American Film Institute (AFI) - location: Los Angeles, CA.

Danielle Shamash's film The Sunday Man charms the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

"I always loved films that were a little bit magical, a little bit strange, and a little bit impossible," says Danielle Shamash, the Canadian director of the 15-minute fantastical film The Sunday Man, which only confirms that her taste has not changed since she was a kid. "When I was 10, my best friend and I did a 3 part series of short films where we traveled to distant lands (via my walk-in closet) to try to find the secret of life (which we never did find, by the way). But I guess what I found instead was a love for the work that would eventually become my career."

director Danielle Shamash

The Sunday Man won 1st place in the BAFTA-LA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Los Angeles chapter) Student Awards. "It's a tremendous honor to be recognized by such a prestigious group," she says. "I'll admit that I was actually quite surprised to have taken home the top prize. Our film is sweet and strange and fun, and when I think of award-winning films, I tend to think of more serious dramas. I was so thrilled to be proven wrong."

Danielle shot the film as part of the American Film Institute's directing workshop for women. Principle photography on The Sunday Man lasted 6 days with 1 pick-up day a month later. The size of the crew varied from 20 people on an easy day of lighting set-up to 40 people on the more complicated day that they used the green screen. They shot at Gower Studios in Hollywood and on the Universal Studios back lot.

The story was written by Danielle's friend Myan Marcen-Gaudaur. "Myan sent me The Sunday Man and I was immediately lured into her story by its characters, who were so extraordinarily unique and beautifully crafted with sincerity, charm and humor," she says. "I love stories where anything is possible, so I relished the opportunity to let imagination rule." The story revolves around the quirky adventures of Mr. Culp, a seemingly delusional man who may or may not be the supreme reincarnation that he claims to be.

In addition to the dream locations, Danielle assembled a dream cast including the Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Coyote as the narrator and the Emmy Award-nominated actress Annie Potts playing Mr. Culp's mother. Danielle's producer is Rebecca Rankin, wife of the Oscar-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.

Danielle chose to work with AFI cinematography fellow student Art Meyerhoff because he was just reeling with ideas. "We were both so inspired by what the other was coming up with, which indicated to me that it was a good match," she says. "He also had an eye for detail, which I really valued."

Danielle and Art communicated extensively about the vision and shot digital storyboards for much of the film before they even stepped onto the stage. "The most important tool I used in communicating my visual ideas was a sort of scrapbook that I compiled of various photos, paintings, film stills, and anything else that could paint a picture of what I had in mind," she says. "If I was ever in a creative conversation with one of my collaborators and I was stuck for words - I would just pull out my book and we were immediately on the same page. Sometimes there are ideas that are better expressed in pictures."

Danielle says that they took a stylized visual approach to the film. "We wanted to create a world where you could believe that anything could happen. We were not trying to mimic reality - we wanted to make our own," she says. "We used 35mm film, because it was clean, and bright and beautiful. Video would have been too real, 16mm too gritty," she says."

Annie Potts as Mrs. Culp in the kitchen

Danielle explains how they came up with a separate visual approach for each different time period in the film. "The book-ending sequences in the film represented a present time period," she says. "We used rich colors in the design, and kept the final color relatively true to what we shot.

"For the world where Mr. Culp is an adult, we decided go with a desaturated, almost (but not quite) sepia looking image. This was the bleak place for our main character. The frames weren't very crowded, and the image is void of life and color.

"When we flashback to the 'many years ago' we find ourselves in a different environment. The magentas, greens and oranges that dominated our palette really pop. It's vivid and lively, just like the legend of Mr. Culp that has been passed around over the years. It's over the top and a little unlikely, and I think the more brilliant tonality in these scenes supports that sense of fun that comes with this very important back-story. There is an abundance of design elements in these sequences that really fills the frame, which is contrary to the 'adult world.

