‘Charliebird' Filmmakers On Winning Best Narrative Feature And Why They Chose To Make A Film In A 1:1 Aspect Ratio

Geek Vibes Nation

a day ago

When attending a seasoned film festival like Tribeca, it's difficult for a film to truly surprise you. This isn't to suggest the many lovely indie narratives debuting at the festival don't have their merits, but with limited resources often comes limited opportunities to reinvent the wheel. However, Charliebird is an exception to that rule, if only because it is the only film across the entire festival (and likely several editions of the festival) to be presented in a 1:1 aspect ratio. Notably thinner than a standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio often seen in classic cinema but not thin enough to evoke a smartphone screen, it's a bold choice to make for your directorial debut. Yet, it came naturally for Charliebird's director, actress Libby Ewing.
'It all happened really organically,' Ewing told Geek Vibes Nation mere hours before it was announced the film won two Tribeca Festival awards, including Best U.S. Narrative Feature. 'I was really drawn to the images of Petra Collins and snapshots, frames within frames, and portraits. When Luca got on board, he suggested turning an anamorphic lens vertically.'
Rather than shoot the film with a traditional widescreen lens and crop in to present the film in a thinner aspect ratio, cinematographer Luca Del Puppo took a 1.5:1 anamorphic lens and squeezed it to make for a taller, longer image. 'The idea was to not start with a spherical lens on a digital negative, which is usually a 1.78:1 sensor or a 1.5:1 cropped in, but instead apply a 1.5:1 anamorphic to a 1.5:1 sensor and extend the negative vertically,' Del Puppo says. 'It's uncropped, but you'll never know that watching it.'
'For me, it always comes back to story,' Ewing said. In Charliebird, screenwriter Samantha Smart portrays Al, a music therapist who works with terminal children in a Texas hospital. Most of her patients are very young children, but one day she is assigned to Charlie (Gabriela Ochoa Perez, who won the Tribeca Award for Best Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature), a teenage patient who has already given up on her own life. As Al breaks down Charlie's walls and makes a true friend, Al's own trauma begins to bubble up to the surface. 'This woman is boxed in by her own design. For me, it was a no-brainer. She is not facing her past; she's immediately in the center of her life and not doing anything about it. For me, [1:1] was a no-brainer.'
'Something that was immediately important to us was that we were using the full canvas, the full digital negative,' explains Del Puppo. 'By compressing and re-expanding, it seems like you're doing needless work, but it does affect the depth of field and the size of the image…you're going to see a very restricted frame, but it's a much wider vertical than anything you're used to seeing.' This is how Del Puppo could shoot extremely intimate scenes with Smart without losing any visual information. For example, Del Puppo shot many scenes of Smart driving a truck while in the passenger's seat. This is extremely close to his subject, but the film's full format sensor allowed Del Puppo to have a broader depth of field that could capture Smart and her surroundings while still being close up.
Naturally, this made for a uniquely intimate shoot. 'There was a kinship there,' said Smart, referring to the trust she had with both Ewing and Del Puppo on set. 'After every take, Libby was holding my hands with ice cubes because she knew, as an amazing actress herself, what I was going through and what I needed. Luca and our sound mixer were so delicate and tender and emotionally with me that it felt a little bit like flying…it was like I knew he was there, also like I didn't know he was there. We just knew it felt sacred, and I cannot imagine having done this film without them, with that energy and that trust.'
Moments after our virtual interview, Tribeca announced Charliebird's twofold awards win, a delightful surprise for a competition slate featuring big names and seasoned veterans. Shortly after the announcement, Ewing took to Instagram. 'I have no words…just immense gratitude.'
In our full interview with the trio, condensed for brevity and clarity below, they dive into the process behind making the 1:1 aspect ratio a reality, how they formed trust on set, and how Smart dug into her own experience to write a deeply personal story.
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Let's cut right to the chase: this is the first time I've seen a 1:1 aspect ratio on screen. What was the conception behind it, as well as the unique challenges that come from making a film this way?
