Celine Song continues her explosive introduction to feature film audiences with Materialists. The Academy Award-nominated filmmaker debuts her sophomore project this weekend, one which tells the tale of a New York City matchmaker (Dakota Johnson) caught in a love triangle between her long-time ex (Chris Evans) and a new suitor (Pedro Pascal).
For fans of Song’s first project, Past Lives, the layout of Materialists will feel all too familiar. Song once again leans on extended static sH๏τs, blocking her on-screen talent in symmetrical vertical thirds, as well as utilizing minimal dialogue in an effort to emphasize body language.
ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley spoke with Song to dissect the intentionality she had with her blocking as well as the trust she has in her audience to follow the Materialists narrative even in its slower moments.
Celine Song’s Meticulous Blocking Choices In Materialists
“It’s one of the most powerful ways to tell a story…”
Song’s theater background make her blocking efforts all the more understandable. While Materialists is largely sH๏τ like a major motion-picture, it is staged like a stage production, giving the viewer the perspective of someone placed front and center in orchestra seating inside a Broadway auditorium.
“It is the first thing that we do,” Song said of Materialists‘ blocking. “When the actors hit the set, what we do is we talk about it and, because we’re all making the same movie, we’re always going to come up with the right answer for every single moment of it.”
The right answer is found in what the staging of a scene is trying to convey. Audiences will notice that when Lucy (Johnson) is talking to her incompatible partner, they aren’t evenly spaced across the screen. Yet when she is opposite her eventual match, they are perfectly symmetrical in their respective vertical thirds.
“There’s an answer to blocking always because blocking is going to be informed by the story,” Song continued. “There’s always the right answer for blocking. It’s what I believe. We’re in search of that and usually the answer is right there. It’s one of the most powerful ways to tell a story in film.”
Materialists Rewards Its Audience Investment
“I have so much faith in that, I trust in silence…”
Things like blocking give Song’s audience yet another layer to analyze while her story unravels, which happens at a methodical pace. In an era of content dominated by quick cuts and flashy on-screen action, Materialists feels like a welcome slow, deep breath.
“When you trust somebody, you have to trust them first in some way. I have so much faith in [my audience] I think probably because of my background in theater,” Song explained. “I have trust in silence and I have trust in the way that we’re able to actually engage in a conversation.”
And those on-screen conversations are a reflection of our reality. Materialists doesn’t trade lengthy scripted monologues between its characters, instead opting for one-sentence exchanges separated by extended silences.
“The movie is about conversations that change your life.”
“It’s about the series of conversations that completely break open people’s worlds and then change what they believe,” Song continued. “So much of it has to be about listening to another person. Without question, I think that I do have a lot of faith. I think that I learned this faith from my last movie, Past Lives, and I think that I’m kind of applying the faith that I got from that to continue the journey of believing that the audience is going to be there.”
Materialists is in theaters now.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
