First impressions on The world of the Gambit

I like to create these look books when I’m being considered for a project. I think they are an effective way to convey my first impressions of the story based on the script and early conversations. I like to think of it as a jumping off point.

The Gambit takes place in Albertas beautiful back yard with natural beauty to be found around every corner. Simultaneously, I see the world of Gambit as a shadowed realm with plenty of places for contestants and hunters to lurk in the shadows. I think combining these two worlds could provide a unique and artistic backdrop to tell the story of The Gambit

A View from Above - Drones always watching

The films use of ever-present drones will provide unique perspectives from which to convey the plot. These drones not only follow our characters, they also become characters in the story. What can we cinematically do when the camera is a part of the story?

“Arthouse meets Action”

How do we go about creating visuals that do more than just tell the story? How do you make an action film stand out visually? Below are some example images from films that I feel could serve as inspiration for finding our own look. Let’s talk about where the cinema camera lives in our film. Is it low, is it off centre? Are we wide and close or long and tight? How does the lens, the camera movement and the framing tell the story? Do we frame for an emotion that amplifies a characters feelings, or amplifies the viewers?

Scene Specifics - Opening Fight SEQUENCE

To give some ideas to specific scenes, I understand an inspiration for the movie is The Shadow Strays. As you all know this movie represents more of an urban/city feel than what is described above, but they share the same shadowy world I see working nicely in The Gambit and can help correlate these less outdoorsy scenes.

The warehouse/underground fighting scenes I pictures as dark and moody with hits of sickly colours. I see lots of grit and texture to help set the stage for the film. Below are some inspiration pics that fall within these ideas.