The Feel
Checkout takes place in a site of daily routine. Routines are comfortable and the world feels unsettling when they are disrupted. Emotions heighten, senses sharpen and desire grows. Convictions of what’s right and wrong muddy. A public space turns private. By the end of the film, I want the viewer to be thinking and questioning their presumptions.
WHY ONE SHOT?
NO ESCAPE/RELIEF.
Forces Tyler and the audience to live inside each moment of the interaction. No cut to break the tension or let him off the hook. His discomfort lingers and so does ours.
By moving with Tyler through the store, we experience the space as he does: the awkward silences, the chance glances, the narrowing of distance. We become part of his and Mrs. Mulligan’s orbit.
IMMERSIVE P.O.V.
Grocery store aisles and displays naturally create barriers, reveals and near misses. The tracking shots emphasize how the characters circle each other. Mirrors the push-and-pull of Tyler and Mrs. Mulligan’s dynamic.
SENSE OF PLACE
Without cutting, we watch their body language evolve in real time. We are with the characters during every second of dread and every second of passion.
BUILDING TENSION
SHIFTING POWER
The camera drifts between leading and following, subtly signaling who has control in a given moment. Makes Tyler’s decision to leave or stay palpable.