Christina & Kelsey Talk 'Kelsey' & What's Next

Christina & Kelsey made a video for the fans of 'Kelsey' to let them know what's next for the creative duo. Below it is Kelsey's recap statement that you could alternatively or additionally read, but feel free to watch the video if you'd like to hear more of what they have to say. And be sure to support and share their Seed&Spark campaign, planning to launch on June 10th. 

Thanks for watching & supporting!

I remember celebrating my birthday on the first read-through of all episodes. It was the first time the cast and crew were introduced to the entire season, and the energy in the room was phenomenal. I remember the excitement and giddiness I felt of what was to come.

And here, a year later, I can say that I'm so proud of what we made happen. It's all thanks to some very talented individuals, who despite constant curveballs and uncertainties remained collected and helped the first season of ‘Kelsey’ come to fruition. Christina and I set out to make a show that was, first of all, one that both of us would want to watch, and one that would give representation to individuals who tend to get neglected on mainstream television. It feels like we accomplished both in an entertaining way, and we're truly proud of that. 

Now that season one has come to an end, the question of ‘Kelsey’s future has become very prevalent. Christina and I had worked out what we would want to do creatively with two more seasons if/when the series acquired a following. Christina and I funded the entire first season out of pocket, putting us in not insignificant credit card debt, because we knew we were making something we believed in and something we wanted to share with others. But we always knew that we'd have to Crowdfund if we wanted to continue. Luckily, it seemed like that was a very viable option with our fanbase. You wanted more and we wanted to give you more. 

However, unfortunately, the plan to keep going with the series will not become a reality. At the end of the day, making a film/tv show/web series is a business, which entails a lot of negotiation and compromise. While in discussion about the upcoming season, some key members of the series had expectations we simply could not meet. We are a small production company that works with minimal budgets and has never seen a profit; so the payoff for most of the work we do is getting to produce content that we're passionate about and sharing the finished products that we put our pride and joy into with an accepting & grateful audience. To be frank, we aren’t willing to sacrifice our integrity or the passionate work environment that we strive to create for our team just to please a select few. That in no way discredits the hard work that has gone into the first season by all. We want to thank everyone from the crew & cast for their dedication and talented contributions. But the time to move on to bigger & brighter creative prospects has come. 

Christina and I left 'Kelsey' season one on a cliffhanger, figuring it would be a creative push for us to continue. Had things gone the way we planned, we'd be delivering on that decision. We apologize to anyone who feels let down by the fact that we can't. However, we do not want to let fans of the show down by any means. We will continue to put out work together and prove that we're a team worth your trust and support. Our next projects are two short films, both about siblings. We’re exploring a different genre with these two pieces. They address the topic of loss, one with two brothers and one with two sisters. Not unsurprisingly, they are based on personal experiences that I have gone through. We want to show the versatility of what we can portray; but you will get the same (or better) quality in storytelling and production value. We're excited to announce that we'll again be collaborating with our 'Kelsey' Cinematographer Peter Westervelt as well as much of the core production crew members. We're also excited to announce that Lauren A. Kennedy (Joanne on 'Kelsey' & Jesse in Christina's feature film Summit) will be playing one of the sisters.

We are planning to Crowdfund for these pieces, so keep an eye out on CongestedCat.com for our Seed&Spark.com campaign in June. Seed&Spark is one place to fund & follow, discover & watch indie films. We’re aiming to launch our campaign on June 10th and will have 30 days to raise $20,000. This money will go towards production costs as well as paying all of the crew and cast for their work. The creators and cast often get all the glory when it comes to film. The crew members and how hard they have to work to make it all come together is often overlooked. Christina has managed to find an incredibly talented and passionate crew and it is time that they also reap more of the benefits. I know Christina feels very strongly about this and I, too, am consistently amazed and inspired by the work that they bring to every shoot. So, $20,000 may seem like a lot of money but we want these shorts to be products that the crew & cast are not only proud to be part of, but also are able to make a small income from. Most of them exclusively work freelance, and most are doing majority unpaid gigs. 

So, thank you! Thank you for reading this. Thank you for watching and supporting our show. And thank you for the positive response we’ve gotten. We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve accomplished so far and extremely humbled by the amazing reactions from fans. We sincerely hope you will give us a chance to show you other sides of our talents.

You’ll find our Seed&Spark campaign posted on this blog in 6 weeks. And, please note, even if you don’t have any funds to contribute, sharing goes a long way!

In the meantime, tweet at us, leave a comment, re-watch 'Kelsey,' check out the other fun projects CongestedCat Productions has been working on.

Sincerely,

Kelsey (on behalf of myself, Christina & the rest of the CongestedCat team)

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We're Casting for 2 of the roles! Read below if you're interested. 

• "We Had Plans"

Director: Christina Raia  Writer: Kelsey Rauber

PREMISE:

Diana & Liz are two adult sisters who love and respect each other more than anyone else in the world. But their future plans are tested upon receiving news.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION: 

DIANA, 30s, Caucasian, the older sister who has grown up taking care of her younger sister. But roles shifted a little upon the realization that Diana cannot have kids. She is a little quirky and slightly needy. Also, a lesbian. 

*Non-union only. Production will happen over 1 day in July (additional details upon callbacks).

