Pierre Daendliker – Drifting Away (Photography)

For my end-of-study work, I had to design the photography for a graduation film.

Diploma project (2022) by Pierre Daendliker

Mention: Bien

Fiction / 13'30 min

Synopsis

A young caregiver reverts to a fantasy world to cope with the grief of losing her mother and to escape from the drudgery of the care home where she works.

Student's comment

For my end-of-study work, I had to design the photography for a graduation film. Preparing for the shoot entailed long discussions about the narration and the aesthetics of the short film. We opted for static shots composed like paintings. We aimed to minimise cuts to accentuate the character’s drift through space. I sought to work with soft, white lights in the style of Roy Anderson’s films, one of our main references, as well as the films of Abel & Gordon.

We shot everything in real settings, which was a challenge in finding the best solutions to light large areas. I also worked upstream on the contrast/colour curve by creating my shooting LUTS.

Pierre Daendliker