IR Z Direct Interview: Veena Sud For “The Stranger” [Hulu] - Part II - video Dailymotion

The Inside Reel

Writer/Director/Creator Veena Sud talks to The Inside Reel about perspective vs. perception, environment and characterization  in regards to her Quibi series "The Stranger" recut as a feature film for Hulu.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 You want to know what this story is?

00:16 I will break you.

00:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:20 Yeah, because you were talking about the technology.

00:29 But then the perspective and perception,

00:32 if you go into that, just because the thing is

00:34 is that you decide to not show certain things on purpose.

00:38 And that's a great sort of motivator

00:40 for the misdirect or the unreliable narrator.

00:44 But can you talk about those details

00:46 and using that style within the environment

00:49 that you're showing, whether it be in East LA

00:52 or any of these places?

00:54 For people who don't even know--

00:55 I mean, I know LA very well.

00:57 So I know what you were doing in certain aspects.

01:00 But can you talk about perspective and perception

01:03 in that way, both in the psychology of the character

01:05 but also in the environment they're working in?

01:08 Yeah, I mean, the psychology of the character

01:10 in terms of perspective, here is someone

01:13 who does not know the earth that she's walking on.

01:17 She's fresh from Kansas.

01:19 She doesn't know Los Angeles.

01:20 She's an Uber driver.

01:21 The only thing that is dictating where she goes

01:24 is a phone and a GPS signal.

01:26 And so-- but she has no idea what LA looks like.

01:31 She has no idea what's Northwest, Southeast,

01:34 any of that.

01:34 She doesn't even understand when the highway guy is trying

01:37 to give her directions, a classic kind of LA moment,

01:40 over-direct her and taking 20 different highways.

01:43 And so I tried to--

01:45 I was really interested in someone

01:47 who does not know this city coming into this megatropolis,

01:51 essentially, and running for her life

01:56 over the course of a night of 12 hours.

01:59 And that kind of newness to this place

02:04 allowed her and us to then go into parts of LA,

02:08 which we Angelinas know and I love.

02:12 And I feel we never get to see on screen.

02:15 From Chinatown to East LA to the abandoned subways

02:20 at the bottom of Los Angeles, this history of our city

02:24 is pretty remarkable, to the Amtrak station.

02:27 There's so much classic, beautiful, historical LA.

02:30 And I wanted our hero, as she's running for her life,

02:34 to be in all those places.

02:36 Hey, what happened?

02:41 My passenger from tonight, he pulled a knife on me.

02:46 He attacked me.

02:48 If he finds me, he will kill me.

02:52 And then in terms of perspective,

02:54 not only was it part of the idea that on a vertical screen,

03:02 we should feel that everything is new again,

03:06 versus we watch screens kind of landscape

03:09 because we have eyes that are set left and right.

03:12 So it's a natural thing to want that kind of width

03:15 when we look at anything.

03:17 It's very unnatural to look at a vertical screen for how

03:21 we perceive things.

03:22 And so in terms of perception, what me and the DP Paul,

03:27 you talked about a lot was, how do you

03:29 create an idea of fullness when the classic way you

03:34 look at something is not there?

03:37 And so we see z-depth.

03:39 So it was this idea that instead of left, right, x, y,

03:44 you've got zero to z.

03:46 And so that's why we're always following her and running

03:50 after her, going through these environments

03:52 that naturally have very tight--

03:54 like a train or a car has very tight x and y.

03:58 So you can still feel them.

03:59 She's running through the train.

04:02 But you're also following kind of the z as well.

04:07 What?

04:07 What do you-- what do you--

04:09 what do you mean that someone's trying to kill you?

04:11 What does that mean?

04:13 That.

04:14 Literally that.

04:15 He pulls a knife on me.

04:17 He attacked me.

04:19 Are you-- are you being serious?

04:21 Because if you're being serious, you should not be talking to me.

04:22 You should be talking to them.

04:24 They-- they--

04:24 I can't.

04:25 I can't.

04:26 I'm sorry.

04:27 I can't.

04:30 He killed this woman.

04:32 He killed her with a knife from my apartment.

04:35 And people saw me running from the scene.

