In approaching the emotionally pivotal scene where Ellen meets her younger self, I treated it as I would a key moment in an episode of a scripted drama—balancing deep emotional truth with the practical demands of a tight schedule.
Prep: I began with a detailed visual and emotional roadmap. I knew this scene needed to carry both catharsis and clarity, so I prepped with a focus on contrasts—past and present, pain and healing, adult insight and child vulnerability. I storyboarded the emotional beats alongside the technical ones, ensuring that every shot supported Ellen’s internal transformation. I worked closely with my cinematographer Laurel K. Brown, to design lighting and camera movement that created a dreamlike tone without losing the emotional grounding.
Collaboration with Actors: We were lucky enough to have a small amount of rehearsal time. I had one-on-one conversations with Michelle Addison who wrote the script and plays Ellen. She knows the character best and together we dug into the character’s history and the emotional weight she carried into the scene. For the younger version of Ellen, Charlotte Billing and I also had conversations well in advance of shooting about where Young Ellen was in her journey. On the actual shoot day, I gave Charlotte a lot of privacy and space so she could access the rawness needed without being overwhelmed. During shooting, I tried to keep my directions short and to the point, running long takes and resetting instead of cutting so we weren’t pulling the actors out of the moment.
Emotional Adjustment on the Day: We were pressed for time, and the emotional tone of the first few takes was falling flat. I could feel the pressure mounting, but rather than push harder, I took a beat with the cast and crew to quietly recalibrate. I reminded the actors (and myself) that the power of the scene came from stillness and trust, not performance. That shift brought us into the pocket. We got what we needed in the next two takes.