Starfish EXTENDED : The Anatomy of the Hug BTS
Extended edit of my article for Starfish Magazine
I wasn’t at the filming from the very start so I was an intruder walking through Phoenix Park, looking out for fairies and cameras in the trees to see where everyone was set up.
I saw part of the crew filming in some trees and kneehigh nettles. I went over and it was Wayanay, Keiran, Martina, Daniel, Fergus and Oisin along with some behind the scenes photographers. The camera was avoiding people walking their dogs so as to not pull the project out of the spiritual, ethereal realm. The trees around were tall and grey, the branches waiting for high, high up before they started, like ancient columns .
All attention was on Fergus as he stalked the trees, scraping at bark and smelling the air. Very wolflike. I believe this stage of the film was inspired by Wayanay’s past life experience as a wolf. She was directing this from behind the camera which was closely following Fergus.
Standing there made me realise how close cameras get to actors during filming, which seems obvious but it took me being on a film set to fully realise it. There is a magic in that transition from the wide open space of the world which is reduced to the size of a screen and made into a cinematic end product. This whole time Martina is taking behind the scenes photos and we've chatted briefly about how we got involved with the project. This becomes a pattern in small talk for the day, as soon as people meet each other for the first time, the second question is always “so how did you get involved in this” “how do you know Wayanay”, every answer just being evidence of how everyone in Dublin knows each other (in a good way, of course).
It takes me a second to realise that Fergus is barefoot in those kneehigh nettles… the dedication. He manages to keep a brooding and spooky aura the whole time.I’m sure this will be amplified on camera as it felt so strong in person.
The pillaring trees felt like a pocket of ancientness in the city, a forest of no place or time zone, a space in between. The whole time we were in Phoenix Park I couldn't help thinking how perfect of a location it was on both practical and thematic levels for the film.
Moods were high on set, everyone was constantly moving, trying to balance keeping behind the camera while also being so curious about what was happening in front of it that you couldn’t stay too far away either. I was included in this, constantly moving around, mostly walking backwards while writing in my refill pad, trying not to miss anything.
Some of the most interesting parts on set was when something spontaneously happened and Wayanay would decide to direct it into the film, that everything could flow organically and embrace being a work in progress until the very end. An early example of this was something very simple. Between takes Fergus was in a crouching position, stretching before the next part of the scene but it was decided that that should be the beginning of the next shot. It may seem a very basic change but it was notable to me how sometimes the natural ways human bodies transition from one station to another don't have to be dismissed by cameras and can be incorporated into the art in the moment as these very natural and human behaviours are hard to predict or anticipate during a more structured script writing process .
It came time to film Wayanay’s part. She seems to be mirroring the part that Fergus just did, intertwined spirits walking through the same forest but doing it both alone until they later find each other. She starts doing primal animal calls and movements (in her iconic fur scarf).
A larger group has gathered, coming from the area in the park where everyone was minding gear. We have a sound boom now and she repeated her animal noises and was clicking her fingers.Her arms were outstretched as she made geometric movements with them facing the camera. She was sniffing and searching towards the camera’s lens, hunting.
Next we set up for a shot of the two of them together, Wayanay and Fergus. We go over to this wigwam made of sticks near the filming location which was probably made by kids (the type you build in scouts) and decide to film near this.
It was a windy day and I could smell the sage that was being prepped for the scene, the smoke coming over in the wind. The wind made it hard to light. They circled each other once the sage was lit. Chalk dust was made into clouds by Wayanay clapping. Both of them are making animal noises again. It was so interesting seeing such an intimate scene and imagining what it would look like on screen while also there being so many people crowded around behind the camera.
This was when Keiran and I had a wee smoke break.
The fairies have come now and the nettles came to mind again as they were in dainty dresses and were going to be barefoot.
Their makeup touch ups were being done, the fairies looked like visions in their white dresses, hair half up, flowers in it. Unsurprisingly jackets stay on until the last minute, the wind and nettles nipping at everyones ankles. When the jackets finally do come off for filming, I remember thinking how beautifully the dresses react with the wind, like drapery on greek statues. At this point a horse drawn cart goes through the park, the lads steering it equally as interested in us as we are of them. In that second it’s decided that we film the fairies chasing after them. I doubt that this will be used in the film but I hope that the footage is archived somewhere.
The three fairies in their long white dresses of thin drapey fabric, moving as a group of three, holding hands and circling, reminds me of the three graces from Boticcelli’s painting, Primavera. Not just reminding me really, the likeness screams at me whenever they move and reform. Images of the power of three and shared mythology like this drips from the film’s imagery. |The making of the film is just as spiritual as watching the finished product.
