Director Rudá Santos’ period short Vibrations is about a young girl who miraculously survives a long-established religious act, leading her mother to battle against the stubborn authorities of their community who refuse to believe their methods are broken. Santos’ short may be set in a time many years ago but there’s a clear prescience to its underlying themes of female rebellion and systemic failure. According to the filmmaker, Vibrations is but the beginning of a larger story he’s hoping to tell one day within this world, one which we’re excited to see him expand on. For now though, we’re delighted to be premiering Vibrations online today in conjunction with a deep dive interview where Santos talks through the making of the film, the meticulous approach he had to dialogue delivery speed, and the ambitious vision he has for the larger canvas of this subversive tale.
Could you take us through the inception of Vibrations as a concept for this film?
Since I was very young, the number 17 has always followed me around. I’d look at the time and it’d be 17:17, or check a timer and see 17 seconds left. It’s always been a huge synchronicity in my life, from the smallest details to the biggest events. It’s like some people say when they buy a red car, then they start seeing red cars everywhere, it was what I was paying attention to. I subconsciously started letting it guide me, and once I started taking a closer look into the spiritual and magical things surrounding it, looking for meaning perhaps, I found some very interesting ideas that led to the writing of the main concept that is the numerology lineage present in the film. These ideas paired with my love for history, Georgian and Victorian in particular, were the key to writing this piece and the larger story that we call Seventeen Brothers.
Given that it’s a period film, the creation of the setting and the mise-en-scène is as important as the screenplay. How did you find the challenge of building the world of Vibrations?
For me, film is at its most powerful as a medium when it involves worldbuilding. When the film isn’t just about what we see and hear but what we don’t see or hear. This thought inspires me a lot and was the main thing I tried to work on in Vibrations. It was a tone exercise for this world, and how the characters behave in it. Especially as a period piece, production design, art direction, and wardrobe are crucial to help build the world, but the key in my view was always about character and performance, giving actors just enough context so that they build the subtext themselves and make the story richer than I ever could as the writer/director. In my experience, worldbuilding is never singular.
It was finding the gaps, the looks and the beats that tell you more about what the character is thinking than their own words.
Were you in production for long? What parts of the film did you find yourself tinkering with most during the shoot?
We shot it over three days in London. My favourite aspect of directing this film was playing around with the speed at which the characters talk, and how the conversations develop. It’s a very talky short so I knew I had to find ways to make it more interesting, create tension, etc. The key to this was silence. It was finding the gaps, the looks and the beats that tell you more about what the character is thinking than their own words. I remember on the second day of filming, I had asked Isla Johnston and Barry Ward to do a take where they didn’t actually say any of the words, just tried to communicate it with their body language and gaze. They made for some of my favourite little moments in the film.
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Were the animated segments rendered prior to production or constructed in post?
We had all the 3D shots pre-planned and a good chunk of time of the post process was about fitting them seamlessly into the live action shots. I’ve always enjoyed blending different mediums together and the live action here with the vibration visuals were quite fun to play with.
The key in my view was always about character and performance, giving actors just enough context so that they build the subtext themselves and make the story richer than I ever could.
The wide-eyed aesthetic of the short feels perfect for the story of cloistered confinement, it’s almost like Isla’s character is trapped in a snow globe by these men. What equipment did you use for both the live action and animated segments?
We shot on Arri Alexa LF with Supreme Primes and a gorgeous 12mm Laowa and used Cinema 4D for the 3D shots. One piece of software that was incredibly useful for this was SketchUp. I first used it on a shoot I had to direct remotely, and it was a great tool to show the AD what we wanted from the blocking and positioning of props, furniture, etc.
That’s interesting. How did that impact your approach on set?
We couldn’t move a lot of the things in the room due to the location being a listed building, one of the memorable items being a huge grand piano! So we had to play around with blocking and how we would hide the things we didn’t want to show. I roughly modelled the main room with the furniture and played around with camera angles, blocking, etc. along with Jonny Flint, our DoP. I’m pretty sure he also found it helpful for his own lighting plans too.
The way the lens captured motion and movement of characters/objects within the frame had a particular discrepancy and tension that we felt worked really well with the story.
What made you opt for a wide-angled lens for this story?
We decided on the wide-lens-up-close approach early in production because it really complemented the 1.43:1 aspect ratio we were shooting in. It allowed us to create some interesting one-shot compositions that added depth and drama to the shots. Also, the way the lens captured motion and movement of characters/objects within the frame had a particular discrepancy and tension that we felt worked really well with the story.
What is your vision for the larger canvas of Seventeen Brothers? How are you looking to expand the story of Vibrations?
You’d have to read our feature script to find out! Interestingly, the concept for the feature came to me before the short, so in many ways, Vibrations serves as a prequel to this broader narrative. The idea of the vibrations is still very much at the heart of the larger story, but in the feature, it’s explored through music, particularly the piano. Slowly, the sounds, the vibrations, is what sparks the change, asks the questions, etc. I’m a huge believer that sound, music, and silence have a power that goes way beyond words, both socially and politically. This idea is the guiding light behind the feature film.
Aside from Seventeen Brothers, what else are you working on?
Producer Rami Sarras Pantoja and I have just optioned a book that I love to bits which is super exciting. We’re hoping to adapt it into a long-form project soon.
