Ry Russo-Young Talks Making ‘Before I Fall’ & Why Kathryn Bigelow Is An Inspiration [Interview] - Page 2 of 2

24 days of shooting is pretty skimp I have to say.
Well, when you’re talking about two car crashes that need to be shot, it’s not actually 24 days, it’s 17 days. It was really challenging. What saved me was insane amounts of obsessive preps.

Did you storyboard a lot?
I basically storyboarded every single scene they would let me storyboard. That they would afford to let me storyboard.

Tell me about some of technical decisions you made to make it look so good. I mean, this film is stunning to look at.
The DP was Michael Fimognari who had shot a lot of horror films. That was his background and I found it was to our advantage in that he wasn’t afraid of darkness. Often films have a lot of light and a colorful aesthetic and we really wanted this to be very moody and use natural light and a lot of wet downs. Also, shooting in Vancouver, the landscape had a kind of drama and angst and moodiness, we decided their world was going to be completely wet all the time. For a character that’s between life and death, that landscape felt very appropriate.

Before I Fall - Still 3It even looked like there were visual differences as the film went along with the repeated loops.
We did that on purpose, there are a lot of things that are different. From the lensing at times to the sizes of the framings as well as the editing. For example, on day one the party scene is very cutty and on day two it is mainly one continuous shot. It’s all taken from Sam’s experience.

What’s the overall message you want people to leave the theater with after watching this movie?
One thing that I always wanted people to think about, was I wanted people to have an appreciation for those they love. For me, [I had the] idea that when you’re watching the end of the movie, you’re with your husband or friend or sister or mother, and that you kind of want to reach down and hold their hand and squeeze them tight, and that it sort of reminds you of your mortality and therefore the fact that you actually have to hold and express to those around you how much you love them because our lives are so short, we’re on this Earth for a very brief amount of time and to be aware of that and to kind of recognize the good. You know, it could be cheesy, but it’s actually quite true and I think that in our moments of the most profound truths, it’s a good reminder.

I try to ask this question to every female director I get a chance to talk to. Name your favorite female-directed film and why?
Oh man, it’s such a hard call. I have so many. Well, I think Kathryn Bigelow is kind of my hero. She’s such a badass. Her filmmaking is so vivid and visceral. I just remember the day that she won the Oscar being such a big day for me because as people we look for examples of what we want to be in the world and when we don’t see them we think maybe we can’t be that thing. So she to me was the person who won the Oscar and I thought, “Oh, it’s possible to be a female director, successful and accepted by the Academy, that’s the most mainstream form of acceptance.” It’s really sad that just one woman has ever gotten that honor, but that’s sadly how accepted women are actually, one of out of, you know, hundreds of years has been let in, in that sense, but that’s everything to me.

“Before I Fall” is now playing.