• "Not Our Living Room"

Director: Christina Raia  Writer: Kelsey Rauber

PREMISE:

Two brothers get ready for their moms' anniversary party, but quickly realize something is very wrong with their environment when they try to leave the room.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION: 

CHRIS: 22-28 age range, he's fun loving and easy going. The younger, more carefree brother. He jogs, so is in pretty good shape. The actor playing the other brother (JAKE) is caucasian. Ideally, Chris would be mixed race because we want them to be half-siblings & reflect diversity. But caucasian actors should definitely apply as well.

*Non-union only. Production will happen over 1 day in July (additional details upon callbacks).

Directing 'Kelsey' - Episodes 9 & 10

Christina here, back with the final post for my 'Directing Kelsey' blog series. Sorry this is a week late, I was super busy last week preparing for our IndieWorks: Best of Fest. But without further ado, here I go...

Episode 9 (Drive Through) is another one of my favorite episodes. Since episode 8 officially established them as a group, we were allowed to have a lot of subtext-heavy fun with their dynamics together; and we got to throw Joanne into the mix to make it more interesting. 

One thing that makes this episode stand out is that they're not at any of their usual hangouts. They're also not drinking, which allowed for a change of pace in terms of our usual comedic go-to's. A lot of the comedy in this episode comes from tension between characters. 

This episode is also special because it's our first/only completely linear episode. It's all one timeline with no flashbacks. It's meant to allude to what Kelsey Rauber & I planned for the next season, with Kelsey not living in the past quite as much. (Similarly, episode 10 only flashes back to the post-sex OMG's, the rest is linear). Additionally it , again, played into our plans to take the series in a more ensemble direction with Kelsey still as the central character but maybe not such an overt focal point. 

Also the only episode where we have a true establishing shot. Something that never had a place in other episodes with the narrative always jumping around. Felt necessary in this case though.

Something else interesting about this episode is how we pulled it off. As you can imagine, we did not have permission from Dunkin Donuts to shoot there. So, like episode 4, we guerilla-styled it. When getting the Wide shot of them actually going through the drive-thru, Peter & I were in the car in front of them, and actually ordered drinks from the drive-thru so as to not draw too much attention to ourselves.

Alternatively, when we got the interiors of them deciding what to order & Tyrone speaking into the microphone, since we needed the car to be moving and had to shoot that scene on each character at least once, we drove in circles next to the drive-thru lane, not actually in it; and the 85mm lens worked in our favor by condensing the space between Daniel & the actual drive-thru menu. 

As far as the look of the episode, we were on an 85mm lens almost the entire time, with occasional 50mm usage. Since we had already established the intimacy of the group with the shots in episode 8, we had less pressure to have dirty shots and chose to concentrate more on tight singles, at least at first, and the various ways we could play with them in angles. 

However, as the interactions between the characters became more tension-fueled, we brought in Overs.

Working with the confines of the car, we were able to emphasize the close quarters when we did use Overs, which visually represented that they were all maybe a little too close for comfort in this episode.

We were also able to have fun with more stylistic shots like the mirror angles (also tension-fueled).

One of my favorite aspects of the episode, and I'd say Kelsey Rauber's writing in general, are the reveals and how they're established. It's never overtly stated that they initially thought they were going somewhere nice to celebrate Tyrone's new car when instead he takes them to a Dunkin Donuts drive-thru; it's merely alluded to, which left a lot of room for more directing choices. For instance, this is emphasized when Sam gets out of the car in her outfit.
 

A bigger reveal is that the Dunkin Donuts is just around the corner from Kelsey & Sam's apartment; again not something stated overtly, which made for fun when planning shots. This shot actually continues with them walking all the way to the door, but it didn't work for pacing. I think it still translates though, especially when we later imply Tyrone goes into their apartment to use the bathroom. 

Fun Fact, Kelsey Rauber really did live on that block right around the corner from that Dunkin Donuts. I can tell you this because she recently moved. Sorry stalkers. 

To wrap this up, I think it's a really fun & punchy episode that was easy in some ways but hard in a lot of other ways to pull off; and I'm really proud of my production team for making it work. Peter did a great job with limited angle options, as did Jordan (editor) with putting it all together & hitting the beats. 

If I'm going to mention one thing that didn't work quite as well as the episode as whole, it's the scene building up to the kiss between Kelsey & Joanne. We never quite got a perfect take. I really wanted the entire interaction between the two to happen in a continuous intimate two-shot, no cuts. But it started to rain before we could get one take that didn't have any line blunders. So we had to cut from one sort of two-shot to the main two-shot, which was a little jarring and detracted a bit from the natural chemistry and flow of the scene. However, I still think it works despite the rocky beginning. 

Something similarly unexpected that happened in post is that the scene between Sam & Rowan stayed as one continuous two-shot when I had originally planned to cut to Singles between them. Originally, the two-shot was just for coverage while the whole scene was meant to contrast the two-shot of Kelsey & Joanne by playing out with isolated Singles, implying their sexual relationship was ending while Kelsey & Joanne's was just beginning. However, Jordan brought it to my attention that it just didn't flow as well when he cut it with Singles. The scene worked so well as one shot because they played off each other incredibly well and had such great chemistry when they'd do full run-throughs, particularly in this take. I agreed with Jordan and we chose to leave it as one shot. I think the contrast still works because their two-shot is clearly less intimate & they’re at unequal planes. 

