Emma Foley's tone-perfect, blackly-comedic Sound & Colour

When did you first know you wanted to be a director? What led you to it?

I became obsessed with watching films and understanding their creation when I was around seven or eight. At that time, special edition DVDs were being released that included director's commentaries and behind-the-scenes footage, depicting the making of the films. I became fascinated in seeing how the films I loved were brought to life. 

The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean had incredible extra material, so I would watch them repeatedly. My sister-in-law recently told me that I used to say I wanted to be a director when I was a kid, but it wasn’t until I made my short films in the last couple of years that I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do.

Tell us how Sound & Colour came about. Was it a script you’d been working on for a while?

Sound & Colour came about when I was creating various concepts during the pandemic. It was a story I could see very clearly, but it took me a long time to shape the script into what it ultimately became. 

[I] hoped that people would recognize themselves and their families in it

It’s inspired by my own experiences with Irish repression and its impact on families through the generations. I wanted to capture this in a single moment and hoped that people would recognize themselves and their families in it.

What were your influences for the film, both tonally and in its filmic style?

Thematically and tonally, Little Miss Sunshine was a key reference. In particular, the dinner scene at the top of the film clearly establishes the characters and narrative in a condensed time frame and simple setting. Silver Linings Playbook was another; it was visually stunning and chaotic, with a looseness in the camera work that made you feel like you were part of the world. I wanted to try to achieve that same effect. 

I adored both of these films for how they depicted difficult themes and subject matters while maintaining the joy and humour that can simultaneously occur during those times, which was something I really wanted to capture in Sound & Colour.

The script reveals itself slowly through the painful dialogue between Hannah and her family. Can you tell us how you managed the pacing of the narrative and if there were many changes between script, performance and edit?

We only had two days to shoot, so I needed to make sure the script was as tight as possible because we wouldn’t have the time to figure much out during filming. 

Once I had written the story and established the cadence of the characters' dialogue, I referenced some writing structures, like Dan Harmon's story circle, to ensure that the plot evolved at a good pace. The final film is almost exactly as the script was.

Your lead actress, Alison Oliver, has a lot of heavy lifting to do from the outset. How was she cast and what were the key aspects of the performance that you needed her to bring forth?

I was lucky enough to have worked with Ali on another short film, and we connected during that project. I knew she could bring this character to life in the most dynamic way possible. I really needed her to tap into a very complex and deep emotional layer without having the time to prep or ease her way into it. She had to be emotionally present from the start, which, because she is exceptionally talented, she achieved. 

I needed to make sure the script was as tight as possible because we wouldn’t have the time to figure much out during filming. 

Ali had to build her physicality and emotions from the beginning through to the end. She starts off very deflated, with low energy and little emotional connection, and then moves to the complete opposite end of the spectrum. It’s amazing how she managed to do it as organically as she did, and without that emotional development, the film wouldn’t have worked. 

Did you have any rehearsals before the shoot itself? The relationships feel very natural and authentic.

Thank you! It was definitely an area I was concerned about because the actors had never worked together before, and I had only ever worked with Ali. I really wanted the family dynamic to feel as natural and real as possible, so everyone had to get comfortable with each other quickly. I once took a comedy improv class with an amazing teacher, Kelly Shatter, and I was struck by how quickly she got us all to be silly and comfortable with one another. 

I brought Kelly in to lead some improv exercises to help make the cast less inhibited around each other. I then did improvised scenes with the actors based on situations outside of what we see in the film to build more context for them and help them establish the relationship dynamics more clearly.

Can you tell us a little about the shoot? Where did it take place? How long was the process? 

The film was primarily funded through a regional funding body, Kildare County Council, which meant we had to shoot in that region of Ireland. We filmed in a house in Celbridge for two days and also held the rehearsal there to block the action in the space. 

I spent hours upon hours trawling through houses for sale in Kildare to try to find the perfect one.

The shoot was very quick, and I think we all could have stayed there much longer. It really was a dream shoot, and having only one location made things a lot easier. The main difficulty was in finding the right location and I spent hours upon hours trawling through houses for sale in Kildare to try to find the perfect one. 

Were there any unforeseen issues in the shoot? How were they resolved?

I think I've probably blocked many of them from my memory by now. The one thing I do remember is losing the light on the one day we were scheduled to shoot the exteriors. That broke my heart a bit because I had a very specific shot I wanted to get on the steadicam, but we just didn’t have the time. 

We had to be agile, and I had to let that idea go, choosing very simple shots instead to ensure we captured the narrative of Hannah and her dad outside the car before they went into the house.

The title is fairly enigmatic. Was it important for you that people approached the film with no preconceptions?

I love this question! I wrote the script while listening to the song "Sound & Colour" by Alabama Shakes. I kept playing it on repeat when I was trying to get into the head of the lead character. The title always felt right, so even though we didn’t use the song in the film, it was pivotal in helping me create the story and tone. 

For me, when you're in a state of depression, everything starts to lose shape and reduces down to just sounds and colours, so I felt the title was really indicative of Hannah’s headspace. 

What do you feel you’ve learned from making this film? Is it a style/subject you’d like to continue exploring in the future?

From the first draft, I was really excited to make this film, and I knew I had to tell this story. This is the first time I’ve ever had that experience, and I now know that’s what you need to feel in order to make something to the best of your ability. I also learned that there’s nothing else I want to do. 

Writing and directing this film has been the most fulfilling experience of my life.

Writing and directing this film has been the most fulfilling experience of my life. It’s definitely a style and tone that I lean towards and am likely to continue developing in my future work.

The film is on the festival circuit at the moment, as well as featuring on MUBI. What have the reactions been like so far?

This just made me remember one of my favourite reactions: a man who came up to me after the screening at the Galway Film Fleadh and asked, “How do you know my family?” That was a very special feeling. I have been really taken aback by how well it has travelled outside of Ireland as well. 

I thought I was writing a very Irish story, but it turns out to be much more universal. It’s been amazing to connect with people all over the world about the film and its themes.