Lucidity: Director Interviews

6th November 2011

I spoke to Brandon Taylor and Anthony DiMichele, the directors of Lucidity. I’m AW.

AW: So, tell me about Lucidity. What’s it all about?

BT: A cinematic journey exploring the waking and sleeping lives of Ian, Lucidity focuses on the exceptional behavior of an individual under the most endearing circumstances. Ian, a man who cannot recall his past, is visited in dreams by Ava, a woman who claims to be a significant part of his forgotten life. As a film, Lucidity offers its own unique interpretation of two of existence’s most elusive questions: why do we dream and what happens when we die?

AD: Lucidity is a story about love, told in a very different way, a re-imagining of a typical love story. It’s a story that I believe has never been told before. It combines the elements of a thriller while focusing on the unwavering connection between individuals. In actuality it is very difficult for me to describe what Lucidity is. It is truly something you have not seen before and will not only entertain you but also forces you to assess your experiences in life.

AW: How would you describe the film?

BT: Lucidity is about the extremely personal journey one undertakes when losing someone. As a man who recently lost someone who I was very close with, the making of this film was the most personal film I have done to date and will likely stay that way for a very long time. Though the film deals with death, it is my hope audiences find the positive message that loved ones are never truly gone, that life continues after death, and that memories are the most valuable possession one owns.
AD: Lucidity is a complex film, with a simple idea of love. The story interweaves moments and emotions in a non-linear format in an attempt to explain the relationship between two people. The audience will now as much as the characters as they follow them through a journey of discovery and truth. The audience will feel the emotional highs and lows of the story, attracting them to this intense and griping connections between the characters.

AW: What were the greatest challenges on set?

BT: To me, I think the greatest challenges would be invoking the proper emotion. In film, you don’t shoot in chronological order. This is a story that switches back and forth in its timeline and can be a bit hard to handle during the first few minutes. Our lead actors, Doug Saint James and Cassie Dailey, stayed so unbelievably focused. It’s hard to go day to day, let alone hour to hour, switching from these extreme emotions and the actors were able to do it so smoothly and seamlessly that I couldn’t be happier.

AD: By far the greatest challenges that we encountered on this project were getting the technical aspects we planned for the film almost perfect. We really pushed ourselves for this project in every aspect. It was a project in which we knew exactly what we wanted the audience to get from each shot and how we wanted to convey those feelings to the audience. In order to get what we wanted we utilized methods and equipment that we either did not use before or used less frequently in previous projects. The challenges were that we wanted to make sure that those aspects came across correctly.

AW: What appealed to you making Lucidity?

BT: I make films because I have something I want to tell the world. In this film, it’s about the potential positives that can from death. Its my goal to make sure this film not only entertains, but inspires and creates a spark of overwhelming emotion within the audience. I’m planning on staying in this fictional universe for a little while longer and exploring different characters, all relating them back to Lucidity, but at the same time allowing the new characters to have a fresh set of qualities to them. By the time these films are over, I want the audience to know that even when things look the most bleak, there’s a light not too far off in the distance. There’s hope, even when the situation feels hopeless.
AD: Lucidity really was a story that struck me as fresh, different and really entertaining. Brandon provided a very wonderful script to Hollow Tree Films. While we did make some changes added and removed a little here and there, we were ultimately ecstatic to create this film. I honestly felt like this project was going to be a project that pushed us beyond our comfort zone if we wanted to tell the story like we planned. That is why for me this project has been so gratifying, it asked a lot out of each member and actor of Hollow Tree Films and we most certainly delivered.

AW: What were you doing before this film?

BT: I recently wrote a film called Never Too Late and saw it through its post production phases. Until that point, I was content with writing, but lately I see the appeal in directing, being able to create a wondrous world from simple ideas and bringing them literally to life. It’s a creative pursuit I plan to continue because it starts with watching it in my head, to filming it, to watching it on a screen to having others watch it. I want these to be stories that mean something to people.

AD: I was an actor while in high school where I met both Michael and Melissa Sherry. In high school I performed in many plays and musicals as well as the school film. I attempted to make a career out of my talents after high school but decided venture in a different direction towards business which is what my major is in. Hollow Tree Films was a great opportunity to continue my urge to act in a few of their films, yet I have migrated to behind the camera where I seem to feel more comfortable.

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