Lastly, again alluding to the ensemble progression, like episode 8, this episode doesn't quite end on Kelsey, but on one last punchline for Tyrone. 

As discussed in my first post, Episode 10 (Making Things Work) is pretty much the culmination of what the entire season had been building up to, not just narratively but aesthetically as well.  

The opening mirrors the opening of the pilot but on the much more flattering 85mm lens, which we were on for the majority of the episode, with, again, only occasional changes to the 50 for wider, establishing shots. 

Since we were now at the point where we weren't focused on and restricted to following patterns that were meant to develop over the season, we could simply get the coverage we wanted. So we had very tight frames within the group, establishing the tight-knit feel the audience would now have with them.

This being the season finale, we had to wrap up storylines but introduce new ones as well, like the introduction of Kate.

I have to give Peter lots of props here because at this point in production, we had no gaffer (Sayo got a paying gig on a feature film and we happily excused her from her commitment to the show) and Peter was doing lighting all on his own. He managed to compliment everyone’s diverse skin tones with the lighting in one 5-person shot while still maintaining the intimate, lower key feel, and all with very limited lighting equipment. Not an easy feat, as any Director of Photography, I'm sure, knows. 

The bedroom scenes with Kelsey & Joanne, I wanted to feel unlike any other times we had seen Kelsey in her bedroom.

Like their scenes in episode 7, we have very dirty, intimately framed Overs. I loved Peter's soft lighting, which was a big difference compared to the colder feel to her room in previous scenes (episode 1 & 6).

Kelsey’s happy. She's comfortable and confident in a way she hasn’t been in a long time, and the framing and lighting were mean to reflect & compliment that.

Initially, I felt like there was no point in hiding that it's Shane at the door. We're not very ambiguous about it, so were going to get a shot of her at the door. However, we couldn’t get Charlotte on the day we were shooting that scene, so I opted to just put her voice in, in Post.

But I think this ended up being for the best for that scene because I absolutely love Lauren’s dropped expression and wouldn’t want to cut away from it even if I had the Shane footage as an option. Her subtle transition from post-sex euphoria/ready-for-food excitement to surprise, which quickly becomes annoyance, and then worry for the future of her relationship is all so perfect, both in delivery and timing. I wouldn't want to shift the focus away from her to show Shane, so I'm really happy it worked out how it did in the end.

Lastly, unlike the past 2 episodes, the last shot is of Kelsey because, as the theme song says, it is still all about her; ensemble or no ensemble, she’s who the audience is meant to identify, or at least empathize, with most. We're following her journey.

Similar framing to Joanne's reaction to Shane was very much intentional.

We felt leaving the season with this shot/moment would be a great way to leave the audience feeling satisfied for the season as a whole but definitely wanting to come back for more and know what happens next. Based on the fan reaction, it seems we were right! :)
 

That's it for this 'Directing Kelsey' series! Thanks so much for reading it. I hope it was interesting & enjoyable. And, as always, thank you so much for watching & supporting the series. Fingers crossed we'll be discovered by new audiences and continue reaching people with Kelsey & her friends. Only time will tell, but we'll be sure to keep you updated. Kelsey & I shot a video a few weeks back where we talk about the future of the series & what else we're collaborating on. We'll be releasing it in 3 weeks. Be sure to check back at this blog and on Facebook & Twitter for updates on that as well as Screening/Press news. We can't wait to start telling you about our future plans.

Be sure to stay in touch with me via Twitter. Thanks again for your support,

Christina

P.S. Kelsey & I recently spoke as Panelists at the New Haven International Film Festival, read about it Here. 

Directing 'Kelsey' - Episodes 7 & 8

Episode 7 (Hanging Out Without You) was a lot of fun to shoot. It's interesting how it all came together because the final product features different locations from the original script. When Kelsey Rauber first wrote it, Kelsey & Rowan were shopping for pickles at Brooklyn Brine. Their conversation flowed fairly the same way but more with Rowan insulting the smell of the location rather than the pickles Kelsey was eating. And alternately, Kelsey & Sam were shoe shopping with Sam distractedly trying on shoes and Kelsey interrogating her. In pre-production, we tried to pull off securing both these locations for a while but our lack of budget made it impossible. I then suggested that maybe we attempt to shoot at a farmer's market or street fair, with Kelsey & Rowan still shopping for pickles and Kelsey & Sam looking at jewelry. However, the logistics for pulling this off were way too much for us to handle; plus we already had sound issues at each location, we didn't need to multiply them by a million. So then I said to Kelsey Rauber that we needed to take advantage of the opportunity to use a location we were already planning to use for Kelsey & Sam, and since we hadn't shot the scene from episode 9 in Sam's bedroom yet, that'd be the perfect opportunity to get more done in a shooting day. Kelsey Rauber agreed and we decided to have Sam sorting through her clothes, and Kelsey sitting on her bed playing with a 'hangman' prop. As for Sam & Rowan, I really loved the idea of paying homage to Arrested Development with a Pickle Stand in the park, but we just didn't have the budget to build one; so I advised Kelsey Rauber to revise the script to have them just having a picnic. We ended up shooting at Prospect Park, which was a nice change in scenery. When we first arrived, it wasn't as bright out and we were able to see the buildings in the background, which I loved because it was such a representation of what it's like to be in NYC: even surrounded by greenery, the skyscrapers are still always there in the distance. But as it got brighter out, we lost the view. Peter worked well with the sunny day; we found a good shady spot and it was a fairly easy shoot aside from some sound annoyances. I was hoping that we'd still maybe catch the buildings in the wide shots because the flat, Cinestyle images were promising. But once we pushed all the colors back in, in post-production, the brightness came right out.

