COVID-19 has inspired movies in a variety of genres including documentary, horror, comedy, and drama. Sigfrido Giammona’s “OREB” is one that should stand the test of time. Each of the four crew members worked in separate places, requiring exquisite coordination. An interview with the director follows the movie.

Interview with Sigfrido Giammona

MobileMovieMaking: How did you come up with the amazing idea of using personification to tell this story?

Giammona: For some time, Fabio Appetito and I had been planning to collaborate, so when the world stopped due to the pandemic, partly for fun and partly for the opportunity, we decided to begin a project together despite the difficulties. We knew that there were many limitations, so we had to think of an idea that was original and, at the same time, achievable from a distance. After several video and phone meetings, “Oreb” was born, a short film which is essentially a secular prayer of hope, a photograph of what we were experiencing. We chose Rome because for us Italians it has always been the center of our culture, but it is also, historically, the center of the world.

MobileMovieMaking: Tell us something about the title.

Giammona: In the Bible, Oreb is one of the princes of the Midianite people, dedicated to carrying out raids and causing the State of Israel to fall in anguish and fear. The literal meaning, in this case, is “crow,” the quintessential solitary bird, renowned in popular culture. And thus, the rooftop in my movie becomes Mount Oreb, which could be Rome, Tokyo, New York, Madrid, or even London. Whatever the place, it has fallen into a terrible and distressing silence–and has the opportunity to hear the voice of the world and of God. A solitary god like the crow, who nonetheless becomes flesh, and who for all his humanity still deeply believes in the return to life.

MobileMovieMaking: The significance of your story—its depth— calls for an extraordinary actor.

Giammona: The protagonist is Igor Petrotto,  a versatile theatre actor, street actor and performer. He works in Italy in several theater companies, and studied acting in New York. I had seen several of his shows including “Il Marchese del Grillo” at the Teatro Sistina in Rome, and we have worked many times together in the past. For this part, he was especially perfect, because he was called to interpret what he does in everyday life.

MobileMovieMaking: Your opening title card states that the actor, the director, and the screenwriter worked remotely. Could you tell us how you coordinated your team?

Giammona: “OREB” was organized through Skype video calls between Rome, where Igor (the actor) and Fabio (the screenwriter) are located, and Palermo where I and Mara Notte, who mixed the audio, are located. But even living in the same cities, no one was able to leave their homes during the quarantine, so the four of us had to do everything remotely over Skype and online. In Italy and in quarantine, everything that was happening in the world seemed surreal to us. But we also enjoyed ourselves as a group despite living through the difficult historical period.

MobileMovieMaking: What was the biggest challenge you faced?

Giammona: Without the ability to be on set with Igor and use my cine-mobile equipment, LED or artificial lights, we had to work with only natural daylight and apartment lights. To prepare for this, Igor carried his phone around the house on video calls to show me the locations in each room and the natural light during the day. We ordered a cheap tripod and a cheap microphone for Igor with a very small budget of only 100 euros. Fabio and I worked on the script during online meetings, discussing and perfecting it. With Igor, we did rehearsals over Skype so I could see how each scene looked on camera. Mara worked remotely with Igor to teach him how to set up the microphone and how to record his voiceover. Igor then sent me his recorded acting lines until I found the most suitable ones for the film. Finally, I sent the video montage to Mara, who mixed Igor’s voiceover, the music, and sound FX together into the final audio that you hear during the film.

MobileMovieMaking: The location works beautifully.

Giammona: It was the actor’s house. For the scene on the rooftop terrace, we decorated it with hanging clothes, as you see in many Italian houses and terraces.

MobileMovieMaking: Could you tell about directing your actor at a distance?

Giammona: It was difficult not being able to see the actor while he was acting – a bit like directing with my eyes closed, and imagining what the actor would have to do when we talked before shooting. But I must say that in this short film with this group, we had an incredible harmony and feeling, almost magical, an alchemy! Everyone was focused on his role, script, audio, actor, and directing, a close-knit team. We understood each other and we had fun! Igor was fantastic for me, he perfectly understood what I wanted both in filming and acting, maybe because we have known each other forever.

MobileMovieMaking: What camera did you use?

Giammona: The actor’s smartphone, a Huawei P20 Pro.  and the Filmic Pro app for the manual and logv2 settings.

MobileMovieMaking: Did you encounter any unexpected problem during the shoot?

Giammona: The main problem was not being on the set during shooting, but by first rehearsing and producing a production plan, we were able to do a job that satisfied us. Even if I am not the best at drawing, I made a quick storyboard for Igor to get the point across. It was complicated, as I wanted specific shots, so Igor positioned the camera phone in his home, then made the video call with an iPad, and I gave the indications on the camera settings and while looking at the shot remotely.

MobileMovieMaking: All this sounds challenging.

Giammona: Igor had a lot to learn, not being an expert in manual camera settings with the FilmicPro app. I explained that we had to shoot at 30fps because Igor’s phone model did not support 24fps. I taught him the aperture and exposure settings based on the light I had seen through the video calls. I think Igor did the most complex job, first having to set up the camera as I wanted, to then enter the scene playing his part as an actor, and then to record and recite his lines for the voiceover, and and then send us all of the video and audio files.The shots, rather than being complex in themselves, deliberately take a long time, a bit like in French films.

MobileMovieMaking: What about the editing?

Giammona: I used Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2020. The film was initially in color – I wanted to give a dramatic color, but then we decided to use a slightly elaborate black & white look in different scenes. At the beginning of the film, I wanted to give a feeling like that of the 60s films of Rome during the Second World War, only that we were experiencing a new war with a virus. For the hopeful ending, I wanted it in color, but a delicate and dream-like color, inspired a bit by the 90s Wim Wenders film “Der Himmel über Berlin.”  (English title: “Wings of Desire”)

MobileMovieMaking: Thanks for taking us behind the scenes of your beautiful movie.

Giammona: I would like to add that I love this crew both for how we worked but also for the human side – We will definitely do other jobs together! Fabio is an amazing screenwriter; we have similar visions, and this is a rare gift between a director and screenwriter. We are now working on a feature film script based on memories, and the way it can be difficult to break away from memories. We would like to make the film with mobile, but in Italy it is not easy for a producer to invest in a mobile film. We will see when the script is finished. Igor is an actor with a thousand faces and a unique sensitivity. Mara was a fundamental support for both audio mixing and English subtitles, and this interview she translated for you.

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The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen “OREB” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.

If you’d like to see more of Sigfrido Giammona’s work, we’ve previously featured his love story “The Meeting” and his music video “Summereyes” co-directed by Clara Congera.

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