Bowl of Life
The art and lifecycle of dish-ware
Directed by Parker Schmidt
Bowl of Life stands as a poignant testament to the silent observers of our existence. Directed by Parker Schmidt, this whimsical short film, delves deep into the art and lifecycle of these seemingly mundane objects, revealing them as silent beholders - all-seeing eyes to the human experiences they witness. We learn how it is more than just a simple bowl; it cradles first hands, new ideas, and even mistakes, yet it holds no judgement.
Obviously we can totally relate, but where did your obsession for bowls come from? Or rather, what was your inspiration for the film? And most importantly, how many bowls did you shoot?
With what’s inherently such an intangible art as filmmaking, where the final product lives in the ether, pottery, which I’ve been practicing for two years, helps give tactile satisfaction to a product from start to finish. I mentioned this in a discussion with @shotonkodak about the steps to accomplishing an analog film shoot and pottery project. There are a lot of overlapping practices and techniques between the two, which gave me a natural spark of interest to pick up.
Through my explorations of the art of pottery over the last two years and shooting film over the last 8, I noticed certain synchronicities between the processes of the two which further piqued my interest in exploring them side by side.
The editing is impressive. Can you take us through how you worked with Joe Kell to maintain quite an upbeat rhythm throughout the film, while still delivering a poetic and almost romantic message?
Joe is incredibly in touch with the thematics of a project and understands consistent rhythms and reasons for building soundscapes and timelines with peaks and valleys of interest to maintain a viewer’s emotional interest.
I initially provided a director’s rough assembly, knowing he’d feel the groundwork emotion I was going for and then find opportunities to build the technical sequences to reinforce this. I told him to go crazy, and we dialed back from there to meet the narrative-driven sequences in the middle so they all felt holistic.
Speaking of the message, tell us about the script. What was your approach in what feels like a love letter?
As I’ve discovered more of my voice, I’ve found an appeal of leaning toward methodic, limbic, and poetic writing. Wherever this may fall in tones of thematics - be dark and immersive or lofty and elevated, I found it was reflective of the process of pottery to have an earth-bound, organic, and new life tone to the writing. It’s become an inherent part of the process to more profoundly explore the relevant themes and emotional reasons “why” of bringing such concepts to life before digging into the later processes of writing, storyboarding, etc.
We are curious about all the different locations and people you shot. What challenges did you face? Any learnings you’d like to share?
Between the inspiration of diversity throughout LA and the reality of finding locations that met our needs, we probably contacted 30-40 churches and Japanese restaurants till we found one in LA that wouldn’t run us to the ends for location rates. Both of those scenes ended up letting us utilize their spaces free of charge, and in return, we made a donation to the church and hosted our wrap party at the restaurant. The characters involved were a mix of friends and backstage casting, all of whom were so incredibly lovely and brought such great character to our whimsical and wholesome film.
“As I’ve discovered more of my voice, I’ve found an appeal of leaning toward methodic, limbic, and poetic writing.”
What’s next for you?
Most of my time as of late has been taken up by commercial pitching since the start of the year, for which I’ve been so grateful. Surprisingly, Bowl of Life, which I was anticipating to stop at appealing to creative shorts viewers, has gained some commercial appeal. It’s a surpising reminder that these passion projects can always make for unsuspecting enthusiasm from brands or agencies, resonating for more personal than commercial pursuits, whether it be someone relating through their pursuits of pottery, having enjoyed the restaurant themselves, or finding resonance within the overall theme. These more left-field projects can be as essential to pursue and realize not only for your creative well-being but can surprise you on who else may take to it as much as yourself.
Director: Parker Schmidt
1st AD: Sam Wichhart
1st AC: Alex Forcillo
2nd AC: Kelly Fitzgerald
Gaffer: Vince Nett
Key Grip: Sophia Mento
Key Grip: Jack Duffy
Key Grip: Andrew Trice
PA: Leonardo Rambelli
Editor: Joe Kell
Editorial Studio: Hiatus Post
Composer: Oliver Reid
Original Score: Melt Music
Melt Music EP: Carl Sander
Sound Designer + Mixer: Jack Goodman
Sound + Mix Studio: Forager TV
Forager Producer: Julianne Augustine
Colorist: Peter Oppersdorff
Color Studio: The Mill Channel Colour
Mill Channel Colour Producer: Dan Hills
Production Company: Brickhead Productions Brickhead
Managing Director: Bre Kelly
Talent: Katarina Soto, Claudia V. Soórzano, Ragena Renfurm, Callandra Hudak, Eros Moscato, D. Paul Faulkner, Mimi, Kailani Le, Maya Tannous, Rob Melendez, Vasilisa Ivanova, Kate Leffers, Sakura Yoshino, Alexa Haro, Tawn Vo, Jahmirieon Johnson, Cassandra Dixson, Sadie Waldron, Valentina Cy, Samantha Henderson
Pottery Supplied by: Claudia V. Soórzano, Carla Tome Ceramics, Alyssa Goss
Special Thanks: Still Life Studio, Ana Henton, Miro Sake House