LBB Film Club: Home
It’s safe to say, in today’s day and age, when it comes to having technological gadgetry that makes our lives easier, we hardly think twice. Sure, debates rage on about cookie use on websites, or the validity and ethics behind using AI to generate everything from text to art, but when it comes to something like using a home automation system, people are seldom concerned.
But, maybe they should be. Considering how easy it is to become reliant on the convenience of asking an automated system to complete a task well within human capabilities, it begs the question, ‘Are we going to notice the point where we’ve given over too much responsibility and insight?’. This is something that Revolver Films director Duane Crichton explores in his latest film, titled ‘Home’.
Telling the story of a woman named Anna, viewers are exposed to a woman who, having previously opted to set the ‘Personal Wellness’ setting on her AI house system to 10, ends up being observed scarily effectively. Specifically, when a rift grows between her and Henry, her husband, it decides to intervene to fulfil its directive of maintaining Anna’s wellness at all costs. Representing just how scary it might be to see our technological tools far overstep their intended purposes, it also begs the questions of whether we’d be right to give over control if the technology truly did know better, and whether or not we’d be able to resist if it hit that point.
To discuss all this and more, including what it took to bring this film to life on a technical level, LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Duane for a chat.
LBB> Where did the idea for ‘Home’ come from? And how did you get started building from there?
Duane> The idea came from interacting with the voice activated AI system in my house (won’t name the brand, but you can probably guess). Most times, it doesn’t work very well. I often have to repeat myself, but I keep talking to it anyway.
Then, I started thinking about our habits changing with AI, one task at a time, and how that process is going to speed up very quickly. Are we going to even notice the point where we’ve given over too much responsibility… and therefore too much insight?
In ‘Home’, we see Anna right in that moment of realisation.
LBB> Now more than ever, the idea of an AI taking control is relevant, but also poses a difficult question of whether or not you’d listen if it made a valid point. So, why was this dilemma something you wanted to explore?
Duane> This is really everything I wanted to explore. When we give technology control over our lives, we forget about doing so almost instantly. We move on to the next thing on our minds, and don’t really think about it after that fact. All of the inner workings of how that tech is cross referencing against the other information out there about us is something we don’t see. For the most part, we’re happy not to have to deal with it.
Those moments, when technology makes us confront the information we’ve shared, are always unsettling. Think about having a conversation about a vacation and then being served ads for resorts the next day. It always feels like a violation, but we are ultimately the ones responsible for feeding the system.
LBB> Building on this, tell us about the writing process. Were there specific goals or touchpoints you knew the script had to follow?
Duane> The most important thing was having a story that worked completely in seven minutes. Coming from commercials, that seems like a long time, but having an engaging journey that connects emotionally was the goal I was always working toward. ‘Home’ goes through all of the story stages a feature film would, just a lot faster.
The other thing was to create a character in Anna that had the space to be convincing in this situation. I wanted to feel her thought process and emotions even though the story had to move at a pretty quick pace. To do that, I had her go through the five stages of grief on the page. I was confident that if I based her journey on established psychology, it would feel viscerally human.
LBB> Were there challenges associated with depicting an unhappy marriage in such a realistic way? And how did you strike a balance for the AI between excessively creepy but also weirdly supportive?
Duane> The key to the relationship is the relatable backstory, which is really a post pandemic story. They both worked at home during covid-19. Once it was over, Anna got used to it and stayed working at the house. Henry started enjoying life outside the home again… a little too much. I think that is a conflict based on a truth we can all understand, and that’s why it works. Their pre-covid-19 history is a very happy marriage. It’s not until after the pandemic that it all starts going to shit.
This question on balance is a great one, and I’m glad you noticed. All of my favourite villains are right in their own way, and that was true for the AI. Remember, Anna is the one who inputs her wellness setting. The AI is only doing what she asked. It is just being done in a way that she never could have imagined.
LBB> Discussing the shoot itself, where did this all take place? How did you find the right location, and turn it into a beautiful yet eerie home?
Duane> The house is actually the home of a good friend, and I wrote the script with that location in mind. It’s a gorgeous house, and I knew it would fill in a lot of the blanks of where Anna and Henry were in their lives, without having to speak to it directly. Also, the geography of Anna’s journey was based on that house… even on the page.
From there, seeing as my friends were out of town for an extended period, I just asked if we could shoot in their home. The funny thing is, if they said no, the film probably wouldn’t have happened. There was no back up house that was even close.
LBB> What equipment did you bring, and what inspired your choices?
Duane> It was important for me that the camera moved in unique ways throughout, so we moved from dolly to handheld to Steadicam as the story progressed.
I think it’s a big part of why ‘Home’ feels immersive so quickly. Each separate movement reflects Anna’s state of mind very clearly - keeping the viewer right there with her as the story unfolds.