Anyway, despite all the location rejections and alterations, I think it all worked out for the best in the end because the more relaxed environments allowed for the performances to really shine and for us to have a little more fun with the atmosphere and pacing.

For instance, it was Nichole & Sharina's idea to have Kels & Sam put on various items of Sam's clothing with each cut back to them. That's a fun, subtle aspect to the episode that I think totally plays into the rewatch value I mentioned I was going for in my first post. 

Episode 7 got us back to the ongoing storylines of the series, after episode 6 acted as a bit of a standalone break. The two biggest arcs were, of course, the 'will they/won't they' of Kelsey & Joanne , or at least will Kelsey realize Joanne's interest in her, and the ambiguity of Sam & Rowan's relationship. The way in which I chose to play with the latter visually in the episode was to have the scenes with Kelsey & Rowan and Kelsey & Sam match each other from scene to scene.

Both start out in a wide two-shot. 

Then a tighter two-shot as Kelsey becomes more inquisitive (compare above two photos to top two), and singles play out between the scenes, often mirroring each other based on where Kelsey is in her accusations to each of them.

This was done obviously because she's having pretty much the exact same conversation with each of them, but also to show that Rowan & Sam are reacting fairly the same way. By the end of episode 8, I wanted it to be clear that they weren't lying about anything actually happening, but there was definitely a connection there that both were denying. 

With the Rowan & Sam scenes mirroring each other, I wanted to make sure that the Joanne scenes stood out, and that they hinted that Kelsey's relationship with her was different from the other two and would be going somewhere special. So I used the contrasting intimacy of Singles versus Overs to bring that out. Joanne's scenes not only have Overs, but have dirty overs that get dirtier and tighter as the tension builds between her and Kelsey. That sentence totally sounds dirty, I know, especially since the scene in context involves a kiss. But if you're unfamiliar, dirtier means more of the other person fills the frame in the foreground, and tighter obviously means the camera gets closer to the subject. I wanted to make the scene feel as intimate and raw as possible, especially by the end. I think it worked really well. 

Also, you'll notice that, as usual, the camera is facing away from the bar for Kelsey & Joanne, but this time we moved them to the corner to create more intimacy & an optimal kiss angle.

Also as usual with them, Kelsey Rauber's real music is playing. She had her doubts that this more gloomy song would pair well with this scene and I was positive that the contrast would work with the pacing and intimate tone. I just heard it in my head when picturing the scene. It ended up being one of my favorite things about the scene because it's rare for me to just know what music or sounds I want in the background of scenes; I'm not musically inclined. So to have this one work as well as I felt it would was a cool feeling for me. 

I just have to say that I was so impressed with Nichole's performance in these scenes. Lauren, of course, impressed me as well. But I suppose I bring up Nichole because I had no qualms about Lauren's ability to pull off these scenes. She has been in a few of my films, most notably my feature film Summit, and she's a phenomenal actress, particularly in drama. I just knew she'd bring depth to Joanne despite her little screentime; and I have to say that the vulnerability she did bring to these scenes was so perfect. There were such subtleties in her body language that made me feel nervous for Joanne; so it suffices to say I had high expectations for her and she met them. But about Nichole, not that I doubted her abilities, I knew she was incredibly talented, she's just more of a comedic actress and I was a little curious how she'd handle the more subtle moments of these scenes. However, I have to say that I was completely blown away. She brought such real rawness to the moments after the lean in and build up to the kiss. I'm absolutely infatuated with the part where she says, "do you want me to kiss you?" and then kind of gulps. I just think the moment where Nichole does that and says the line and then Lauren smiles, looks down, looks back at her and her smile softly fades combined is absolutely breathtaking.

I'm really proud to have directed those scenes. There are some camera moments and tiny mishaps that I wish we had smoother takes of, but Jordan (my editor) and I really made it a point to prioritize performance here, and I think it paid off.

However, and this is a big however for me but hopefully a small one for you, there is one thing that bothers the hell out of me every time I watch these scenes. It's maybe my biggest regret for the series. I say biggest because we always have regrets, things we could have done if we had more time or money or resources; better lighting, better sound, better equipment. The kind of what ifs that you just have to let go of in order to accept that you made the best out of what you had and were capable of. So I only say biggest, rather than my 'only' regret, because, there are tons of things I could say I wish were different if I just had... fill in the blank; but those aren't things that really bother me at the end of the day. I've accepted them. However, this one thing that bothers me is just something I neglected to do, for some bizarre reason, it just didn't occur to me until seeing it all together in post. And that one thing is not pushing in for a tighter two-shot for the kiss. Peter and I were so preoccupied with getting our dirty-Overs tighter as we got closer to the kiss, and making sure we slid (for each cut-back) behind the correct person, and that the dirty overs would cut well together, that we neglected to think too much in depth about the two-shot. We were on a time crunch and I put more effort into making sure we got the Overs, and simply did all three scenes in one two-shot for coverage. I still think prioritizing the Overs was the right decision, and I know that, at the time, I felt the two-shot was intimate compared to past episodes (especially since we were in tighter frames and on tighter lenses by episode 7), as well as compared to the two-shots with Sam & Rowan in the rest of the episode. But I neglected to compare the intimacy level of the earlier two-shots between Kelsey & Joanne in the episode to later as we got closer to the kiss. I knew that I'd use the two-shot for the kiss. I knew the Overs would be too tight to show the kiss and that we'd have to cut out to the two-shot. But for some bizarre reason, I simply didn't think to get a tighter two-shot to pair with the intimacy of the Overs, and contrast the awkwardness of the initial lean in, for the kiss!