The whole crew was following the fairies through the trees of Phoenix Park, like a group of travellers bewitched, trying to capture every beautifully choreographed movement. Most of their movements were focussed on the trees, how they moved around and interacted with them. For the part where they “flurry” white veils with star embroidery are put on. The fairies used these to genuflect to the sky.
This whole time everyone stays silent, it’s like this always when filming is happening. A large part of the crew is behind the scenes photographers and in this silence I can hear their cameras going off.
After a barragement of veil and hand movements by the fairies, it’s CUT SCENE and Oisin and Daniel tell us how beautiful everything is looking on camera. Before going to the next location, the fairies take stills with the onset photographers. Other people filming behind the scenes also now take Fergus aside to do a small filmed interview.
A smaller section of the crew broke off for the next location which was the hill with the huge cross on it in the park. I followed them there. It’s a more wide open space without trees so the dramatics of the sky were clearer there. I remember thinking that I hope the cameras can capture this for the film and Wayanay saying the same outloud. We were shooting against the cross and the hill, having the fairies running up to it and back down with plenty of frolicking in between. The rest of the crew then arrived with all of the kit with them.
After wrapping up here the plan was to pack up and go back to Wayanay’s house where the other sets had been built by her. Everyone was giddy to see what she had put together, we just knew how immersive each installation was going to be from seeing her work before and in the lead up to shoot day.
The whole crew walked together back to Wayanay’s house, taking turns carrying equipment cases and sharing rolling papers. When we arrived we had time allotted for break and a fabulous dinner cooked by the director herself (and loads of coffee ). Sitting outside it was interesting seeing how people who didn't know eachother were now sitting around, sharing food and stories together. Everyone bonding over the art we are all making together and also talking about their own practice. Something lovely that came from this was that I noticed lots of people planning future collabs together or inviting people to come and photograph future projects.
There were art pieces everywhere both inside and outside the house, pieces that are part of the film sets and also permanent parts because that’s just how Wayanay likes to live, I wasn’t surprised at all. The front living room was transformed into a kit room and in the bathroom there was a branching tree with a post-it note introducing her to us as Aurora and encouraging anyone in the bathroom to talk to her.
After about an hour and a half we got back to shooting. The next set was a smaller, more intimate location, an installation in Wayanay’s garden shed. Not many people could fit in the space but I managed to sneak in. I just had to see how the space and lighting would work on camera.
The windows of the shed were blacked out and everything was sectioned by hanging sheets. Wayanay and Fergus started the scene in the back with Oisin filming while Daniel and I looked at the monitor on the other side of the space to see how it’s coming out. It looked incredible. The lighting was dramatic and red with both actors’ hands intertwining with rope, an abstract painting in the background. There was a moment during filming this scene where a far off siren went by and, for a moment, it synced up with the flashing light being used for the scene. I could hear Wayanay directing while also acting in this intense scene, mixing with chatting from the rest of the crew outside.
At this point it’s the evening, around 7pm and decisions were being made on whether to wait for it to get dark for the “bedroom/ love scene” or how we would black out the windows if we were to shoot earlier. Either way hair and makeup had to be done for the next few scenes as a big visual shift was about to happen in the film.
The two scenes left that I would have been on set for were the “love” and “bath” scene. After that I knew the scene with the bonfire and witch character was happening but unfortunately I had to go home. While we waited for the lighting to get better for the remaining scenes, people busied themselves with smaller jobs like bringinging candles and other props to where they needed to be and by trying to figure out how to set up the white sheets for the “love scene”. Although we were ahead of schedule, at this point we were held hostage by the sky.
Because these two scenes were quite intimate it was a really condensed crew allowed into the rooms. Wayanay and Fergus also took as much time as they saw fit to talk freely about what they were both comfortable with, in private, which felt like the most respectful way that such a situation could be handled. As it got darker outside, filming for this began and the rest of us waited outside, being as quiet as we could to not affect the sound inside.
After this was wrapped up, a bath was being run and candles were lit. Most people were inside by now with crew members who came at the start of the day starting to leave while other people were just arriving and subsequently emerging from hair and makeup sporting very intricate and dramatic looks that were to be complimented by bonfire lighting later.
I poured myself a glass of wine while everyone waited in the kitchen for the bathroom scene to wrap up, waiting to say my goodbyes and catch a bus home. The fire alarm went off which I quickly learned when I went to go and say goodbye to Wayanay who was iconically smoking in the bath.
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