Just watched it again, it holds up man =), loved it. I found a few moments that stood out to me this time which were overlooked the first time. When the younger brother is yelling at God "GIVE US OUR AUNTIE BACK" resonated so hard, the Sun was always shrouded by a veil of clouds, penetrating in hints. And I gotta say, the confusion, an almost existential crisis within Arvid was felt much more in this viewing. It had a dark foreshadowing of adult life that was looming over the sun at this moment in his life that his brother was not yet aware of. Also, the idea that his younger brother could die one day, just like in the picture of his mother and aunt as babies was felt this time.
Were you purposefully working with wind for specific scenes, or did it make its appearance on its own terms? I absolutely loved the way it was lit, and the way you work with light is extremely nostalgic. The darkness in many moments is so poignant that it creates a feeling as if it was captured from memory. And it's so interesting that you brought up how personal this was for you after I posted my post, because I felt it even without you saying it. I feel like I've had those moments with my mother on the couch, turning the TV on. Father coming in with a bunch of laundry asking for the controller. I think I basically had a very similar childhood as you. I'm the older brother with my younger brother, and it was really interesting how you captured the dynamic between father/older son & father/younger son.
And to say that there were hints of Tree of Life here is completely a compliment, in other films it's forced, here not. I think here it's beyond the influence of Tree of Life, it didn't feel like that was conscious at all through the filmmaking. You were just approaching the film in a similar manner. Tarkovsky-esque as well. There was a shot where the camera fluidly followed Arvid towards a group of flowers when Arvid left the shot, I was expecting you to linger and focus to a close-up of flowers and it almost looked like you purposefully didn't.
I'm going to just go ahead and be the one to ask the dumb but necessary questions: What were you using in terms of camera, lens, steadicam, lighting, bounces? Also in terms of sound, how did you come up with the idea of the loud machine that comes in in certain segments, and also, how did you work with your sound design in general? How many days did it take to shoot?
Really inspiring work dude. I sort of lost hope in the medium of short film for a while, but this one sparked them up again.
