1. What does your job, being "director of photography" on The House Between, entail?

Prior to shooting the first 2 episodes of season #1, John and I took some photographs of the house's interior. Based on those photos and what I could remember from each room, I sketched out a crude shot list-storyboard hybrid on an old notepad. After the first day of shooting, both John and I realized that we were not really following these lists and felt that a spontaneous setup for each scene would work better.

Because John and I co-DPed, we always had two angles covered for every take. I would always try to get the master shot or a long shot on the initial take and then would move in for coverage with John to get the medium shots, close ups, and over-the-shoulders. Since this was primarily John's vision and he knew what he wanted, he usually set his camera up first, capturing the action in a very smart way. For example, when he was shooting a very solid two-shot, this freed my camera up to experiment with movement, zooms, etc. Although most of my shots are fairly conservative, I did have more freedom then most DP's to play with my camera, and John encouraged me to seek out interesting ways to capture the characters. I could safely focus on one aspect of a character (nervous ticks of the hand, shifting eyes, etc,) or I could find angles that I thought lent themselves visually to the emotional weight of the action. If available, I always tried to capture frames within frames (usually doorframes and mantles) trying to create more depth in each shot. But I have to admit, many of the shots that I took that look like they are from nontraditional or risky angles were simply because I was shooting from the only possible angle available that would eliminate John and his camera from my footage.

I guess my other responsibilities would include things like remembering the DP basics. For example, remembering the 180 rule (although we threw that out more then a couple of times), remembering to shoot high when dominating a subject, or making them appear submissive, and using low angles to create an overbearing presence. I remember doing this for the first time when shooting Travis in "Positioned," as he delivers his "it's good to be the king" line, the camera is fixed in a very low angle about 2 feet from the floor capturing his dominant "position." It was this episode that I also became more aware of my framing. When Travis is in the kitchen, pacing with the knife and talking to Astrid, my camera was able to capture him moving to and from the camera establishing depth, but more importantly I became very aware of the power of my framing. I noticed that Astrid's submissive position in the corner of the room was magnified if I put her on the very edge of my frame, thus creating a more intense visual feeling of having her back against the wall. I know this is all very boring, but as an amateur I did learn quite a bit just by playing with my camera for those 7 seventeen-hour days.

2. Describe your day from start to finish...

Woke up at 7:00 am, stopped at coffee house, got to Johns around 8:00, watched 20 minutes of footage from the day before while others were getting ready, walked over to THB, shot clock, stairs, graffiti, empty rooms etc. Read script, (big 17 hour B&W blur) left at 1:30 am, set all camera batteries on charger, showered, and collapsed.

3. How would you describe the difficulty/ease of shooting at the house at the end of the universe?

It was very frustrating to shoot in a house with no furniture. It made it very difficult to establish any kind of depth of field. In the future I would like to try more deep focus shots where characters occupy 2 separate rooms, using doorframes and choreographing the characters movements as much as possible. I also understand that the lack of depth of field in the first season lent itself to isolating the characters which has fit the storyline well thus far. But the challenge is making the images in the following seasons less isolating as the characters overcome their differences and work together.

4. What's your favorite room to shoot in? Least favorite room to shoot in? (And explain your answers...)

Favorite: stairs and entryway, and upstairs hallway. These spaces allow for cameras to peer into the background, ie: the living room or Astrid's bedroom. The entryway also allows for easier overhead shots from the stairs, and interesting shots through the banister which visually suggest imprisonment.

Least Favorite: The parlor and Travis's room. Too many windows and the fake closet was always a pain.

5. How would you describe the "perfect shot" on The House Between?

Where depth of field is captured and camera moves to cover moving action, preferably in long takes that do not require much editing.

6. In Season two, you directed the third episode "Reunited." What was it like running the show, so-to-speak, for a day? How was it different from shooting an episode and not directing?

I felt more responsibility and did not have the luxury or freedom to be as creative with many of my shots. I did try one or two different things including a hand-held party scene and a very stylized interrogation scene. But most of the time I felt it was my responsibility to get the smart and safe shot and let Bobby get the creative shots. The effort in shooting episode three was more about collaboration really, Bobby and Joe were right there with me the whole time, and Kevin, Rob and Phyllis were close by to help out as they were with every episode; but yea, it was more stressful. I am glad I had the opportunity to do it though; it will be good experience for when I try to shoot my own projects in the future.

7. What is your favorite season one episode visually? Season Two? And why?

I'm not sure, I would have to go back and look at them, but probably anything with an extended shot of the clock or stairs. Just kidding . . . No I'm not.

There are probably shots that I think are more interesting then others, but I'm not sure if I think a particular episode stands out. I am curious to see how the gliding footage in the second season's "Caged" will look once incorporated into the story.

8. What do you think is the message of The House Between?

That Fans who dedicate their time to discussing, analyzing, and deconstructing television and film culture can also create it.

The house is a TV and its internal culture has been interpreted until a consciousness shift permits Arlo/John to realize that house or media culture can also be constructed/created.

I think all the stuff in the marketing material for THB and what the other cast and crewmembers have said are correct: the house is symbolic of earth, "other people are hell," and learning to tolerate differences, etc. But I'm going to attempt to entertain myself by constructing my own meaning from what I know of John and my own experience of filming THB. I think the story is more directly tied to John's complex and contradictory personality as an outgoing and imaginative hermit/misanthrope who has spent his entire adult life dedicated to the dissection of the stories, characters, and images found inside the frames of television sets and film screens. Yes, the THB is about earth and the humans that occupy it, but it's about these things seen through the filters of television and film. Some days the house is a comedy; some days it's a horror show or sci-fi episode, and other moments are straight drama. (Many of the TV and film references are beyond me). Arlo/John who has lived inside this place for a very long time has gradually come to realize that culture, either THB culture, or media culture can be manipulated. (See season 2.)

John has admitted that the five characters are all aspects of his own personality; a personality that is surely the product of media socialization. The characters are never seen entering the house and they never leave the house, they just manifest inside this box and the story begins. The male characters representing Capitalism and Science/Objectivity and the female characters representing Religion and Mysticism/subjectivity do not define John; in fact, none of these things would be associated with any part of his core personality.

These are only subjects that come through the grid and which he dissects, manipulates, critiques, or uses in the analysis of his primary interest- media studies. Arlo, the androgynous character, represents chaos, youthful energy, imagination, and creation. Arlo, who's been in the house the longest, is John. He has positioned himself in the kitchen, the only room with electrical appliances. In fact, one of these appliances actually gives birth to Arlo (the oven). The incubator that nurtured John is obviously the TV. Although the refrigerator, oven, and stove are not the TV, DVD player, or computer, they are tied into the same electrical grid that provides "life" to the postindustrial human living primarily within the postmodern culture of the media-sphere. (This gives new meaning to Episode1:3 when Travis/Capitalism tries to monopolize the Kitchen/control center.)

Anyway, the house is initially a closed system or environment much like the television screen where characters appear, find themselves in a crisis, and resolve their conflict, only to do it all over again and again, and again. Arlo/John, possessing creative imagination, the greatest of all gifts for this kind of environment, will gradually persuade the newcomers (the characters, but also the actual Cast & Crew) to use their own skills imaginatively to help them all break the mold of prisoner or passive consumer of the house/media culture and to start thinking about their collective power as creators and artists. Maybe Kevin can wax PoMo on this topic a little more academically, but in a McLuhan-esque way, John's decision to collectively create and release this project into cyberspace is the message in itself.