Libby Ewing (director): As I was pulling my look book together, I was really drawn to the images of Petra Collins and snapshots, frames within frames, and portraits. When Luca [Del Puppo] got on board, he suggested turning an anamorphic lens vertically. Sam [Smart] was gracious enough to do some test runs with us, and we sent it to our colorist. It came back, and it was the choice that made the most sense to us. It all happened really organically. It feels like a bold idea – this is my first feature, is this like a statement I'm making? – but it was so supported by the story. For me, it always comes back to story. This woman is boxed in by her own design. She has no horizons forward. She is not facing her past; she's immediately in the center of her life and not doing anything about it. That fed into this idea that all the characters are boxed in. For me, it was a no-brainer. I know it's a really bold choice, but it didn't feel like a bold choice.
Luca Del Puppo (cinematographer): Something that was immediately important to us was that we were using the full canvas, the full digital negative. The idea was to not start with a spherical lens on a digital negative, which is usually a 1.78:1 sensor or a 1.5:1 cropped-in, but instead apply a 1.5:1 anamorphic to a 1.5:1 sensor and extend the negative vertically. It's uncropped, but you'll never know that watching it.
Ah! I assumed you were using a standard horizontal aspect ratio and cropping in. My interest is piqued! What did you shoot with?
Del Puppo: We started with a full-frame camera, the Sony VENICE, which is a 1.5:1 native aspect ratio. It has the same aspect ratio as your dad's old Nikon that he used to take all the family photos, which comes back to something else Libby and Sam wanted. They wanted to have that feeling. Then, for the 1.5:1 anamorphic squeeze, Atlas makes these great lenses [the Orion series]. They're a new company, but they've been used on really major pictures like Anora and Everything Everywhere All at Once. They had two things. The lens is a 1.5 squeeze, so we knew we would get a one-to-one negative, and it had a great close focus, so I could get close to Sam in certain key moments. By compressing and re-expanding, it seems like you're doing needless work, but it does affect the depth of field and the size of the image so that it gets much closer to a medium format negative. You're going to see a very restricted frame, but it's a much wider vertical than anything you're used to seeing. It's a very different perspective shift.
There are scenes in this movie where you are in the car with Sam, and there is so much more depth of field than if you were trying to shoot it with a typical digital close-up lens, right?
Luca: Right. You're getting more depth of field vertically and less depth of field horizontally.
That is amazing, thank you for that insight. Sam, you're both the star and screenwriter of Charliebird, and I love a good piece of autofiction. To the best of your ability, where exactly do you end and the story begin?
Samantha Smart (screenwriter/star): Oh, that's a good question. God, it's funny, early on I was writing this film and presenting it to Libby and was like, 'I think I wanna play this character and I want you to direct it.' I always thought it would serve the story to have an outside perspective, and Libby's so brilliant and collaborative. I have such trust in her. I never once thought I would need to do more than what I did, but after a couple of years creating Al [Sam's character], I got to the point where I told Libby, 'You're gonna have to cast someone else. It's so far from me. She's bleach blonde, she's tatted up. I'm not gonna be able to do this.' I got a little bit scared, but Libby helped me find her. In a way, I think almost every character [in the film] is a triad of myself, someone else I knew in Texas, and then a third entity I can't really explain. Without wanting to sound lofty, it's all me and it's all not me. Once I found each character's voice and who they were, I just listened to them and wrote what they said, which sounds really…whatever. [laughs] I don't know another way to write.
There's a very meta thing that happens as you watch the movie. You meet Al, and the first thing you learn about her is that she is forced to confront the most emotionally devastating things, and she is compartmentalizing that in order to do the job. Then, the audience is also forced to engage with that same material, and then they have to compartmentalize it in order to continue watching the movie. I'm curious if you had to confront that same compartmentalization.
Smart: I had the idea [for the film] and then unfortunately went through some stuff that enabled me to write it, some personal loss that is very different from Al's. I've been leaving Texas my whole adult life, but when I began writing, I found myself right back where I started. The backstory of Al as a kid – even though we went with a more ambiguous choice – that's very much based on things that I experienced growing up, and I realized I needed to deal with it on the page.
I want to go back to the camera work and the close focus. Sam, I can imagine this was a unique shooting experience given the intimacy of both the material and the camera. How did you approach your relationship to the camera on set?
