What Men Do For Love is a 15-minute, single-take, neo-noir film that delves into vulnerability and the raw honesty needed for a healthy love life. The story centres on Charles (Jerome Wright), an elderly dentist who kidnaps Martin (Morgan Scriven), a young bartender having an affair with his wife. Charles’s aim is to torture Martin as a dramatic statement to his unfaithful wife. The film, written and directed by Sai Kalwan Tawar captures this intense narrative. 

The script captivated me from my first read, and I was particularly excited when Sai expressed his desire to shoot it in black and white, using a single take. 

For camera and lensing I really felt that large format would be the best way to tell the story. With that in mind we opted for the Alexa Mini LF paired with the Arri Signature Primes. They offer such beautiful fall-off, pleasing bokeh, and they’re fast, making them perfect for our needs. The 35mm became our lens of choice and we framed for widescreen 2.39:1 heightening the tension by allowing the empty space to draw the audiences eyes to the interrogation. The camera package was supplied by The Unit Bag who were very accommodating in supporting our needs. 

Initially, we considered using a Steadicam but soon realised it might be too smooth for the film’s gritty story. After discussions with our operator Justin Theodore, we decided on the Zee-Gee, which gave the film the handheld look it desired but without the shakiness of standard handheld operation. 

Sai and I outlined a rough floor plan for the camera movements but didn’t want to be rigid with the approach and instead allow Justin to be instinctive in the moment. As we were unable to put floor marks down having the Focusbug Cine RT on the camera allowed our focus puller Pete Swinford to be reactive in each take, and keep it sharp throughout. It became a bit of a dance between our actors, Justin and Pete – all of whom did a wonderful job throughout. 

Working closely with my gaffer Al Rice, we designed the lighting to allow unrestricted camera movement by rigging all lights above. Fortunately, our location offered many rigging options to accommodate that. We aimed for simplicity in lighting to ensure the camera had the freedom to move around. This required Charles to hit specific marks whilst moving in and out of the light, which really helped add to the gritty atmosphere. 

The main scenes feature Martin tied to a chair with Charles standing above him, cross-key lit using Litemats for their low profile leaving as much headroom as possible for camera. We also had a Nanlite 60c keying the table filled with interrogation tools, which Charles frequently approached throughout the film. All key lights were diffused and equipped with egg crates to prevent light spill. To further enhance the image’s depth and contrast, we added pockets of light in various areas, turned off some house lights, and replaced them with Asteras for better control. 

The film was graded by Richard Fearon at Black Kite Studios, who beautifully enhanced the look and added a level of grain to supplement the story. 

Working with Sai on this film was an exciting challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. Luckily we managed to get a full run-through of the film early on in the day allowing us to spend more time refining performances without added pressure. 

A big thank you to Dustin Curtis Murphy for involving me in this Kino original short film. And a big shout out to all the crew who made it such a lovely experience. What Men Do For Love has just begun it’s festival journey and we’ve recently just had wonderful news that it’s a semi finalist at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (OSCAR, BAFTA & Canadian Screen Qualifying).