Behind-the-Scenes: The Sound a Soul Makes
Developing the Concept for a Short Film
Translating the poem for The Sound a Soul Makes to a script took many iterations — but all of them started from the perspective of the child (Bee) as she met her parents. This would lend itself to a pure sense of curiosity and love, and immediately pushed the script towards an abstract direction.
I also knew that I wanted their interactions to be based on the fleeting moments we had together at the doctors office — separated by a barrier, yet so close.
This evolved into the character’s worlds to be adjacent to each other — entirely separate, yet allowing subtle ways to connect.
And I always knew I wanted them to be drawn towards each other in those moments, and to retain the joy those moments brought — which is the role that light would play in the film: representing their souls circling towards each other.
- which is the role that light would play in the film: representing their souls circling towards each other.
With each progressive pass, I began stripping out the physical elements and locations, and eventually the child’s voice over I thought would guide the audience through the story. Words, no matter how sparse or delicate, just felt like using a blunt creative instrument.
At the same time I was exploring what gestures or movements they could use to communicate — which led me to write in Bee’s movements evolving into a dance.
I’d never done anything with dance before — but I felt in my heart that was what the story needed.
And the first thing a dance needs, is music.
If you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look, click here to learn more on the project: https://bit.ly/TheSoundaSoulMakes
More “Behind-The-Scenes” posts in this series:
- Developing an Original Score
- Developing the Choreography
- Developing the Cinematography
- Developing the “Rig” [COMING SOON]
