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SYNOPSIS
After the recent passing of Grandpa Paul, ten-year old Max faces the young struggles of leaving his childhood home. Lost in his own grief, he resents moving homes and finds solace tending to his grandfather's old garden. But his gentle heart soon realizes his father's pain during this time of transition too. In this intergenerational story about masculinity, vulnerability and grief, we follow Max and his father's relationship as they both seek closure from the loss of Grandpa Paul.
BEHIND THE SCENES & STILLS
For the exterior shots, we built Grandpa Max's garden from scratch directly on top of the location's back lawn. We laid down gardening stones to redefine a perimeter and filled the garden with topsoil. We bought flowers from a local nursery and packed them into the shallow soil to give the appearance of rooted plants. Lastly to suggest the passage of time, key elements such as the pinwheel were used in duplicates of two- pne aged and one untouched.
In regards to the interior shots, the objective was to balance the set dressing for 'a packed up' home- creating depth despite knowing most decor and furniture would realistically be absent. To solve this, I focused on layering open and sealed boxes in different levels of depth and made sure to dress the house using essential items only. To reinforce the story this meant using plastic utensils, different shaped glasses, mismatched tote bags. It also meant selecting items that would be left last for packing like air mattresses, TV remotes, packing tools, kitchen tools etc. Lastly, it also came down to deciding when a more minimal feeling would better serve to emphasize Max's inner conflict and leaning into an emptier space.
