I first caught Rob Price’s tense short Strangers at the London Film Festival back in October where it stood out to me amongst the other shorts playing through its distinctively unnerving atmosphere. It follows a lonely dog walker as she ventures through a vast, open field. There she encounters a man who starts up a seemingly innocent conversation but as their chat unfolds, there may be more to him than meets the eye. What I really connected with in Price’s short is the dread-filled ambience he creates both through the dynamic between his characters and the darkened, disturbed cinematography he employs to display it. It really is a great example of how to create tension through each aspect of a film’s production. Directors Notes is stoked to present the premiere of Strangers in conjunction with a deep dive with director Price on the journey of making his short, from its beginnings as a specific feeling he wanted to evoke through to its layered post-production.
When did you start work on Strangers and how did the kernel of the idea form for the film?
The earliest drafts of the script emerged during Covid and were refined at intervals in the year after. I work as a sound designer and became increasingly busy in the time after Covid, so it took a long time to create the space to get the film made, both mentally and logistically.
The seeds of this script were real life situations, some that I had experienced and others experienced by people I know. What I was interested in was how these encounters with strangers can stay in your mind for a long time afterwards, leaving you perhaps guessing forever about their meaning. So I knew the general feeling that I wanted to evoke and the enigma of the Stranger’s character way before I had a story. Then it was about drafting and redrafting to get the dialogue in the right place where it was constantly drifting back and forth over the line of what is acceptable to say. Once I had the script I sat on it for a shamefully long time. It took a lot of persuasion from people close to me for me to get moving and shoot it.
I knew the general feeling that I wanted to evoke and the enigma of the Stranger’s character way before I had a story.
There’s so much tension in the short, which is down to numerous parts of the production. One of them being the dynamic between your actors. How did you cast your two leads and then foster that tense relationship between their characters?
I had written the role of Clare with Kristina Epenetos in mind, as we had worked together many times in the past. It then took some extensive casting to find the right fit for The Stranger. When I had initial conversations with Branko Tomovic, I knew that he really got the script and would be a great ally in getting it made. He came in for a read and straight away I knew he’d be right for it. I then spent a lot of time driving around looking for fields with the right arrangement of pylons that we could shoot in. I rehearsed with the actors separately before the shoot. We did one small rehearsal together but we never discussed the story as a group. It was important for them to be hidden from each other.
And on a cinematic level, how did you translate that tension visually?
In a way, the film started in my mind with certain ambiguous images, so I was able to build an idea of what I wanted to do visually pretty early on. Toby Goodger, our DP, shot on an Alexa Mini. We specifically chose a set of long lenses as I wanted the characters to feel trapped and claustrophobic, even in an expansive space. I wanted to block the film in a way where we rarely see The Stranger’s face. The choice of the wide shots and the 2:35:1 frame was so that we could best use the body position of the actors in relation to each other to subtly tell the story.
I wanted the characters to feel trapped and claustrophobic, even in an expansive space.
How many shooting days had you budgeted for?
The film was self-funded with a low budget. We set a two day shoot and knew we’d be at the mercy of the weather. Typically the first day was blazing sunshine and the second day was grey overcast. The actors were completely sunburned at the end of the first day. Somehow, we made it work in the end!
Were you able to amplify the eerie, unsettling atmosphere of Strangers in post-production? I’m thinking the rhythm of the edit, sound design, etc.
After shooting, we spent quite a long time in the edit. There were so many ways that we could suggest The Stranger’s intentions so it took a lot of time and thought to get the sense of ambiguous threat correctly paced. Adam Bernet, our editor, did a great job in that regard. Then the film got stuck in post for a while. I work as a sound designer and at the time, I was constructing a foley studio, so that consumed all of my time and energy for half a year. I did the sound design on the film and I always knew that I wanted it to be a sort of reverse crescendo, a descent into silence, so I built up layers of ambience early in the film that could be stripped down to nothing. We then spent some time in the grade, not only correcting the aforementioned sunburn but trying to add that dark dreamy feel to the picture.
There were so many ways that we could suggest The Stranger’s intentions so it took a lot of time and thought to get the sense of ambiguous threat correctly paced.
Have you had a chance to reflect on your journey making the film now that it’s had some time playing festivals?
In the end, I’m really happy with how it turned out. I was working with friends the whole way so it was a special process where I had support from people all the way through. Without that, it wouldn’t have got made.
Could you talk about your location? Where is it? How did you find it? To me, it does such a great job in amplifying the uncomfortable mood between these characters.
Thank you! Getting the location right was obviously very important for me. In a slow piece such as this with a lot of time within shots it was important to have a location that draws you into the image, but also to create that feeling of entrapment and a sort of uncanny sense to the place. I’ve always liked pylons visually, and I wanted to find long lines of them that draw you into the background. I looked at maps of energy infrastructure in the UK and essentially drove around in my spare time looking for fields that had the right arrangement of pylons. The place I eventually found was part of an RSPB nature reserve in Kent. The great thing about the landscape there is it’s all estuary land so very flat and you can see for a long way into the distance.
Does your work as a sound designer influence your direction at all?
Yes, absolutely. I think the best sound design comes from the writer/director planning for it in the scripting stage, and knowing when you carry a moment with image and when you can carry it with sound. I also write listening to sound, quite often non-musical stuff, so I feel like I have an idea of what the tone in the soundtrack should be. I had always planned where I wanted the quietest moment in the film to be, so it was all about building layers of sound early on that could be stripped away.
I think the best sound design comes from the writer/director planning for it in the scripting stage, and knowing when you carry a moment with image and when you can carry it with sound.
Do you have any more projects as a director in the works and also as a sound designer?
On the sound side of things I’m working all the time, especially now that the SAG strikes have ended, so lots of projects on that side really. As a director, I’m taking my time, I do have another short film script that I’m trying to get off the ground, so I’m just at the stage of finding collaborators and getting the nerve together to do it again!
