Hole in the Wall

Supporting a Rising Filmmaker: My Niece's Journey

My niece is on her way to becoming a famous filmmaker. Recently, she won a grant from the IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts, enabling her to film and produce her original screenplay, "Hole in the Wall." It's a short film that explores the intergenerational tension between a father and a son.

I had the privilege of shooting still set photography during the movie production. We shot the exteriors on the first day and the interiors on the second day. The interiors were filmed in a dilapidated house in Minneapolis with extremely small rooms. I used an extremely wide lens and shot mostly from the hip to capture the tightness of the set and minimize camera intrusion.

It was a fascinating yet tedious process. Everything was captured on real film, which presents its own challenges. A single overhead jetliner can ruin a shot, and you never know if there was a light leak until after the film is processed.

In the top photo, my niece Mandy is on the left, reviewing a shot setup. The bottom photo shows the primary room where the father confronts the son.