In The Morning

“Brooklyn misses Brooklyn.” Old friends Bly, Ravi,...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:54:28 -0400

“Brooklyn misses Brooklyn.” Old friends Bly, Ravi, Amara and Fez chat about love, life and gentrification on a long walk. Our ode to a classic: Woody Allen’s ‘Manhattan’ meets In The Morning’s Brooklyn….

“Yes officer, we have a permit!” Totally re-mixed...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:12:24 -0400

“Yes officer, we have a permit!” Totally re-mixed this scene and made it a trippy walk down DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn, which does much more justice to the energy of this shoot day and to these wild and wonderful spirits in our cast. We are off and running with round two of the edit!

Long days journey into night…. Night falls, and everyone...

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 12:13:43 -0400

Long days journey into night…. Night falls, and everyone must come to terms with the remains of the day. We’ve made it through the first pass of our rough cut, and though the day is filled with our characters fighting to express themselves, the quiet moments say it all. In the end, we whittled three pages of dialogue down to one line, and cut one scene entirely, trusting in the power of economy. Trusting in the power of these performances. There have been many beautiful moments of discovery in the edit room, we look forward to continuing our work, and sharing them with you. Have a wonderful weekend all!

The ice storm…. We made our way through two decidedly...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:50:00 -0400

The ice storm…. We made our way through two decidedly chilly scenes on our edit this weekend. One, icy due to the emotional landscape of the scene: Our couple, Zuri and Leal draw battle lines with one another in their vastly declining relationship and bring us further into their shrinking world. The other, well just plain cold: An unseasonably icy 27 degree shoot day that severely tested our cast and crew. Blankets between takes, and not quite hot tea withstanding, it was freezing. Shooting a feature film in 8 days means there’s no rescheduling… you’re all in. We are eternally grateful for the bravery, patience, dedication and excellence of our wonderful cast and crew. This is what Independent Filmmaking is about: COURAGE.

Walking and talking…. More than halfway through our rough...

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 11:52:19 -0400

Walking and talking…. More than halfway through our rough cut and triumphantly through the scenes that kept us up at night…. Shooting these scenes on location, without the ability to lock off the street was an audacious, (maybe even a bit insane : ) moment. But that’s Indie Filmmaking, it’s not for the faint of heart. It takes courage on all sides. Many thanks to our extraordinary cast and crew for their grace under pressure. It works beautifully, and adds so much more energy to the film. Our cast makes Brooklyn look even better!! (Now back to losing sleep over the car scene)

From Beirut to Bahia to Brooklyn…. Travel stories brought...

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:31:58 -0400

From Beirut to Bahia to Brooklyn…. Travel stories brought us closer together. Before our shoot we all gathered to get to know one another a little better so that the friendships would ring true on screen. We’re one third of the way through our rough cut and done with our brunch scenes and it feels like spending time with old friends. The love is there, feels good!! Now on to those infamous ‘walk and talks’ this week….

Wild is the wind. A screenshot of one of our characters, the...

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 00:29:00 -0400

Wild is the wind. A screenshot of one of our characters, the free-spirited Harper. A woman who refuses to be defined or possessed.

Who’s ready for a different vision of Black women on screen?! #InTheMorningTheFilm

Last looks. Something shifts when an actor looks direct to...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:01:28 -0400

Last looks. Something shifts when an actor looks direct to camera. It happens memorably and infamously in François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows and Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. We experiment with this in In The Morning, hoping to pull you that much closer to our heroines…. we look forward to sharing their stories with you and hope you will feel connected to their journey….

References. Point of departure: Woody Allen’s classic ode...

Thu, 31 May 2012 17:39:00 -0400

References. Point of departure: Woody Allen’s classic ode to modern angst Manhattan. A timeless film of many distinctions: exquisite black and white cinematography, a witty, sharply crafted script and the elegantly understated, though deeply shaded performances. The expressive language, the idiosyncratic specificity, the frenetic energy captured in the city it pays homage to, the unforgettable ‘walk and talks.’ It’s a world that we love to get lost in, and wanted to translate to our own existence. We wanted to create a world and a language just as specific for the bohemian Brooklynites of In The Morning, one shaded with mood, yet still able to find it’s humor.

References. Point of departure: Spike Lee’s groundbreaking...

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:09:00 -0400

References. Point of departure: Spike Lee’s groundbreaking film She’s Gotta Have It forever changed the landscape of American cinema. Finally, we could see ourselves in a tangible way. Spike did that brilliantly with this gorgeous, timeless conversation piece. It was a new world. A movement. But it’s revisiting Nola that got us excited about imagining In The Morning’s heroines. The provocative Nola Darling marked a radical departure from anything ever seen on the American screen before and gave us permission to write about women who fall outside of traditional archetypes, women who live a little bit left of center and unapologetically on their own terms.

We’re talking references. Point of departure: Ingmar...

