Shot on the RED EPIC MX, Jay Gaderre’s Escape Your Sentinels is a short, sharp and visually arresting portrait of model Alecsa Nelson which was inspired by one of Gaderre’s first filmic experiences:
The water shot is a tribute to a scene from a film I saw when I was 9 years old. It had a fundamental artistic impact on me and I believe it is the reason I became a film director. It is the slow motion rocket scene in the opening of the brilliant and timeless film Koyaanisqatsi. The slow “reveal element” in that rocket scene along with Philip Glass’s magic blows my mind to this day.
To achieve the water shot, the crew rigged the camera on 12 feet high scaffolding above Nelson and the pool of water, the idea being to have her fall through three focal planes (out of focus, in focus and out again) as she splashed down at 3,000 frames per second. While the distance wasn’t quite enough to achieve the planned focus shifts it’s still a nicely impressive crescendo to the piece.
