A common issue with short films that don’t work is that they strive to be features. They try to pack a larger story into a small runtime and end up feeling rushed. That’s not to say larger issues or themes can’t be explored in shorts, it’s more that, as a filmmaker, you need to understand the form of your storytelling as much as your story itself. Guen Murroni’s drama As For Me is exemplary of this, a short film about an overworked game developer wrestling with a form of dissociative identity disorder that’s working to uncover a repressed memory. Murroni’s short is ambitious but controlled, telling a story spanning two different time periods in a person’s life without feeling rushed. It’s a really impressive and subtle portrait of mental health which we’re excited to be premiering online for audiences worldwide. After watching Murroni’s film you can read our interview with her where we delve into the important tonal balancing act she had to strike, the challenge of maintaining key narrative details during a packed shooting schedule, and the importance of treating characters with respect.
What sparked the concept of As For Me as a project?
As For Me is a personal story. I’d been working on dissociative identity disorder, or DID, as a concept since a previous documentary I made called Nice To Meet You All, which linked DID to human trafficking. For As For Me I wanted to work on something closer to home, informed by my own experience. I wrote the script and I met Producer Radha Bhandari through BFI North and we immediately clicked, once Verity Wislocki joined the production team we applied for BBH’s competition Differently Does It and we won the award. I was super surprised as it’s quite a left field piece of work but BBH were incredibly supportive throughout the process with development meetings and eventually edit feedback.
How quickly after the funding was confirmed did you go into production?
It all happened very quickly as funding came in July and we shot the very first couple of days in October. Location scouts began in Liverpool in August, it was quite tough to find the right spots as we had 90s flashbacks and as always, we hit some hurdles when some locations fell through, but the crew were wonderful and shout out to Production Designer Joseph Bean for making it all happen seamlessly! Costume was very interesting for this project, you have a woman with different personalities, and with Designer Jane Scarlett O’Donnell we created a subtle journey for Tina, the lead character. We worked on more understated details.
We didn’t want to push the audience away with the ‘extremes’, we wanted them to come into a more intimate space that they could recognise.
I thought Bryony was a really compelling screen presence. What was it like collaborating with her to bring each of the colours of her character to life?
Bryony Davies who played Tina is hands down one of the best actors I’ve ever met. Again the work done was based on subtlety, the everyday life of someone who’s dealing with a complex disorder, as much as I don’t like using that word, we didn’t want to push the audience away with the ‘extremes’, we wanted them to come into a more intimate space that they could recognise. Needless to say, I cannot wait to work with Bryony again, watch this space, we have plans! She’s truly incredible and no wonder she was nominated for an award at Exit 6.
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What’s your working relationship like with your DP?
DP Robbie Bryant and I worked on previous films together so we had a language between us already. We shot on an Alexa Mini and Cooke anamorphics. The schedule was packed but we managed to keep some details as we had planned, like blurring out a perpetrator’s face as ultimately, he is not central to the story. He’s a function, he’s a piece of the puzzle.
At the start you said that DID was a topic you’ve been thinking about for quite some time, do you see yourself expanding this story and the work you’ve done with As For Me?
I have a lot more in mind visually for a long form version, which I’m currently working on, there’s a lot of fun to be had with a subject like this on camera, Robbie and I have kept exchanging ideas over the years and can’t wait to shoot again.
I wanted to ask about balancing the tone. How did you make sure you were appropriately representing both DID and Tina’s journey on screen?
Overall, the key aspect for me was to create a space for a story on abuse with the right respect and agency for the characters, no serial killer histrionics, no misery porn. The humour and surreal touch help the audience engage with a theme that is often found to be a hard one to digest. I wanted to work on ordinary gestures, ordinary ‘duties’, like turning up at work, crossing a street, leaving the house, things that can become mammoth tasks when you’re dealing with something that words simply cannot describe. I’m tired of how mental health and abuse are represented in the media, and I wanted to make something for the DID community specifically. “How would we like to see ourselves?” was my main question. I answered that question with As For Me.
The key aspect for me was to create a space for a story on abuse with the right respect and agency for the characters.
What can you tell us about the ways you would expand upon this story on a larger canvas?
I wrote the feature version straight after the short after I realised it had all the legs for a series. If I want to show the complexities of DID, the story needs the time and space that television can offer. The new version is a little bit more surreal, but it also leans on the humour and more details of Tina’s relationship with her ‘real life’ at work and with family vs her life with alters, her other personalities. It’s partially set in Dublin where Tina, and I, are from, and it definitely draws from a more personal place, it’s tough, but it’s necessary for me. The focus is on Tina, but we’ll sneak a peek into other characters that deal with DID. So currently, I’m writing up the pitch for September when we’ll head to commissioners, wish us luck!
Why did you opt for anamorphic lenses for this short? For me, they work wonderfully in creating the dreaminess of the flashbacks but also those lovely wide shots in the present, such as the shot with Tina and her boss standing in front of the window.
We opted for them exactly for that, we wanted to lean into the memory world and have Tina’s 90s memories blend with her present seamlessly. We’re also looking at someone who’s figuring out that there are a few more versions of her, so I wanted to create a ‘am I here or not’ feeling, which I think anamorphics really helped with. Yes, those wides are very much needed to tell her story, you’re placing someone in a bit of an isolated situation, where the surroundings either don’t matter at all or are almost oppressive, where the distance between her and reality and people expands, and her detachment from it almost helps her figure out what’s going on. It was also important to be ‘steady’ to tell the story for myself and Robbie the DP, it’s a complex one so everything around her has to be stable, the very little handheld we used was more for logistical purposes, so dolly, sticks and Steadicam were the preferred choices.
We’re also looking at someone who’s figuring out that there are a few more versions of her, so I wanted to create a ‘am I here or not’ feeling, which I think anamorphics really helped with.
How challenging was it technically to achieve the shots with multiple Tinas?
I’ve got a little low budget trick for multiples where I place acetate on my monitor and draw out her movements with a marker so that putting the plates together in the edit can be easier as we don’t shoot overlaps. I had to be very, very budget cautious, so these shots are quite simple compared to what can be done. They’re static and mostly wide. We had the lovely folks at The Loc Studios help us with VFX, so we had meetings before to look at the shorts, and they were on call during shooting days should we need advice. They polished them in post and here we are. In my next version, I want motion control! These Tinas gotta move and we with them, it’s important to be in her head, with her, with her movements, fell like we’re in her body, so that’s next.
Aside from the exciting potential of the TV series, what’s the future looking like for you?
I’ve jumped headfirst into ‘an all or nothing’ phase. I’ve always had to have a day job and other roles in the industry to keep going, but this time I’m solely focusing on my work and pitches. As mentioned, there is a plan with As For Me the series. I’ve also got two feature films to put out there as a writer/director, as well as another series. The two features are called Machete, a magical realist story partially set in Italy and We, which is based on a political play I wrote set in Newcastle. I parted ways with my agency last year, amicably, so a new agent is due, and I’d love to join the commercial and music video world, although the industry seems quite tricky to get into currently. I’ve luckily been invited to work in some writers’ rooms for some really fun projects, so that should keep the wolf from the door for a few months. And of course, I want to work with Bryony Davies forever, that’s obvious! But yes, the focus is polishing the slate and getting her done.