"As far as lensing, we chose to shoot the back-story with wider lenses to enhance the feel of being slightly un-real and awkward. Conceptually, we had always thought of this back-story taking place in a snow-globe, so the wider lenses supported that idea as well. Like the scene in the doctor's office - I love the look of that scene with the super orange sunlight streaming through the window. I feel like that scene is happening in some miniature little town somewhere. In the "adult world" we stuck more to 50-75mm lenses.

"Finding the right locations for this film was an arduous undertaking. Months prior to principle photography, our producer Rebecca Rankin scheduled location scouts for every feasible location to shoot the interiors and exteriors of our little town. We wanted to make this world entirely our own, which would have meant major gutting and restoring to any practical location. At this point, we decided it was best to do a full build. Thanks to the help of Abby Singer and the immense generosity of the people at Sunset-Gower Studios, we were able to secure a stage in which we could bring our world to life. Our production designer Rachel Silvera and her tremendously hard-working team worked tirelessly for 5 days prior to the shoot to build 9 interior sets. In fact, there were so many sets that the Art Directors, Erika and Dominique were tearing sets down as soon as we saw the dailies in order to make room for new ones. It was a wonderful and challenging experience with, what I think are, exciting results.

"The timeless quality of the story offered Danielle and I a unique opportunity and freedom to go in any direction with the visual design of the film," says Art. "The paintings of Norman Rockwell served as an overall point of departure for the tone, texture and character of the image. The interior sets were brought to life at Sunset Gower Studios headed by AFI Production Designer Rachel Silvera. A major credit is due to my Gaffer Martin Laerche whose input was crucial in helping facilitate the strategy for this approach.

"Working on the stage allowed us total control of the environment and the possibility of having at least three sets simultaneously lit and ready on any given day," says the DP. "I wanted to use enhanced realism to capture the mythical quality of the story and characters. For The Sunday Man, I wanted to celebrate the classical Hollywood studio look and use the camera, optics, film stock, and lighting to get the look in principle photography instead of doing it in post.

Using KODAK VISION2 500T 5218 for the effects shots was the ideal choice for integrating the digital work with the enhanced "in-camera" look we were shooting. We shot the green screen as a day for night and working with VFX Supervisor Rob Moggach and colorist Craig Budrick at Technicolor Complete Post, the result was seamless.

Annie Potts as Mrs. Culp with Chayce Marnell as Young Mr. Culp in the Milk Bath scene.

During pre-production I was hunting for a stock that could handle the vibrant color space of the lighting and set design and equally as important, an image that had contrast with strong detail in the blacks. I tested both the KODAK VISION2 Expression 5229 and 5218 in both under and over exposure and pushing 1 stop. The 5218 really grabbed the colors and the tonal range of our visual design resulting in a crisp/grain less picture that ultimately became a significant element of the story. The exterior scenes were exposed on 5205 and the two stocks complimented one-another perfectly.

"Exterior locations for this film were equally as challenging," adds Danielle. "When you're looking for a charming small town within the 30-mile zone of Los Angeles, your options are limited. That being said, anything is possible. We found everything we needed on the backlot at Universal Studios.

"For the exterior of the town, we used the location, "Jaws Lake" that got its name because the Jaws attraction of the backlot tour takes place there about every 5 minutes. Needless to say, it was a challenge for sound, but visually the end result looks very charming. For the Culp house exterior, we used an old set that they call The Chicken Ranch. It was originally built for the film, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which was ironically appropriate to house our provocative character, Mrs. Culp, a mother who makes a living as the local prostitute.

They used a green screen to create the shot of Mr. Culp stepping off the dock and walking on water in front of the mob of townspeople. "We had an incredible donation from Kino Flo founder Frieder Hochiem who gave us everything we needed to get the shot right," says Art. "The 40x20 green screen was lit using Flat Heads and Image 80's. Two adjustable Blanket Lights were rigged overhead for ambient moonlight and we separated Mr. Culp using flat heads pushing through 12x12's for fill and a 1200w HMI kicker.

