Tarot
The world of Tarot is intimate, authentic and honest. It takes a deep look at what happens in life when not everything works outs to exactly as its supposed to be, like in our imaginations. But to me, after reading the pilot episode, is also a story with a lot of hope. There is an excitement to new beginnings. A fresh breath of freedom, and the start of a new chapter, especially with our trusted friends, who has our back, unconditionally.
Over all, its a dramedy with hints of magical realism that’s otherwise really very grounded. Reading the first episode a couple of times, with its quirky characters, love letter to the city I grew up in, and slick transitions, a lot of vivid ideas piling through. This is meant to be a starting point in the conversation, and nothing is set in stone.
General Mood and Feel
For the overall tone and feel of this script, I immediately thought of few films and tv shows which are character lead stories that draws you in right away. The first few would be the Netflix Series, Easy by Joe Swanberg, HBO’s Girls and finally Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. The Cinematography in these titles are subtle, grounded and very immersive. Characters are not over lit like a romantic com or kids show but there is a sense of beauty when it comes to situations and vibrant environment that they are in. In this script, Toronto feels very much like a character in themselves, and I really liked the way that the HBO show Girls, did, with their way of showing of New York. It’s not the Toronto people think about, but Toronto, like the way Simone experiences it.
Given the large page count per day, I thought a more realistic approach with blocking that really shows off the environment could really help us in this case.
The magical realism is also very grounded from this script. My Old Ass, by Meagan Park did this very well by the use of imagination, tension breaks, and crazy situations and that it’s just funny by itself without trying too hard to make you laugh. Fleabag did it perfectly with her asides and soliloquy to the audience but I do like a bit of flare and style to them.
I think the flashbacks, the spirit visits and ofcourse seeing what happens to our ensemble chorus characters like Josette (whose orgasm is heard around the city) are also great moments to really play with style.
And ofcourse, with slick transitions in the edit, there are lots of moments for visual poetry.
Magic Realism, Spirit Visits, and Style
Practical lighting effects are built into the environment. But makes you feel a certain mood that the characters are feeling. Something that I absolutely love.
Specialty lensing, such as probe, macro and crazy vintage options like lens baby and ironglass also offers some pretty unique view points and can play with aspect ratio. Which can have a lot more stuff to unpack.
Other ideas:
Shoot mainly s35 and go full frame or Large format when it’s spirits and magic?
Two Cameras? Normal Realistic look and a specialty lens? Grab an extra 50 or 75 for b cam in case for two camera operator days?
Shoot the whole series large format? Especially if the rooms are small, to show off the environment?
Thank you for sharing the script and I’d just thought I’d share some of my opening thoughts.