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Category
Long Form Video / Single
Annual ID
OS23_BE017S
About the Work
For The Rabbit Hole, our approach was to create a visual language that brings the audience into the surface world of two sisters - the bond they have; their hopes and dreams - then slowly transitions into their real world of exploitation and abuse. We knew it would be a delicate tight-rope balancing act of showing their dreams amidst the stark realities of their trauma. So, we had to build an approach that shined the light on these difficult subjects in a way that both gives the subjects a voice, yet simultaneously allows the audience to see their reality for what it is.
One of the books Aaron had recently read was The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk. It talks about how - when people go through trauma - many times, their memory is fractured. They don’t remember things in consecutive order. Dates are misconstrued, timelines are incorrect, there are just certain flashes of images that come to mind that haunt the victims. So, that was one of the main things we were wanting to experiment with in this particular piece – first, in the writing; then the directing - how we can visualize these feelings of sexual abuse and exploitation. In order to do this, we felt we needed to depart from a traditional narrative structure and experiment with form to convey the lasting effects of trauma.
Lastly, it was important to us to have the audience simply observe the life of these girls and put the puzzle pieces together themselves as they were watching. So, their performance was paramount to us. Since we didn’t want to rely on cuts, we spent quite a lot of time casting, then rehearsing as much as we could. We were constantly revising the script based on the actors we were auditioning.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 21
Silver Pencil
Credits
Client / Brand
SOS International / Keller
Production Company
Jyra Films / Southlake
Freelancer
tao/s / Los Angeles
Director
Aaron Tao
Winston Tao
Director of Photography
Lluis Marti
Editor
Lucas Harger
Producer
Kyle Rogers
Phil Putnam
Sound Designer
Steve Horne
LINE PRODUCER
Jaume Rigual
Paulette Arietta
Production Designer
Fernanda Contreras
VFX Artist
Samm Hodges
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