I was getting tighter with the frame in the Overs, it's only logical that I'd get tighter with the two-shot as well. It boggles my mind why I didn't see this until post. And, although I think it does work and that Jordan & I found a happy balance for cutting to the two-shot, I still can't quite forgive myself for the oversight. I'm working on letting it go, but it bothers me every time I see it. So are the woes of being a director, I suppose. At least it doesn't make me cringe the way some stuff from my earlier work does. I imagine maybe it will one day. That's the aspiration, right, to improve with each thing you do and look back on your work and overtly see how much you've grown? I hope that's the direction I keep moving in, but also hope I'm never not proud of where I started and what I've accomplished. Anyway, I hope that audiences still enjoy the kiss moment despite my disappointment in the shot I chose, because if I'm not being hard on myself, I do think it works nicely overall. 

Episode 8 (Bluffing) is an important episode because it's maybe the biggest reflection of what Kelsey Rauber and I were building up to as a whole for the season in terms of character dynamics. This is the first time all four main characters are in scenes together interacting as a group. I talk about this in my first post, so wont really get in depth. But the idea was to have the series become more ensemble, and get to the point where we can put them all together and you'd feel like you're part of the group of friends because you've gotten to know them separately and together so well. You'll notice that, even though Kelsey's telling one of her stories as usual, they all have their own storylines going on as well. 

Poker scenes are fun to shoot. This one wasn't about building tension, so Peter and I tried to keep the camera moving (without actual onscreen movement) to keep the pacing light and bouncy. At this point in the series, we were definitely aiming for dirty-Overs with the group of friends to emphasize the intimacy and comfort between them all, while also keeping in wide shots of all 4 to establish them as a group.

I also wanted to get this recurring frame for when they react specifically off of Kelsey, which I think are some of funniest moments of the episode, like "no laughing at my jokes," "well..." 

However, we did also do Singles, partially to keep the momentum high but more so to create a contrast for when two people are having an interaction (Overs) versus more of a group interaction (like each of them reacting to Kelsey's "Shane's"). 

As for the Kelsey & Joanne date, we used dirty-Overs here as well, again for the intimacy.

I talked a lot about the People Lounge in my last post, and this is another People Lounge faux-location. It was the one wall in the place that didn't have that red pattern, and I thought early on that it would be nice for the date in episode 8. So I made sure that we avoided it in all other episodes. We pulled it off well, I believe. But if you look in the background when Joanne walks away, you can catch the bar wallpaper. I figured if anyone were to look back there, they can assume that Kelsey's on a budget and took Joanne to their local bar for dinner. Kelsey does tell Shane that this place was off-limits, and that would work for being the bar as well. But I hope it reads a little more like a restaurant. 

The shot when Joanne gets up and Shane walks over was my brainchild. I was pushing to pull it off. Normally, I try to avoid anything that feels too staged. I don't like drawing your attention to the fact that there are cameras and this is all planned. It pulls you out of the realism. I want you to be able to get invested and lose yourself in it. This is why I’m not so into rack focuses or punching in for inserts, for instance. The shot, though, feels incredibly staged. It's so convenient that Shane walks over perfectly timed with Joanne walking away. This is because it's meant to reflect Shane’s staged encounter. She's not just walking by the table and noticing Kelsey. She went there knowing Kelsey frequents the restaurant, maybe hoping to spot her. She waited for Kelsey's date to walk away and specifically walked over to, for lack of a better term, fuck with her head. I felt like that camera move would help emphasize Shane's manipulativeness. 

The dolly/slide of sorts was Peter's brainchild. I wish we had more lighting equipment to pull it off better. But it was pretty awesome of Peter and our 1st AC Julian to be able to make it work because we didn't actually have a dolly. We just had a DIY slider on sticks that they both lifted and moved forward while sliding the camera on an angle on the slider, and all while pulling focus. Not an easy feat indeed. Worked well for Shane crossing the camera & presumptuously taking Joanne's seat. 

Also, to contrast Kelsey's scenes with Joanne, Kelsey and Shane only have Singles.

Charlotte E Simpson was my Gaffer for Summit, and had not acted much before. She was interested in being on the show and Kelsey Rauber and I felt she'd make a good Shane. I'm not sure if she'll be pursuing acting, but I think she did a great job. She made some nice choices. I particularly liked how she bit her lip after the line about Kelsey saying her name. And I, again, was incredibly impressed with Nichole's more dramatic acting here. Her reaction to Shane saying "Suzie & I broke up" is so natural and real. 

