Betty Jiang recently completed her second feature film Vancouver Rhapsody. I was lucky enough to cross paths with her and talk about the process.
“What is the premise of Vancouver Rhapsody?”
“It’s a story about a young newly engaged couple that become intimate one night celebrating their new relationship status. While making love, one of them calls out the name of a former love. This puts their relationship into question. In order to save it, they decide to invite both of their ex’s over to reconcile the hatred they still carry for them. However, once the ex’s come over for dinner, it is soon realized that the ex’s still have strong feelings for them.”
“This is your second feature. What was the inspiration for the film?”
“I have found that in my own experiences with relationships, moving onto the next one does not stop you from forgetting about the last one. I wanted to make a film of forgiveness. One that could help to deal with the past in order to move forward.”
“The movie deals with some explicit situations. Was it difficult to find actors to play the characters?”
“Not at all. I found most of the actors at Methodic Acting Studio where I had attended. I also found an actor on Craigslist.”
The rehearsals started in March of 2016 and lasted till August. Betty explained to me that she wanted the actors to know their characters so well that they’d forget the cameras were even there.
Something I found extraordinary is that Betty wrote a novel on the story before turning it into a script. She does this to become more familiar with the characters. It’s an incredible undertaking and acts as a road map to stay true to the characters. I honestly don’t know of any other filmmakers doing this.
Betty finished writing the script in Oct. 2015. Pre-production started in Oct. 2015 and lasted till Feb. 2016. All of the scenes were shot in Betty’s penthouse apartment and wrapped up eight days later.
During filming, it was Betty’s intention to have the actions and reactions of the actors tell the story more than the dialogue.
She used a small film crew that consisted of a cinematographer, sound mixer, production designer and she directed it. She has the soundtrack being designed in Toronto and completion has taken approx. seven moths. It is a jazz infused score that has been said to resemble the sounds of a Woody Allen film.
Betty utilized a 16mm black and white camera for scenes that reflected past memories linked to their ex’s. The other interior shots were captured on a Black Magic 2K camera.
“Using the 16 mm camera gave the film a look that I felt it was missing. I’m very happy I did it.”
Post has taken approx. 2 ½ mths and although the sound design has not been fully completed, Betty has had success entering the film into online festivals. Once it’s fully completed, it will be entered into other festivals in hopes of a live screening.
Betty has recently turned 30 yrs. old and already has begun the process toward writing her third feature.
It’s female character driven and sounds like another original concept.
Vancouver Rhapsody is scheduled to be completed this October. I look forward to enjoying it at a local screening once it is.
If you’d like to follow the progress of the film, you can go to www.facebook.com/vancouverrhapsody. If you’d like to view the trailer, you can see it here.