Set dressing the archway

Because there are no actors involved, I didn't need to be too wary of certain hazards, like wires or glass or sharp corners. This made it easier to set dress and decorate the space.

I knew I wanted the archway to be in the same position for every shot for the montage, so I taped the door and the tripod to make sure of the positions, same for the failed artworks box.

I tested out multiple different lightings at different times of the day. Then different lightings at different areas of the room for each say period to see which was the best. As I already knew I wanted the main lighting to be from the right, it made the day/midday tests quite straightforward.

The evening tests were the more experimental. I knew I wanted it to look really dim and sullen. It was a fine line to walk, making sure the details of the room can be seen whilst still keeping the really dark lighting. I also didn't want it to look too harsh or contrasted, so I ended up using a dim light source from the right for the consistency and it had a good balance of what I wanted.

In terms of the actual set, I moved the chairs and the tables around and kept the same furniture for all the shots. I chose these pieces of furniture and this background because of the colour palette and how traditional it looks. It visually symbolises how Gary's has always been surrounded with traditional and older values that may not actually align with his own. Further ostracising him from his own world, in the place where he should feel the safest. The mise-en-scene also creates a good balance between cozy/warm and suffocating.

I wanted there to be a progression with the sets as Gary passes through life. In the first bit of the montage. the chair is slightly out of the archway frame, the TV is the main thing seen from the archway. Representing the loneliness and emptiness Gary feels, the numb life he accepts. Though there is a married couple figurine in the background, a subtle indication of what will happen next, of the life he is hoping for.

When he is married, there are two chairs, one with a red cushion. Illustrating the added colour in his life, the new brightness in the dull browns and greys. The newly invigorated passion he feels. The failed box is cleared, an attempt at a new beginning away from his previous mistakes and repressions. The space feels fuller and more lived in.

In the last part of the montage, I wanted it to reflect just how much Gary's dad has influenced his life and his space. The wedding figures are now pushed to the left, replaced with the portrait of him with his dad. The failed artworks box is filled to the brim, a visual metaphor for the overwhelming feelings Gary is experiencing. It is back to one chair, the red cushion removed. Representing how even with his wife's presence, Gary still feels alone in his internal conflict, how he still feels like he can't share everything with his wife in the name of masculinity. The chair is directly pointing at the audience, an invitation for the audience to feel the absolute nothingness and the despair of feeling nothingness with Gary.

It is only when he is removed from this archway – his self-inflicted repression due to his learned ideals of masculinity, he allows himself to have pockets of feeling, of emoting as freely as he permits.