Dual

When attending Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School he said that a filmmaker should aim to grab the audience by the hand and raise them to the highest point possible from the moment the film begins, and to keep them there throughout. This idea is the driving force behind 'Dual' and the reason why it's opening is much more akin to a drama than what we may usually see in a documentary.

Another driving force is the power of empathy. The idea of building empathy not just emotionally but physically is something I want to harness so that the audience may gain an idea of just how serious and life-changing Greg's paralysis is without him having to focus on it verbally, allowing more time for Greg to talk about what I believe to be the less superficial aspects of his story, i.e., his remorse, redemption and changed values. Using budget constraints and the space an audience inhabit when watching a film to my advantage, I decided that stripping back the film visually to help parallel Greg's unforgiving style of self-analysis and matter-of-fact demeanor would help. This is in part done by using very tightly-cropped and arresting shots of Greg against darkness (the intention being the recess of his mind) and limiting archive footage to what feels essential. Because of the amount of time the audience are spent facing Greg head-on, having to rest on each word he says, engaging with him the way they would in a real conversation due to the intentional lack of sub-titles, my hope is that a slight feeling of unease may arise and the audience may begin to 'feel' themselves within their bodies while sat in their chairs, the very same thing that Greg is going to be sat in for the rest of his life, creating a physical parallel between Greg and the audience.

Music and sound design are also important empathy-building tools in 'Dual'. The idea was to use both to work with the darkness behind Greg to create a visual space within the film that suggests the film takes place deep in the recess of Greg's mind. This concept is built around the film being shown in a theatrical setting, the idea being that the theater almost becomes an extension of the darkness surrounding Greg and that the audience are inhabiting that same space.

The film has a wide audience. Greg's story has gathered traction in the UK with the largest newspapers writing articles and ITV and the BBC producing mini news features about him, proving the social significance of his story. I couldn't help feel that each focused more on the superficial aspects of who he is. 'Dual' aims to distance itself from this and my hope is that I have excavated something very pure by being primarily concerned with Greg's redemptive process and that my creative approach will help to successfully build physical and emotional empathy as well as leaving each viewer with something to think about that resonates with them.