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| Jim Cummings and Victoria Ratermanis in Disc |
Director Blake Winston Rice and co-writer Victoria Ratermanis' short film Disc, which also stars Ratermanis opposite Jim Cummings, revolves around two colleagues at a work conference who indulge in a one-night stand. Alex wakes to the realisation that she may not have made the best decision of her life, and things get worse when she encounters a crisis that makes things more intimately awkward. Due to give an important presentation, the pair try to resolve the crisis without drawing undue extra attention. What happens might surprise them.
Speaking with Eye For Film, Rice discussed the making of Disc, from shifting tones to the experience with Ratermanis and Cummings.
Casper Borges: The short form offers a different experience to the long form. Having made a short film, what is your perspective on the challenge and how to overcome it?
Blake Winston Rice: It's what everyone's chasing right as they're coming out the gate and starting. I love the challenge of having to tighten your story in such a short amount of time. You can't let anything breathe and knowing you can't let anything breathe is how you're trying to let something breathe and take advantage of that.
I'm particular to closing a loop, story wise, in the short form, and I think audiences want that. Here's a problem, here's people getting through it, and here's how they're different at the end. That's what I look for. You want to see that route of change and development, and how you can achieve that with more than one person is the rabbit I'm chasing in the short form.
I love it as its own sport, right? I love it outside of features because, to me, it is specific, and different and I'm into the challenge. And a lot of times when I'm crafting a short, I'm also thinking, how will this play with other shorts in competition? How does it play in front of an audience that is seeing a bunch of other stuff which is out of your control? And so, part of the design is in that as well.
CB: So, you're actively thinking about the audience throughout the filmmaking process?
BWR: I'm definitely making stuff that I would want to see, but I'm also thinking about the audience. You can make the most artful piece, but at the end of the day, you still have to have some popcorn value. And that doesn't mean it cheapens it at all — you just need some rock and roll in there.
You have to think about the audience and where their attention is and what's gonna make them shift in their seats. Especially in Disc, I'm splitting the room between men and women and asking, "Where are you uncomfortable and uncomfortable?" Also, which tropes are we flipping in their heads? So, thinking about the audience was at the forefront of my mind.
CB: Picking up on your point about the male/female dynamic, to what extent did this shape the film?
BWR: It's fun to talk about the bird's eye view on male and female dynamics and something I'm trying to go against the grain on are these two specific people too. They're on their own specific journey and those are monster themes to try to tackle — the male and female dynamic and throwing in reproductive health.
[…] What's fun here too and is something you'd do in horror is try to defeat or rework the tropes. There is the workaholic girl and the sexually naïve guy. We've seen those before, but it's about how can we make them specific. And running it back to the crafting of shorts, that's the fun challenge. Can we get these characters past their first initial cheap read and find something a little bit deeper? So, that's what I'm going after here.
CB: Is a key part of this shifting tones?
BWR: Things do need to tilt from comedic sticky to authentic and grounded to get to a resolution. And I'm a sucker for a warm and fuzzy space. Sometimes I try to weave in moments that downshift or upshift the tone to find the right comedic beat. We're after something that can guide us into that and help us to shift the tone. So, her character also serves the structural purpose of shifting our story to the next level.
It also comes down to finding an organic tone and message and some of that comes down to how you morph out of the initial inciting incident. There's a sketchy version of this story where things get worse and worse. There's a body horror version of this story as well. It's about knowing your end goal and chasing the same theme, and I wanted to tackle something where we really challenge what intimacy is.
CB: Outside of the narrative and thematic arcs, the film is littered with little moments that bring so much to the story and characters.
BWR: A big part of that is being able to trust your actors and Victoria Ratermanis and Jim Cummings were immediately so trusting and comfortable. I rehearsed with them each, one on one. I went to their houses where I played the other part. We were in their bathrooms throwing legs over shoulders, and we were immediately off to the races. Their willingness to trust gave us the time to adequately prep. And then when we were able to get together, they were really comfortable with each other.
I knew on the day we were going to rip, because I knew where the camera was going to be. The performances were also dialled in, which means you have the opportunity to catch those perfect, magical, and tiny moments. And if you string enough of them together, you'll catch a fire.
Disc screens at the Clermont International Short Film Festival from January 31-February 7.