"For the reverse shot of the townspeople, we used a 30x16 JC Backings backdrop of an exterior night sky. Holes were punched in the sky and we backlit using Koloris fixtures to simulate pulsing stars. The backing was pre-rigged behind the green screen and when we finished the CGI shots we pulled out the green screen and were immediately ready to shoot the reverse.

"A few days later we sent a 2nd unit over to Lake Castaic to shoot water plates that would serve as the body of our lake," says Danielle. "The starry night sky was created digitally. This scene was a great challenge for us because none of us had ever worked on anything so FX heavy."

"Using Kodak 5218 for the effects shots was the ideal choice for integrating the digital work with the enhanced "in-camera" look we were shooting," says Art. "We shot the green screen as a day for night and working with VFX Supervisor Rob Moggach and colorist Craig Budrick at Technicolor Complete Post, the result was seamless.

"During pre-production I was hunting for a stock that could handle the vibrant color space of the lighting and set design and equally as important, an image that had contrast with strong detail in the blacks. I tested both the 5229 and 5218 in both under and over exposure and pushing 1 stop. The 5218 really grabbed the colors and the tonal range of our visual design resulting in a crisp/grain less picture that ultimately became a significant element of the story. The exterior scenes were exposed on 5205 and the two stocks complimented one-another perfectly."

Lori Jean Wilson as The Midwife with Hope Shapiro as her Assistant delivering Mr. Culp

Art says that one of the advantages about the AFI program is that the cinematography fellows are given the opportunity to experiment, and master the latest tools and technology available in the industry. "This in turn forges a trusting relationship with individuals like Ric Halpern at Panavision who helped secure an arsenal of Primo lenses and a Super 35 Gold II camera," he says. "Shooting 2.35:1, the Primo optics were ideal in holding up the color across the entire frame and providing a unique image quality and sharpness to each scene. I wanted to use filtration through lighting rather than in camera allowing me the ability to hand craft each shot and know exactly what the scene would look like when developed."

Due to gernerous donations from Kodak and Technicolor, they were able to capture and develop the story on 35mm. "The sweat, tears and blood that go into any project become worth every drop when that immortalized image finally gets a life of its own on the screen," says Art.

The film is getting a life of its own at film festivals having started screening this summer at the Jackson Hole Film Festival, Rhode Island Film Festival, Sacramento Film and Music Festival, and Worldfest-Houston where it won the Platinum Award for Best Graduate Student Film. Two days after the BAFTA-LA student awards, The Sunday Man won Best Student Film at the International Cinegear Expo Film Competition.

Before Danielle came to the American Film Institute, she was working in television in Toronto directing and producing branding campaigns and promos. "The work was a lot of fun, but I had this fear that if I became too comfortable, I would end up losing my focus on making movies," she says. "In a somewhat impulsive move, I decided to pick up and move to Los Angeles to hone my craft at the American Film Institute."

There were many factors that went into her decision to attend AFI. "Obviously, they have a fantastic reputation with a collection of extraordinarily talented and accomplished alumni," she says. "Another factor was the way the program is structured. AFI is discipline specific, which means if you're there as a director, you're working towards directing and directing only. It's extremely focused, while also teaching you the importance of collaboration, which is in itself is a true art form.

"Making a film with an institution of any sort can have both benefits and disadvantages," she adds. "I would say the major benefit comes with the AFI name. In terms of fundraising, casting, mentoring and attracting vendors, we were able to get access to people that we may not have otherwise. When you're making a film under AFI, I think people trust that there will be a certain level of professionalism in both the conduct of the filmmakers as well as the final product."

In closing, Danielle says "I would like to think that my work has become less childish, and more childlike. My films have always had a stylish look and a quirky sensibility. The more access I have to better resources and the better I get at what I do, the more evolved my photography becomes as well." She is currently writing a feature-length dark fairy-tale.