04:39 And I don't-- I don't know.

04:41 And I just don't--

04:42 I don't know anyone.

04:43 It's about action and reaction.

04:45 Because I did notice that, you know, showing--

04:48 you receive more empathy looking at certain characters,

04:50 especially Micah's character, if you--

04:52 because you-- you're able to rest on her for a little bit

04:54 before, like, the--

04:56 you do a needle drop, which I loved your needle drops,

04:58 by the way.

04:59 Your needle drops were beautiful.

05:00 But can you talk about action and reaction in drama?

05:04 You know, now that, you know, the more experience

05:06 you have and more things that you do, how you like to direct,

05:10 how you like to look at people's reaction on camera,

05:13 and how much you want to direct them in certain moments.

05:16 For example, this show, which was very

05:19 distinct in how you did it.

05:21 Yeah.

05:22 I mean, this is a very specific show,

05:23 because it's very much one woman's journey, you know?

05:26 And though she has a partner in crime and someone who helps her,

05:31 you know, who cares deeply for her and the protagonist,

05:35 it is, again, very much about the loneliness

05:38 of having something terrible happen to you

05:41 and no one will believe you.

05:44 You know, even-- he doesn't even believe her, you know?

05:47 And so to, like, reside kind of in that loneliness

05:53 and to-- and within that loneliness,

05:55 find strength that it doesn't [BLEEP] matter if no one

05:59 believes me.

06:00 I know what happened.

06:02 And I'm going to hold that power and know that is the truth.

06:06 And this is what's going to happen because of that, right?

06:09 Which is what she has to pretend.

06:11 And Micah is an extraordinary actress to work with,

06:16 because everything is on her face, you know?

06:20 Everything.

06:21 You know, the tiniest--

06:23 you know, she just-- she'll move through kind of the--

06:26 I mean, sitting on her face in a car while she's driving,

06:31 you know, and the amazing Dana Hahn

06:35 is telling her how he's going to kill her

06:37 and just staying with her.

06:39 You know, there's no repeated beats.

06:41 There's-- you see the reality of what that may feel like,

06:45 you know?

06:46 You never feel like there's acting.

06:48 She always goes there.

06:49 I don't know what--

06:50 and I only know you because I just moved here in Spiney.

06:54 I think that--

06:55 I just need you to trust me.

06:57 I--

06:58 Hey.

06:58 Uh, thanks, guys.

07:01 I appreciate you guys, you boys in blue.

07:03 We appreciate you.

07:05 By the way, man, stay sharp.

07:07 There's a knifing down in Hollywood Boulevard

07:09 about a half hour ago.

07:12 A knifing?

07:12 Wow, that's scary.

07:14 Yeah, something in the air.

07:17 Everyone's a little jumpy tonight.

07:20 Good night, ma'am.

07:21 Good night.

07:22 And so Will's so extraordinary.

07:27 I mean, with the entire cast.

07:29 But in terms of Micah, she lets up--

07:33 she's open.

07:36 She's wide open.

07:39 And there was so much she had to do in every moment that

07:43 wasn't existing.

07:44 So in the subway when the train's coming at them,

07:47 and the wolves are coming at them, and all of this shit

07:50 coming at them.

07:51 It's just her standing on some thing, you know?

07:53 And here comes one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

07:56 And I'll never forget talking to her.

08:00 You know, I would talk to her and tell her what's happening.

08:05 And her response was immediate.

08:08 Like, she could listen, take it in,

08:10 and feel it within a microsecond.

08:14 Yeah, I mean, she's an extraordinary--

08:16 Not many actors can do that.

08:17 Not many actors, I know.

08:18 And she doesn't fall out, you know, which is amazing.

08:21 She stays, and stays, and stays.

08:23 And that's also how I like to shoot.

08:25 I like to stay as long as I possibly can,

08:27 because I feel like many actors, if not every actor,

08:31 you know, has so many gems to share in the moments

08:35 you're about to call cut, and something happens, you know?

08:40 The moments of action.

08:41 Those are sometimes the most interesting moments for me.

08:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:55 (whooshing)

IR Z Direct Interview: Veena Sud For “The Stranger” [Hulu] - Part II

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