Session n° 78 (2018)
Director: Bridget O’Driscoll
Writer: Bridget O’Driscoll
Stars: Cédric Villenave, Rose Romain, Sara Verhagen
Pavel, a Pole, learns English via an audio cassette method. Today, he is starting his seventy-eighth lesson. But is Pavel making any real progress with the language?
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival will be returning for its 11th year from 23rd May to 27th May. In preparation for the event I got an opportunity to ask writer-director Bridget O’Driscoll a few questions about what we can expect from his new film Session n° 78 which has been selected to play at the festival.
Q. Session n° 78 has been selected to play at The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival. What can we expect from the film?
A. Well firstly I am really happy – all the crew are ! – for the film to be showing at this festival – I hope the audience has fun, enjoys the quirkiness, and maybe is given the possibility to question and reflect on this fascinating true story, which certainly fascinated me.
Q. How did the original concept for the film come about?
A. I was researching very thoroughly the subject of comas for my next short film, and I came across this true story, which actually happened in the UK. Working as a sound designer/editor, which is my ‘main’ job, it fascinated me and so I put the idea in a dramatic version it to my co-author Jerome Wiciak, who came up with the idea of the comic point of view. I then wrote the script, revised it, and shot the film, all in the space of 2 months ! I am a member of a great ‘collective’ in Paris, (I lived in France up until last year) called ‘Collectif Court’, and we all participate with our various main job attributes, ie I do the sound editing on the other films made by other members, the DOP who runs it is also a director, etc. So we try to make short films with no public funding, which means there is an immediacy which one cannot do when waiting months and months for funding commissions. Many of them have been selected in many festivals, last year we did a musical film !
Q. Where there any elements in the final film which were different from your original script?
A. Not really. As we were on a restrictive time schedule, we had to be very efficient. There was one shot which was supposed to end the film, it was a nice camera movement, and showed the information about the patient on the door, but the actresses (Sara Verhagen and Rose Romain) were so good, that my editor, Thomas Dessane, suggested that we stay on the final shot of Pavel, our hero, and hear the rest of the nurses’ conversation, off. They were improvising , and it was really, really fun working with them.
Q. What were your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Well as I trained as a musician before becoming a sound editor, and didn’t go to Film School, I tend not to have that many influences, actually. I definitely wanted the audience to understand that the first scene was in the seventies, ie. Pavel’s mind was going back to when he was at school, although he is an adult now.
Also, for the hospital room, I did talk to Mathieu Hussenot, the DOP, about a shot from Twin Peaks the series, of Dale Cooper in a hospital bed, and he managed to re-create that look, making a slight ‘halo’ effect above Pavel’s head. I think he did a brilliant job on the picture.
Q. What was the hardest part of making the film and did you experience any difficulties?
A. To be quite honest, it was really short, so it all went really smoothly. Maybe a few tricky moments like when (we shot the 2 scenes a week apart) I didn’t have a 1st AD anymore, or also when I couldn’t find a hospital room after visiting many retirement homes… But no, compared to my 1st one, which was 8 minutes shot in one day and a half, this was like a holiday! Oh yes – the opening titles were really tricky – because the names of everyone were written on the side of audio tape boxes, and the tape holder turnstile was of course filmed on its side, and we had to shoot ‘backwards’, so that the editor had the right names in the right place. So we edited it in reverse, you can imagine the headache…it was a really hard to do !! But we ended up getting it done, and I am very happy with the result.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. I think it must have been when the actresses were mucking about and dear Cedric, the actor who had to play his part in the hospital bed, was having his photo taken with them !! The whole crew were all really great and there were great ‘vibes’ on the set, so all in all, it was really great to shoot.
But I also had a really great time on the edit, with Thomas Dessane, who has great experience in comedies, concerning the timing, rhythm, etc. Now when I am in screenings, and I hear the audiences reactions, I ring him up afterwards and tell him he was so right to insist on such and such a shot!!
Q. Do you have any new projects which you are working on?
A. Yes – right now I am in the midst of prepping the short film that I was researching for when I came across the story of ‘Session N° 78 – this time it’s a drama, which I’ve been lucky enough to obtain some funding for in France and therefore will be making it there very soon, actually, at the end of May 2019 ! And I am writing a feature too, in between, so it’s quite busy at the moment!
Q. What advice would you give to someone who is looking to direct their own script.
A. I don’t have that much experience, really, as this is only my second one, but all I would suggest is to write, re-write, and re-write the script until he/she is happy with it, before starting production. And also get other colleagues/friends to read it and listen to their feedback. Also I would suggest to work/study on directing actors, how to approach the scenes with them, how to understand their interaction.. For me that is very very important. And, if possible, script reading with them, then rehearse the scenes with them beforehand, it all really helps for the final shoot. I guess anticipation is the key word, to talk with all the members of the crew about the scenes, and prepare everything as best as one can…Other things which are just as important, like the snacks + meals etc on the set – and find out if your actors have any food allergies !! But also afterwards, to keep all the cast + crew informed, to organize a screening, so that they too get the feedback and satisfaction of the finished film.
You can fin out more about Session n° 78 and project from Bridget O’Driscoll on the following websites and social media
Website Ecoute…
Website The Collectif
Session n° 78 Facebook
The Southend-on-Sea Film Festival runs from Thursday 23rd May to Monday 27th May. You can find out more about the event and purchase tickets on the website https://www.southendfilmfestival.com
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