Tue, 29 May 2012 14:20:00 -0400

We’re talking references. Point of departure: Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage. The definitive work exploring intimacy from the masterful director that takes an unflinching look at the inherent contradictions in sustained love. A relentless observation of human emotions. A radical film: hyper-realistic cinematic style, claustrophobic close-ups, and series of rapid, articulate monologues that leave you breathless…. This film changes you. It gave us the inspiration to push In The Morning further, to go beneath the surface. And most of all to not blink.

Style Matters. Our amazing Costume Designers Neishea Lemle and...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:57:34 -0400

Style Matters. Our amazing Costume Designers Neishea Lemle and Gary Pridgeon worked nothing short of magic on a TIGHT budget. We wanted to build looks that not only raised our visual aesthetic but told individual stories about who our characters are. From Fez’s popped collar to, Ravi’s colorful socks, to Harper’s red dress, to Bly’s one yellow nail, to Leal’s bracelets to exactly how Amara would rock the sleeves half way up on her coat to showcase that cuff. We were serious about the personal style details. Here we are at our final costume fitting on the eve of our shoot, happy that it all came together…. looking and feeling good!

P.S…. Special shout out to the bagels on the table that went the distance of our 8 day shoot for better or worse as well : )

Hope you’ve enjoyed our thoughts this week on our Costume Design process. We’ve had fun sharing! Next week, we’ll share reference images. Happy weekend all!

Style Matters. “I don’t know if I want to try...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:52:00 -0400

Style Matters. “I don’t know if I want to try anymore.. to fix what’s broken between us.” Zuri and Leal are all about layers. When we meet them, they are treading through the remains of their broken relationship. We wanted to dress them in layers that could be taken off as the day wore on, a metaphor for their struggle to break down the walls they so carefully constructed to shelter themselves from one another. Their story is a visceral exploration of the love below.

Style Matters. “So long friend.” Creating looks for...

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:48:00 -0400

Style Matters. “So long friend.” Creating looks for Malik and Cadence who share a complicated love was tons of fun. On this day, they meet to end their whirlwind romance. Malik is an elegant man, with effortless style, we built his look accordingly. How would a woman dress for this occasion? You know, AMAZING! We knew Cadence would want to leave Malik with a memorable image… one that punctuated both her beauty and individuality… one that said you’ll never meet anyone else like me, and I’m the most exciting thing that’s ever going to happen to you, you’re welcome : ) ahhhh love….

Style matters. We wanted to fill the screen with images that...

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:47:00 -0400

Style matters. We wanted to fill the screen with images that spoke to the elegant versions of ourselves. Inspiration: ….M.I.L.E.S….We couldn’t select one photo of Miles Davis because like his music, his personal style was constantly evolving. Rebellious. Innovative. Elegant. Giant of many things. Style for days, well decades really. Always Miles ahead.

And one word: ….D.I.A.N.A…. one and only.

IN THE MORNING: BEHIND THE SCENES PRINCIPLE PHOTOGRAPHY Hey...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 17:32:00 -0400

Photo Credit: Jenn Nkiru

Photo Credit: Jenn Nkiru

Photo Credit: Jenn Nkiru

Photo Credit: Jenn Nkiru

Photo Credit: Jenn Nkiru

Photo Credit: Jenn Nkiru

Photo Credit: Jenn Nkiru

IN THE MORNING: BEHIND THE SCENES PRINCIPLE PHOTOGRAPHY

Hey Tumblr Fam,

We have recently updated our blog to include a select few special behind the scenes photos from our shoot which you can see here!

We hope you enjoy.

For more special behind the scenes pics of our production experience, please log onto: http://tinyurl.com/ITMPrinciplePhotography

Also stay posted on our blog for the latest info on our project. More to come!

IT'S A WRAP

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:21:00 -0400

IT'S A WRAP: Tumblr Family, It gives us great pleasure to announce that it is a WRAP on shooting In...

MEET OUR CAST

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:57:00 -0400

MEET OUR CAST:

MEET OUR INSPIRATIONS | NOTHING BUT A MAN (1964) | FILM Released...

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:53:00 -0400

MEET OUR INSPIRATIONS | NOTHING BUT A MAN (1964) | FILM

Released in 1964 during the height of the civil rights movement and considered as “one of the top ten black films of all time” by Ebony Magazine and “one of the most sensitive films about black life ever made in [America]” by The Washington Post, Nothing But A Man Directed by Michael Roemer, remains timeless 48 years after its release.

INSPIRATION | ALICE COLTRANE | BLUE NILE...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:29:00 -0400

INSPIRATION | ALICE COLTRANE | BLUE NILE (1970)

Recorded in 1970, Alice Coltrane’s Blue Nile, is taken from her third album ‘Ptah, The El Daoud’ (see album cover below).

Containing all the depth, beauty, ethereal and instinctual emotion only Alice Coltrane could embody in her music, we hope to capture some of this transcendent magic IN THE MORNING.