LBB> What were your goals for the aesthetic and colour of the film?
Duane> Sci-fi stories are often clean, sterile, and dare I say, cold. So, I wanted to make sure that this film felt warm and lived in, especially in the beginning (it is called ‘Home’ after all). I knew the look would progress as we moved through the house, but I did not want the viewer to know what kind of story this was at the start.
That meant looking for lenses that had a softer, low contrast feel, and I’m very fortunate that we were able to shoot on the Tribe 7 S-types. Not only are they amazing with darker skin tones, but they also have a softness that almost feels like a memory. I loved contrasting that against a story that takes place in the very near future for the look of the film.
Overall, the journey takes place in one location over a relatively short period of time. So, my DP, Andrew Sneyd, and I were focused on making sure that each place Anna went contrasted the one that came before, but always in a way that furthered the story. It ended up being something that the viewer feels more than actively notices, which I love.
LBB> Tell us about the casting! How did you find the perfect people to bring the story to life, and in the case of the AI, the perfect voice?
Duane> Natalie Brown, who was the voice of the AI, is also a producer on the film. She is a very talented actor who has worked with the likes of Guillermo del Toro, and we honed the AI voice together for over a month. I was also bouncing early drafts of the script off of her, and she is the one who brought Lisa Berry and Dion Johnstone into the fold. To say they were perfect for the roles feels like an understatement. Everyone understood the core ideas of the script from our first conversations and took time to build the characters we see on screen.
The last one to join the cast was Conni Miu, who played Hazel (the assistant, and also one of Henry’s co workers in the bathroom). I worked with her on a Fidelity spot a couple of years back, and she has gone on to great success (she is in Sophia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’!). I was very happy she said yes.
LBB> As director, how did you help bring out emotionally strong reactions from the film’s lead? And how did you approach capturing it in a sensitive yet powerful fashion?
Duane> The cliché ‘casting, casting, casting’ is absolutely true. Doing the work to find the right actors is the best thing you can do for yourself as a director. It turns the shooting into a time of discovery, instead of trying to work toward the right execution, if that makes sense.
For me, this started with casting Lisa, who is one of the strongest actors I have ever worked with. She showed up as Anna and was willing to go to all the emotional places without holding anything back. At that point, my job was really to make her feel safe to go wherever felt right for her in the moment. Any notes I had were tweaks to a character she had already fully embodied.
LBB> Do you have any anecdotes to share from on-set?
Duane> The house has a backyard that slopes away quickly, allowing for the tops of these big mature trees to be in a lot of shots. The DP and I really loved that, but were scared that our late fall shoot would mean most or all of them would be gone. Luckily, the weather ended up remaining warm and the leaves stayed. We were ecstatic!
However, the temperature dropped during our final scene of Ana and Henry’s showdown through the glass door. In fact, the leaves started falling during those shots, but thank God, not in a noticeable way. The next morning, they were all on the ground.
LBB> The sound design and editing also really lend to the quality of the final product. What were these processes like, and did you have a big hand in them?
Duane> Ross Birchall at Saints has been a collaborator since the beginning of my commercial career. He was the only other key creative on the film that came from the commercial world. We both share an obsession with telling full visual stories while also understanding how to be efficient. It was that shorthand that created the engine that drives ‘Home’ forward so effectively.
Nicholas and Stephen Murray scored my recent hour-long documentary. It was my first time working with them, and they did such an amazing job that I really wanted them to score the film (thankfully they were available). They instantly understood that the normal sounding score should be ‘infected’ by the AI as the story progressed. The glitchy transitions they created are both suspenseful and jarring, in the best way possible.
LBB> The narrowing aspect ratio at the end is super creepy. Tell us about this decision!
Duane> We actually do it twice! Once when Anna is running up to her room, and then again at the end (which is much more noticeable).
Again, with such a short film, I’m looking at everything I can to heighten the level of storytelling. Using the aspect ratio itself has been done before, but I think it really fit those moments when the AI was really exercising its power. It is such an unprecedented moment of vulnerability for the character that it needed to be shown in a unique way.
LBB> Overall, do you have a favourite shot from the film, or something you’re most proud of?
Duane> Both the first and final shots. They are perfect. One brings you into a world in a way where you instantly want to know more, and the other leaves you still wanting more, but makes it clear that the audience is not welcome to see that part of the story. I’m very proud of everything in between, but those shots really do the heavy lifting in making sure this film is a completely compelling story.
LBB> Finally, if you were in the main character’s shoes, would you listen to the AI?
Duane> Ha! Unfortunately, we all would. The AI was ten steps ahead of Anna. If she chose a different action, the AI would have chosen a different response. It’s like an amateur playing chess against a grandmaster. She never really had a choice on the final decision she was going to make, and neither would we.
