in the background that provide a glimpse through the metaphorical metal bars of Jacob's prison, there are also some rather complex full CG assets like the space station and the spaceship. With these, it was important to lend credibility to the artificial world we built while maintaining the “low-SciFi” language of the film as a whole. On the outside, as on the inside, everything stays very functional. This idea of using the CGI more as a tool like all the other parts, rather than aiming for an eccentric design, was very important in order not to lose focus on the drama. Thus, the CGI along with the SFX, music, and staging, was to be integrated into the overall vision of a dramatic and at times poetic language that would serve as an expression of Jacob's emotional world. A boy locked in space, detached, longing. Casting One of the most important steps in production was the casting. For me, it was crucial to convey very strong, multi-layered characters on an acting but also physical level. Being locked up in space for two years means more than just showing the anticipation of finally coming home. Jacob had to be vulnerable and fragile on the one hand, but as a character also full of life, strong and optimistic - traits that helped him survive his incredibly painful journey. The actor also had to have a strong sense for physical acting, meaning that he had to relate to a life with disability and bodily insecurities in a realistic and non-exploitative way. We had a lot of medical advice here. With Nico, on the other hand, it was important that we not just portrayed a character who is completely absorbed in being a mother, but rather a strong-willed woman who often travels through space alone, who is able to make enormously tough decisions, who is an elite scientist, and who becomes an overprotective mother somewhat by accident. This idea of having actors who bring more than just one or two easy-to-grasp traits to the table, and thus bring the world between Earth and cold spaceship to life, drove our casting decisions for the other roles as well. Performance-wise, we always tried to reduce the technical hurdles as much as possible. For example, the actors were only wired for very few of the shots in zero gravity. The rest was a combination of the actors faking those movements and the camera hovering accordingly. The orthotic Jacob wore hindered his walking just as much as it is shown. The appearances of Jacob's father Tom on the holodeck were shot using motion control so that all the characters could play together, and Tom was only made otherworldly after the fact.
