Moorditj (Rise)

Objective

A film project loosely based on First Nations people —dramatised with mystical abilities— was shot by a producer using a sparse script. The crew opted for a Terrence Malick approach, shooting massive amounts of footage with the intent to "find" the story in post-production.

The plot followed a female character through a strange forest, akin to Alice in Wonderland. However, the initial rough cut felt episodic and unfocused; while both the intro and ending were coherent, the mid section (Act 2) was unfortunately bland and incongruent. I was tasked with salvaging the narrative using only the existing footage, as reshoots were not an option.

A glimpse of the rough cut

It was undoubtedly a bold new challenge, one at which other filmmakers might have understandably balked. I initially did as well, but after a few days of musing, I had the notion of linking the film’s narrative to a "pilgrimage" toward a sacred "tree."

Magic trees are common in fantasy, so once I had the idea of the main character journeying toward a definitive endpoint, I googled for images of mystical trees; one in particular stood out as a primary inspiration.

This whole new story-change required me to not only re-edit but actually restructure major elements of the second act to align them with the character's new objective. Ergo, scenes that did not support the "pilgrimage" were cut out or condensed, resulting in a significant reshuffling of the narrative.

The initial story was also missing a clear antagonist. Without giving too much away, I chose to introduce an elusive, mystical snake to serve that purpose — a metaphor representing the main character’s scornful mother.

To make this work, I scoured several stock footage websites for shots that matched the film’s camera angles and scenery. At times, full composite FX shots were required. Since it was impossible to find the exact same snake at identical angles for use throughout the film, I leaned into the idea that the creature could shapeshift to other snakes; this provided a narrative justification for using different types of snake footage.

Other specialized stock footages were acquired for the digital VFX needed to create the mystical tree. Since CGI isn’t exactly my forte, I decided the best way to make the tree look magical was to have it composed of "clouds." Fortunately, I found the perfect assets from ActionVFX.

To help the narrative progressively (beat by beat) reveal the tree, I wanted it to first appear as something "simpler" before its true form was unveiled. After some thinking, I decided on an aurora that eventually transforms into a rainbow trailing across the sky toward the tree. This was loosely inspired by the classic leprechaun myth involving a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, though in this case, the prize is a tree, not gold.

Approach

Timeline of the rough cut, running 75 minutes

Timeline of the restructured version with shortened mid-sections, ultimately running 69 minutes

(from left to right) Original inspiration for the mystical tree and my final look of the film's tree through VFX and digital compositing

Exhibit 1 ~ Stock footage of an aurora composited into the original footage
Exhibit 2 ~ DIY rainbow composited into two shots with main character

Elements used (2D & 3D stock footages) to assemble the mystical tree that was later composited into the final film

Exhibit 1 ~ A new shot to establish the snake via digital FX compositing
Exhibit 2 ~ Stock footage of a snake composited into the original shot
Exhibit 3 ~ Stock footages of other snakes added to the finished film

“While both the intro and ending were coherent, the mid section (Act 2) was unfortunately bland and incongruent.”

Result

The significant changes allowed the film to flow more smoothly with more coherence, and the producer was content with the final narrative results of the completed film. Had he rejected my concepts to fix the film, there likely would not have been any other way to rectify things, at least not without reshooting everything.

Thankfully, he was open to it all, and looking back at my initial hesitance to participate in fixing the film, it just goes to show that “Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own,” to quote James Cameron.