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The Dressmaker

a short film by Philip White

SYNOPSIS

Loosely mirroring the classic Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, The Dressmaker is an experimental short film documenting the struggles of a young female Couturier. In the film, our character represents both Andersons’s elves and shoemaker. As the film progresses our characters demons grow. Through constantly blurring the lines between day, night, dreams and reality, The Dressmaker explores themes of work ethic, mental health and the modern day pressures of obtaining perfection. The film seeks to present its viewer with a number of questions throughout.
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BACKGROUND

I first met Suzie Turner in Paris in November 2017. I was with Kat, my wife at a weeklong ‘event’ for luxury wedding professionals. Out of 50 or so individuals in attendance we gravitated towards each other. A common ability to cut through the unnecessary etiquette of industry ‘networking’ led to an evening of long conversation about film. I had shot weddings consistently for ten years and expressed to Suzie my desire to film something else, non-wedding related. I needed a personal project. Suzie continued to tell me about her personal history. I became enthralled by her journey to success. Suzie and I share a mutual appreciation for each other’s craft. As two creatives swapped stories and perspectives, the ideas began flowing. We spoke about craftsmanship, work ethic, personal demons and fairy tales. Suzie told me of her childhood obsession with The Elves and the Shoemaker. She had planted a seed. Within a month, I had complied a storyboard for the film.

CREATIVE NOTES

My vision was to base my short film on the classic Hans Christian Anderson narrative, only infusing elements of Suzie’s journey as a Couturier throughout. Suzie later spoke to me of the endless nights she endured working tirelessly perfecting her craft. On the rare occasions where Suzie was able to sleep or eat, it would be at her workbench, alongside her creations. I used these personal elements to blur the lines between fiction and reality. When we see our main character find a completed gown one morning, she looks surprised. My aim throughout the film was to encourage our audience to explore difference interpretations of the story. I illustrated Suzie as both the elves and the shoemaker. Our character’s arc reveals to us how her demons continued to multiply. There is a constant blurred line between night, day, dreams and reality. The film crescendos when our character hits breaking point. I used the Disney projections alongside the naked mannequins partly as a reminder of the endless pursuit of perfection idea but mainly to emphasise the ultimate stage of our characters breakdown. I wanted to conclude the film with the irony of our character becoming the ‘princess’ trope, where it was more about her giving back to herself. The kids in the classic tale set the elves free by giving them shoes. Suzie sets herself free by realising that she cannot continue living this way. Wearing her own creation is merely symbolic of the generous act. She frees herself. She finally reclaims control. We never wanted to make this film confined to a budget, by doing so, I believe it would have cheapened it. For that reason, I adopted a minimalistic approach to production, using one actor, one voice, one room, which was Suzie’s actual studio. The use of black and white is also about stripping. I did not want the distraction of colour for the audience. I strived in post-production to only include scenes that were within one metre of the workbench, to intensify Suzie’s personal connection to the pattern cutting table. It is a recurring joke that the film itself has its own goals, ideas and expectations. At every turn, from the first encounter of Suzie and I in France, to us stumbling across our lead actor within 10 minutes of even discussing who could play the role, the film has taken hold of us and its own destiny. This may be because the film has never been restricted to a ‘goal’ in mind. I admire the fact that the film, even now complete, is its own autonomous being that does not have a static purpose.