When Joanne comes back, we don't go back to Overs, we stay in Singles to accentuate the tension between them now. I wanted to leave the audience feeling as unsure as Kelsey felt about Joanne's feelings. 

This episode is the first time an episode doesn’t end with Kelsey. Again, hinting at what Kelsey Rauber and I had planned for the more ensemble feel of the show. We had dirty-Overs for Sam & Rowan as well, for obvious reasons.

I think their chemistry read well on camera. We did a lot of callbacks for the actors for chemistry testing to make sure they all felt like real friends on camera, and of course a big part of it was testing Brennan & Sharina's chemistry. I think it definitely reads here but maybe shines most in their scene in episode 9.

Speaking of episode 9, I’ll be back next Tuesday with my final ‘Directing Kelsey’ post on episodes 9 & 10! Hope you’ll be back with me. I’ll try to keep it interesting. Thanks for tuning in & reading my words!

-Christina

Directing 'Kelsey' - Episodes 5 & 6

Episode 5 (A Best Friend's Birthday) is probably my favorite episode of the series. It’s the episode that I think translated to screen most closely to how Kelsey Rauber & I planned/envisioned; and I just find both sides of the story incredibly enjoyable. I think it’s where we were most successful in making something under 10 minutes feel like a complete episode, as if you were tuning in on network TV. 

This episode is the first time we have Kelsey with all her friends in one environment, and, more importantly, the first time we allow the supporting characters to interact without Kelsey at all.

This, being the halfway mark for the season, was where we felt we could make a big shift in terms of the focus of the show and how the audience relates to Kelsey and the people around her. As I said in earlier posts, we where initially introducing you to Kelsey & her world through her experiences and emotions. But the goal was to take the series into a more ensemble direction and have her friends and lovers feel fully fleshed out, not just in relation to her. What would bring this on most, would be Kelsey lightening up on her self-centeredness. This is obviously not the case in this episode, as Kelsey is maybe at her worst on this date; but the shift is coming (which I’ll talk about in episode 6). However, to go along with that coming shift, we used this episode to really signal that coming change toward tighter frames and lenses (as discussed in depth in my first post). You’ll notice that the party scenes are fairly wide.

We did this to establish the space more than had been done in previous episodes, and, of course, to make it feel more like a party. (We were always stretching for extras on our no-budget; so you’ll spot quite a few crew members throughout the scenes.) But as the scenes went on and became more intimate, we definitely got tighter in our framing. 

The date, being the present timeline, is where we were most tight. These scenes were also a lot of fun to play with visually in terms of subtext. When this episode was first scripted, the very first thing I said to Peter was that I wanted Kelsey to be shot in Singles and Amanda to be shot over Kelsey's shoulder with Kelsey kind of stealing her frame. I was open to pretty much anything in terms of framing and shot construction as long as that motif was maintained; it just made so much sense in my head. Kelsey was talking non-stop, in her own world, not really making an effort to get to know Amanda, who was understandably feeling overshadowed and underwhelmed by Kelsey's story. Peter came up with the idea to take it even further and have Kelsey physically inch closer to Amanda with each scene we'd cut back to them. I loved the idea. It's so subtle, I doubt anyone notices. But she is literally invading Amanda's space, stepping on her toes in a way, and consuming her frame.

This idea of Peter's was actually an on the spot innovation. I try to avoid talking too much about the production experience because then these posts would be way too long (which I'm sure they already are), but I like to give credit where credit is due. So just to briefly explain, the date with Amanda was our last scene to shoot of production and we had a skeleton crew (because it was a Monday & we had previously shot only on weekends), literally just me, Peter, Sean Mannion (our sound guy) and Erin Clayton (our AC). Additionally, something you may not have realized, the People Lounge (the wonderful place we host IndieWorks) was turned into 5 separate locations on the series. The downstairs is the local bar, the upstairs is the lesbian bar, and all 3 restaurants are various corners of either floor that I felt we could disguise enough to pass for different spaces. This particular corner was literally a tiny corner that we had not yet seen in the back of the upstairs space; and we had nothing to work with but two benches, a small table and a couple plants. Thankfully, we were in episode 5, so keeping it tight was doable. However, it really just looked like a corner with two benches, a small table and a couple plants. I was running around getting some stuff done and Sean had volunteered to help with set dressing. So I left him with that corner & the idea that it could be like a hole in the wall Japanese restaurant, but gave no practical suggestions on how to execute that. When I came back a few moments later, he had found some Christmas lights, wrapped them around the plants, set the tables and made it all look perfectly believable. I was very impressed & very grateful. So to make a long story short, "too late" (anyone get that reference? Here's a Clue...), since we only had benches to work with, this not only allowed me to retain my Overs versus Singles motif with Kelsey & Amanda, but also caused Peter's inching closer idea to emerge. Additionally, with the Christmas lights, I was suddenly given the option to choose which color would hit each of them. And out of that was born a lighting motif, where the red was hitting Kelsey, signaling heat and attraction, essentially her thinking that the date's going well; and blue was hitting Amanda, signaling cold, reflecting her dwindling interest in Kelsey and the date.

A happy accident that I think made the scenes all the more effective; also, in my opinion, a great representation of team work and how collaborative of an art film truly is. 

