The sterile badlands leading to Gallup, with its wind-washed mounds looming above echoing only a greater presence, immerse you in an unmatched silence. Between crimson red spears rising from an abandoned path of wooden houses struck by the real winds and ones of vandalism, you can almost hear the androids’ voices of Westworld: “Welcome to the Roman world. While you are there, please feel free to indulge your every whim. The medieval world exists for you, the guest. Nothing can go wrong.” This last part rings ironic in the world of film, for whatever you imagine can go wrong, likely will, at some point.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t spend 6 takes on the same shot, between perfecting the last strand of the actresses hair to coercing everyone on set wearing boots to not squeak across the floor after calling, “Quiet on the set!” In film, perception easily becomes reality, crucial to producing a short named The Portal about blending fantasy and adventure.
Route 66 already holds an elevated place in American consciousness, and the peppered memorabilia make an experience in Gallup Amtrak Train Station about much more about its schedule signaled by hissing steam. We mastered its window lighting with reflectors, shade cloth, and diffuser lenses inside the camera to make the characters glow.
With careful placements of these elements and the actors under the Director of Photography, this glow carried the once ordinary girl into worlds beyond the drab concrete in which we set our camera. The viewer travels with the protagonist beyond the magazine page’s pristine white sand beaches she leafs through, and aquatics where the obscure yet determined fisherman she encounters emerges from. One who studies light must also study the shadows.
This last part rings true in the practice of hypnotherapy as well. A client might think he or she is completely clear except for the nasty habit they're desperate to get rid of.. whether it be chain smoking, nail biting or binging games. When you get to the root-cause in the Alpha state (the same state achieving in meditation) however, you soon learn there is a part of them developed early in life that yearns love deep down but craves the superficial habits to fulfill this. Or, because of a belief programmed after an adverse event, their subconscious believes they are unlovable so why not engage in behaviors that affirm this? The subconscious is a super computer that holds every event, belief and emotion since birth, often playing out in unwanted behaviors today.
The crucial lessons for the budding filmmaker from this experience with Stagecoach are these: take the extra two minutes to wet a cloth and dab the actors face with it before a sentimental scene, always say "got it," when being handed the very unique piece of glass-lens from someone else, and, if you have any doubt on what take it is before slapping the slate shut, ask the director!
When looking at the stage set to perfection, I often contemplate we want our real lives to appear this way too. But often we don't get a Take 5 on a life event. Luckily, Hypnotherapy has rapid results that deem one session as transformative as 5 in traditional therapy models.
