The Standard of Living | Dorothy Parker Short Film
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- Опубликовано: 11 фев 2025
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What would you do if you had a million dollars? Based on the eponymous short story by Dorothy Parker, THE STANDARD OF LIVING explores class and conspicuous consumption over the course of a single conversation, in which two working-class women fantasize about being liberated from financial obligation.
I came across Dorothy Parker's short story "The Standard of Living" the same week my grandmother died. I chose to adapt this story to film because I wanted to make something my grandmother would have found funny - to honor her by remembering her vivacity, glamor, and sense of humor.
THE STORY
I am always reading short story compilations in search of historical material to adapt into my next short film. Dorothy Parker's short story “The Standard of Living” reminded me of a photograph we had found of my grandmother in college. Immediately, my mind connected this picture to the short story - what would a candid street photograph such as this one look like as a film?
Every moment tells a story, but I wanted to explore what it looks like to expand a single moment into something with a beginning, middle, and end. Dorothy Parker's story, and my hopefully faithful script, may seem simple and reliant on a single gag, but within that gag are hidden layers of interpersonal character drama and class commentary. My goal with the film was to put my grandmother's picture in motion, which is why it is a one-take film in the style of Birdman.
"The Standard of Living" could be described as Broad City in the 1940s. It is also inspired by Golden Age Hollywood film, such as Sullivan's Travels, as well as the street photography of Vivian Maier. Colloquially, I've been calling it the "girls talking" movie. Two working class women ask "what would you do if you had a million dollars," descending into reckless fantasy...
PRE-PRODUCTION
Creating a period piece starts with the casting. I was seeking theatrically-trained actors because of their memorization ability, and fluency in the constructed “transatlantic” dialect was a plus. After meeting with twenty actresses from all over the state, Jenna Ivey and KarieAnn Randol settled into their roles almost instantly, creating inner lives for the two characters that extended beyond the five-minute runtime. From costumes, hair and makeup, to the characters' invisible backstories, these two brought life to Annabel and Midge in a way I could never have imagined.
PRODUCTION
We rehearsed for two days before the actual shoot day. The first day of rehearsals was spent mostly just hanging out and eating dinner, so the talent could get acquainted. This made it all the more believable that Annabel and Midge have been lifelong friends instead of two strangers who just met! The next day, we went down to the eventual location on Congress and 8th, and blocked out the camera movements.
All this preparation ensured the actual shoot was fairly uneventful! The day of, we were downtown for only about two hours, with only two crew members besides myself (the incomparable camera crew Jimmie Kadaver and Jeremy Cripe!) I mixed sound while directing, so I could hear the actors' voices from afar.
POST-PRODUCTION
Post-production is my specialty, and in my mind the film really took form in post. This is strange to say about a film that was shot in one take and rehearsed like a theater piece! But although no traditional editing took place, post-production has been fairly involved.
It was shot in 8K on a fairly wide lens, so much of the film's camera movements were accomplished through digital zooms. The frame is tighter as the characters advance into their fantasy, but you wouldn’t know it unless you scrubbed through the timeline. To quote Sidney Lumet: “Good style, to me, is unseen style. It is style that is felt.”
Though it was shot digitally, I emulated film stock by adding highlight rolloff, analog clipping in the audio mix, and a slight jitter on the titles which gives the subliminal impression of an old projector.
While in many ways my most ambitious project to date, "The Standard of Living" represents taking a step back, and reflecting on what my voice as a filmmaker truly represents. The last short film I codirected, "Stiletto", was very different - a horror film about a stripper rooted in the slasher tradition! It also had a much higher budget and much larger crew. The Standard of Living represents paring down my craft to the bare essentials and accomplishing something deeply personal with a cast and crew of only six people. To all who helped bring this story to life, I extend to you the warmest appreciation.
I miss you, Gommy.
This is one of my favorite stories among her short stories. I love how she'd build from trivial to epic stories. Her poetry is excellent, too.
I really enjoyed the short film. Concise, minimalist, to the point, very entertaining.
This was lovely. I adore her book reviews, but have only read a few of her short stories. As I was watching, I got the impression that Midge was acting like a demon, tempting her friend into an endless round of empty consumption.
omg noo we love midge 😭
Back in the late 1950s, there was a show on TV called "The Millionaire". Each episode was about an anonymous donor giving, tax free, $1,000,000 to a lucky individual via his messenger, Mr. Anthony. It was about how such a thing changed the lives of the recipients.
I remember the show well.
Thanks,,,I was back in the 50's for a few minutes! 😊 (Except for the newer model parked vehicles) 😂 Still a nice film👌
lol I thought about asking classic car clubs to park their cars downtown that morning but I got lazy
'30s, but well-done: the narrow depth of field jewelry for the title, the B&W (?orthochromatic film?) cinematography, the vignetting, the Mid-Atlantic accents - priceless.