Nova’s nightmare scenes
So, the most difficult scenes to direct and record are actually the crux of the entire show, Nova’s nightmare scenes. Surprisingly enough, they’re the easiest to write. Once I got a clear idea of the sound I wanted them to have, the kind of terror and panic I wanted to build with them, they really just flowed out of me. The hardest thing about them was making sure that they sounded right which came during rehearsals. It really just came down to Mia Passarella and Michael Warker. As a director, I have a vision and I know how I want things to sound, but I also really wanted each of my actors to make their characters their own. To help them prepare for these scenes I had them listen to the same music I listened to while writing them. (I think it helped but really who knows.) Mia and Michael both gave me exactly what I wanted and worked really well off of each other. A lot the directing was us talking about the characters and trying to understand them and the scenes more. Once we did that, it was easy to ask for creepier laughs or scarier screams because they were really aware of the emotion the scenes carried.
Allison/Nova relationship
In episode 1 we see Allison and Nova’s first meeting and I think the way they interact reveals a lot about each of their characters and sets them up for the rest of the series. We see Allison as stern but caring and how hopeless and irritated Nova has become over the years. I think that Nova, throughout the series, acts a lot older than she actually is but in this scene you really see her age. She’s ready to give up, she can’t be the strong one anymore. Allison is the perfect person to help her and Jessica Garcia’s voice was perfect for Allison. Once we got in the booth we all joked that Jessica should do ASMR videos because she has such a soothing, beautiful voice, exactly what we want from our resident therapist!
Introducing Reese
Reese Chambers, what can be said about him? I don’t really want to call him a villain but he is definitely a stressor for Nova. I think, once you meet Reese a lot about Nova makes sense. He’s a high-powered CEO, a businessman in every sense of the word, but he’s also a father completely out of his depth with how to help his daughter. Instead of trying to help her personally he ignores her and pretends that everything is okay. Reese never met a problem he couldn’t solve until now and that makes him uncomfortable.
Working with Tom Taglang was so fun despite the nature of the character he was playing. I’ve actually known Tom since I was nine and it was really fun to work on this project with a family friend.
Who is Hayden to Nova?
There isn’t a lot of room for fun in Nova’s life but I really wanted her to have a friend. Someone who was actually a good person, a person she could trust and let her guard down around. Most importantly, I wanted Nova to have someone to talk to that she didn’t have to pay for. That’s who Hayden is. Originally, Hayden wasn’t going to be a huge part of Nova’s story but as I kept writing he became a more well rounded character and I knew he was someone I would need to keep around for Nova.
Hope you guys enjoyed the episode!
Alexandra