Getting back to the party, in terms of the scenes with Kelsey & Joanne: as I discussed in my last post, only Kelsey Rauber's music plays when Kelsey is alone at the bar with Joanne., and the camera is, again, not facing the bar. Lastly, maybe you noticed that Kelsey has Singles with everyone else during the party but has OTS’s (Overs) with Joanne?

This was very much intentional, something we do again in episode 7, and meant to signal that there’s maybe more than friendship brewing there. It's also meant to overtly contrast the shots with Amanda, to signify a mutual attraction between Kelsey & Joanne as opposed to the unbalanced dynamic with Amanda.

I also chose to use Overs with Sam & Rowan at the bar to hint at what's to come. 

The use of Overs versus Singles in these posts are an example of how some motifs are across the whole season and some are isolated to specific episodes. If you've been reading all my posts, hopefully you've been catching the patterns. 

When Tyrone comes over to break up the intimacy, we stay in a medium shot, and Kelsey Rauber’s music is no longer playing.

By the way, the motorboat was improvised by Daniel and Lauren was great at staying in character when that suddenly happened. Just wanted to note that because I was impressed. 

As mentioned earlier, Sam & Rowan interact with each other, for the first time, without Kelsey, as well as without Kelsey as the context of their discussions. In reality, their scenes simply hint at their complicated dynamic (discussed in my second post) and the fact that there is actually a friendship there; and when their defense mechanisms aren’t up, they actually do enjoy each other’s company.

But Kelsey would of course make their scenes all about her and their exclusion of her.

Kelsey Rauber & I thought it’d be fun to have Kelsey come to a false conclusion and have her accusation be almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. So we planted the seed for that storyline with this episode, which is the final beat of the episode.  Jordan, my editor, and I debated the ending shot quite a bit in post. At first, there was no cut to Kelsey for her acknowledgment of Amanda's "Sam & Rowan are totally fucking line." But I felt that was necessary and thought maybe we should have Amanda cross frame and let the camera stay on Kelsey to the end. But it was Jordan's feeling that it worked better staying on Amanda's shot even after she leaves and leaving it on Kelsey out of focus in the foreground, left to stew as she slumps her shoulders. After the discussion, I agreed with him because it worked very well with our intentions with the rest of the season, to push Kelsey into reflecting a little more on her one-sidedness as well as neediness in relationships. So I had Jordan cut to Kelsey for her reaction about Sam & Rowan but not cut back to her for that final moment. I think it works exceptionally well, especially because we got another happy accident with the lighting. Kelsey's in red at first but shifts to blue once Amanda crosses frame, ending there. 

I will try to keep episode 6 (UHaul-er) short. This episode frustrates me a little because I'm not positive it translates quite what I set out to translate. Kelsey Rauber and I wanted this episode to be a big step forward for Kelsey in terms of how she really feels about the breakup and ultimately how she feels about herself. In the end, it felt a little less significant than we both originally expected and planned. I've examined it and have come to my own conclusions that I'll share at the end of this post. But I do think most things translated quite well.  

For one thing, this episode was about conveying Kelsey toned down from how the audience had previously seen her, both in her demeanor as well as neediness. We wanted to show that she's more than just this goofball who always puts her foot in her mouth. We tried to make her three dimensional in a lot of little ways early on, like showing her at work and in occasional contexts not related to her love life. But this episode was a great opportunity to show other, maybe more subtle, sides to Kelsey. 

Also, regarding toning down things, we definitely toned down the drinking compared to previous episodes, which is something Kelsey Rauber and I felt would be a good signifier of Kelsey's emotional state shifting as she gains her confidence and self-worth back. Not that she doesn't still drink by the end of the series, but she's not getting drunk. That's the distinction I thought would be important to make. 

To get to the visuals, the biggest visual motif of episode 6 is the same motif we used during the date in episode 5, but to the opposite effect. Instead of Kelsey stealing her date's frames, Joyce steals hers, as well as everyone else's.

Kelsey and Tyrone have Singles when they're alone (or for the opening before the reveal of Joyce).

But once Joyce is in the picture, they never get their own Singles as long as she's in the room. 

She overshadows Kelsey's presence pretty much throughout the whole episode. Peter and I thought this would be a perfect way to give Kelsey a taste of her own medicine. This episode is a wake up call for her of her own overbearing and somewhat selfish behavior, so the shot construction was used to emphasize the emotional conclusions Kelsey makes after this episode, even if she doesn't verbalize them. 

A behind the scenes fun fact: like the date in episode 5, this was the last day of production (shot in the morning) and we had a skeleton crew.

I had been looking for a restaurant to be our brunch place for a while but it was impossible with our lack of budget. So I decided that if we pulled all the curtains off the windows in the front of the People Lounge and put some tables and chairs up on the stage, the audience wouldn't notice that the area used as the brunch place was the area they had seen in the distance behind Kelsey all season long sitting at the local bar. So we did just that and Sean, again (or rather for the first time), worked his magic with set dressing, and it all worked out!

Another fun fact, the car parked outside the window behind Tyrone is the car he later buys, seen in episode 9. We tried putting a 'For Sale' sign on it but it wasn't readable.

A final fun fact: it's the real Kelsey, series Writer Kelsey Rauber, at the lesbian bar with "Suckface" Jen. When Kelsey wrote the appearance of Jen's latest bruised concubine into the script, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. We kicked around the idea of me playing the part because people had been mentioning how Nichole & I had a somewhat similar look and it could allude to Jen having a type. But I thought it would be a much funnier easter egg to have it be the real Kelsey, especially since she's the one "Suckface" really happened to.

