Maximiliaan Dierickx SBC

Boo is a family action-packed and fun film that can aspire to thread out of the borders and limitations of that very genre. The film basically carries two different faces, two distinguished visual approaches within, one when the AI is in control, and one when the AI is not. The very visual approach when the AI is active, is where we can aspire to go away from the known within the family film genre, and where we can go more extreme, darker, and opt for a bold choice that will set this film visually apart from its competition.

Our distinctive world where the AI is not in control, simply put the human world, should feel natural, and easy to understand and comprehend as a viewer. This means we have to go for a down-to-earth natural approach where we try to go cinematic without losing our grip on reality too much, as to enhance the connection between audience and the human world, and as to differ with the AI world even more when it comes to it. Basically create an even bigger contrast between the two worlds at hand, simply by preferring the use of daylight, real scenery and slightly less controlled camera operating, as to lure the spectator in a real world, where we go the opposite in the AI world.

This means our colours and our framing should be true to the colours at hand. The warm palette that is inherit to the Saudi landscapes, and our framing stays true to a more classic framing.

This brings us to our AI world, where human control has lost its grip, a world where the visual look is determined by an AI in colour, lighting and feel that we can transcode to how we approach that world. An AI – no matter how advanced – will never be human, so it will not inherit its flaws, nor will it be able to fully replicate human behaviour.

With that in mind, I would opt for the AI world to be fully rigid, as in we control camera movements with cranes, steadicam, dolly, but we never go handheld in the AI world as handheld is a human movement, whereas the above-mentioned tools are movements motivated by machines.

Lighting we go for a neon approach, we embrace strong contrasts and bask in the darkness and mysterious world of the AI, which omits an unnatural hue over its landscape, barely known to man and nature.

We should not forget to play with the framing, and to give depth and freedom to where we put the camera. The playful character of the film is to be mirrored into this.

The camera can be used a veil. Either the veil is lifted and we see hands on what there is to be seen, or the veil is obscuring our gaze into the matter, whereas the lenses will show us how thick the veil will be. With the veil, the spectator has to pierce through to catch a glimpse of what is behind.

By limiting ourselves to a manifest that we assemble together, we will find ourselves in a unity, a homogenous creation over the cinematography and the visual storytelling. This set of rules that we try to work and live by, will dictate the style of the cinematography and give this film its visual soul. 

This obviously is a work in progress, which will be made throughout the prep of Boo with the director.