Samantha: It started with the trust between me and Libby. I've worked with her before. We're very close, and I knew that, with anything I was gonna try, she would hold me up, build me up, and direct me in the right way. Then, Luca and I had just filmed a short about a year before, so we had a dialogue and a comfort between us. The three of us are just film nerds, photography nerds. There was a kinship there. On day three, we were starting with the scene where Al is at home in a drunken state. That was obviously very difficult for many reasons, but Libby had given me choreography. After every take, Libby was holding my hands with ice cubes because she knew, as an amazing actress herself, what I was going through and what I needed. Luca and our sound mixer were so delicate and tender and emotionally with me that it felt a little bit like flying. I don't know what Luca was doing with his body to catch me, but it was like I knew he was there, also like I didn't know he was there. We just knew it felt sacred, and I cannot imagine having done this film without them, with that energy and that trust, because it allowed me to not have to think.
From my perspective as a viewer, it seems like that scene was the most challenging scene to shoot, but maybe I'm wrong, Libby?
Ewing: It wasn't in the most surprising way. There are always the scenes that you're nervous about, and the way that we built our schedule, having the crew and Sam do all of that early on, was nerve-wracking. But I have to say that day was really special because everyone was just so locked in, and everyone respected what was happening. The way that Sam brought herself to the role changed the alchemy of our set. The whole crew was like, 'Oh, I get it. I know what we're making.' Something happened that night where that trust was built, and then we led with that. When we brought in our other actors, Luca, Sam, and I had a real shorthand. Luca––I don't know what he is, he's not of this earth. I felt like he was connected to my brain all the time.
Smart: Libby would, like, telepathically tell us to do something, and we would do it.
Del Puppo: It's not every day that you get to work with two people who have what Libby and Sam have, and you recognize it pretty quickly. We didn't have tremendous resources on this film, but what Libby did so brilliantly as a director was find days ahead of time where we could shoot, build them into the schedule, and be super specific about all the shots so that then when Sam and I were alone together in the truck, for example, we knew what we were doing. One of the best experiences of my life was shooting the last scene. What made it holy was Libby setting us up, and Sam and I being in the moment.
Luca, from a DP's perspective, is there a methodology to making sure you're capturing information when you're dealing with such a sensitive depth of field?
Del Puppo: Look, the depth of field is tiny. We're at minimum focus, and I'm pulling focus and just trying to stay with Sam because what she's doing is amazing, and you can see it. There's also a two-stop iris pull, so you're doing two things with your fingers. You spend your whole life getting technical, so then what, so then you can be proud of yourself? You have to throw all that stuff away. I get really impatient with DP's saying things like, 'My frame, my light.' That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. I don't have patience for that. You try it and you get it and if you don't get it, then you feel like shit because Sam and Libby just did something that can't be replicated, so just do it.
Smart: For the final scene, there was a lot of pressure. We had five minutes of light. By the time we were rounding the street to be able to go for it, our safety car had an issue. We lost contact on our walkie-talkie. Luca's in there holding the entire camera setup by himself. I was just ready and, this sounds so 'woo,' but we could feel Libby being like, 'Just fucking go.' So, I just started driving, and we got it. I don't know how we did it. It was a really special day.
Ewing: Luca came back to our little home base in this vacant parking lot and showed me the playback, and I burst into tears. It was just perfect. All that trust built to that 15-minute shot, and it was just stunning.
Del Puppo: The camera's 30 pounds, we're on an anamorphic lens. We don't have a three-person camera team. We shot the whole thing handheld without an easy rig. As a DP, at a certain point, you ask yourself, 'Is this big black easy rig thing going to distract from the film? If it is, then just hold the camera.' I know that it sounds banal, but some of these decisions were that simple.
Knowing that you had that 30 pound set up shooting handheld with no rig is fucking crazy.
Del Puppo: Well, I'm short and wide, so it works out.
Ewing: He's a beast. He just needed a second dinner every night. You just gotta keep him fed and fueled.
It's like Michael Phelps loading up carbs before a big swim.
Ewing: That's right.
Luca: Sam brought us to a great burger place on the first night. It really was a family affair, and we just kept going back there for more.