Additionally, Kelsey Rauber did her own lip bruise makeup! 

Another interesting aspect of the episode is Joyce's look. I made it a point to have Kelsey spot her first, even though Joyce is the one who makes the first move.

She shares a stylistic resemblance to Shane, and, although I didn't want to imply that a person's look signifies who you are or how you'll behave, I wanted it to be representative of Kelsey's type, and maybe her attraction to emotionally unavailable or manipulative women. Kelsey eyeing the one woman in there who's similar to Shane is not so much a literal statement about their styles but just a visual way of showing Kelsey's bad habit, and a way to show a sharp contrast to Joanne. If we're talking literally and not symbolically, Joyce is only known to be a bad fit later on because Kelsey barely gets to know her and takes her home with the assumption that everything will be perfect the next day; whereas Joanne starts out as her friend and gets to know her, quirks and all (since Kelsey's not putting on a show for her), and wants to date her because of who she is, not in spite of it. That's the context for why Joanne is better for Kelsey than Joyce (aside from their chemistry and attraction to each other). But I wanted to have a visual connection between Joyce & Shane to allude to Joyce being wrong for her early on. I realize that I'm being kind of rambly about this, but I don't want it to feel like Kelsey Rauber & I were making assumptions about femininity and masculinity or implying that an edgier look automatically means you're the heart breaking "bad girl" type; it was merely a combination of casting, a desire for stylistic diversity within the lesbians portrayed on the series and a need to symbolically show Joyce as a contrast to Joanne as well as a similarity to Shane (who pops up in episode 8).

It also made for visual fun when Joyce swapped out her night-before attire for Kelsey's two favorite shirts previously seen on the series; a very different look for Joyce to accompany her very different behavior in the light of day.

There's not too much else to discuss in episode 6 because, as I said, the main motif was Joyce stealing Kelsey's "spotlight" in framing.

Also, we began the shift to tighter lenses & frames. We weren't quite at 85's yet but we weren't touching anything wider than 50mm for sure. 

This positioning was all Peter. -->

The lighting in the bedroom lowered our quality a little, which wasn't ideal, but we really wanted to use natural light and have it all feel a little drab.

This camera angle is possibly the least romantic angle I could possibly imagine. Peter and I wanted it to feel almost voyeuristic so that it'd be as awkward and uncomfortable as Kelsey felt at this point. It also signals that Joyce is about to be out the door because we were shooting from the stairs out of Kelsey's bedroom.

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I don't know if the episode fully translates what I set out to. What I regret about the episode is not having a more transitional ending. Kelsey Rauber is, of course, the writer but she and I collaborated on the storylines and seasonal arc; and this episode in particular, I was pushing for it to have a transitional feel for Kelsey as a character.

Kelsey Rauber ended it on a punchline, which totally works. But I neglected to see at the time that it didn't work quite in the way we wanted in terms of the series as a whole and getting Kelsey from A to Z. That said, it still worked out in the end because this episode feels like a standalone, which is always nice to have (some people have even said it's their favorite because of that). And it does still function in terms of showing development for Kelsey. She actually rejects someone, which is a huge change for her. She realizes that this woman is not right for her and that she doesn't have to settle just because Joyce is there and interested. Also, important, she did it without the aid of any of her friends. This shift, we hoped, would make it clear that Kelsey is ready for Joanne, for a real connection, not just one that comes out of proximity and horniness mixed with loneliness. I think the episode as a whole did work in terms of setting that up in episode 7. I just wish I had carried it through to the end with a little more than just the punchline. Regardless, it did lead in to what is probably my second favorite episode of the series: episode 7.

The view count is now at 153,224! We passed 150,000. I don't know how quickly the numbers will move without some big press or outreach to new fans. But I'm going to cross my fingers that we can hit 200,000 by the time I finish this 'Directing Kelsey' series in 2 weeks. We will see! 

As always, thank you for watching, reading and sharing! I'm so grateful for the support. See you in a week with episodes 7 & 8. 

-Christina

P.S. I spent today replacing all the episodes' video files with slightly higher resolution versions that have the audio cleaned up a bit as well. So if you’re itching for a rewatch, that’s a perfect excuse to spend 72 minutes with Kelsey & her friends.

'Kelsey' Blooper Reel - Part 2!

Here's the second and final part of the blooper reel we put together (thanks to our very own Lauren A. Kennedy, or better known to you as Joanne, through L.A. Reels) featuring some fun blunders on set.

By the way, I mentioned in my last Directing Kelsey post that I'd be writing about Episodes 5 & 6 this week and sharing the second blooper reel the following week. But I ended up being busier than expected and didn't have a chance to work on it this week. I'm Upstate near Fort Hood working with I WAS THERE Film Workshops as a Senior Instructor. It's something I've been doing one week out of every month for about a year. I've spoken about this in past blog posts, and you can check out the site if you're interested/curious. Either way, I always overestimate the amount of free time I'll have when doing these workshops. But, no worries, I'll definitely be back next Tuesday with my write-up about the episodes. I hope you got a laugh from the blooper reel; and if you missed the first part, find it here! 

Christina