I love Edmonton. I really do. Sure, I’m biassed because I live here, but I’ve had a lot of opportunities to get to know this city over the last two decades, and to watch it grow and evolve.
One of the things that fascinates me about this city is its chameleon-like charm. I have been able to capture some stunning pictures in this northern town. From a sunset off my balcony…
To the dark depths of our underground…
The bright wonder of our developing downtown core…
To the mysterious hidden alleys…
Everywhere you look, you know there is a story, waiting to be discovered. To be told.
But it all depends how you look at it. I discovered this in Europe, as I had taken a shot in the Roman Forum, and wasn’t sure how to process it. I came up with two very different approaches.
Different cropping, saturation, tone and texture created two very different feels, and hint at two very different stories. One is a glorious artifact of a bygone age that has withstood the test of millennia, the other is a fragment of a fallen empire, one that crumbled under its own ambition.
In film, you can use many more tactics, such as lighting, camera angles, lenses, framing and more, to create that feel. Considering that, sourcing pictures for the look of All My Sins has been one part discovery, one part interpretation. Life (and art) is all about how you look at it, right? So gathering images has been a two stage process: first, finding interesting locations in the city, and second, ‘interpreting’ them to create the tone for the movie.
When we go to camera, we will be able to use the ‘magic’ of film to sculpt locations into settings that create a richer texture for the scenes. More than just backdrops, the moments in the film will ‘live’ in these locations. The wall behind a character shouldn’t be just a surface. Done properly, it’s an anchor, a tangible piece of his world that frames and reflects his emotions and struggles.
It has also been a fascinating exercise for re-discovering my home. Everywhere I look, when I see an interesting building, or a street corner, or an underpass, I am now seeing it as it is, and as it could be. Both for dramatic, visual-storytelling purposes, but also for the future potential of my hometown. It’s given me a new appreciation for Edmonton, and the many, many layers that exist in every single location in our fair city. The untold stories, the mysteries.
Like any real relationship, you discover that love is not simple, it is complex. So is our city.
I really love Edmonton. I believe it will make a spectacular backdrop for All My Sins. In fact, if you stay tuned, we will be posting the completed Look-Book for the film right here, very soon. I’m looking forward to revealing some of the rich textures of our town, the good, the bad and the ugly, to help create a deeply engaging cinematic experience.
And though it doesn’t quite fit the film, if the mood strikes, I may engage in a bit of whimsy too…
What’s your favourite location in Edmonton that tells a story with a picture? Please let us know in the comments!