‘It felt right to continue our success,’ says Toronto director of photography David Greene of his collaboration with second-time feature director David Weaver on the dark comedy Siblings.

Produced through the Canadian Film Centre’s Feature Film Project by Tashi Bieler and Marcia Douglas, Siblings was selected to screen in the Contemporary World Cinema program at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival and in Canadian Images at the Vancouver fest.

Director and DOP worked together on Weaver’s first feature, the 2001 drama Century Hotel, which garnered Greene a Genie nomination as well as a nom from the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.

‘We love working together, and we have similar tastes in how to tell a story visually,’ Greene remarks.

Penned by first-time feature screenwriter Jackie May (the MOW Fast Food High), Siblings is the story of a highly dysfunctional family, in which a group of half-sisters and stepbrothers (Alex Campbell, Sarah Gadon, Andrew Chalmers and Samantha Weinstein) plot against their wretched matriarch (Sonja Smits) and her lecherous husband (Da Vinci’s Inquest’s Nicholas Campbell). As the plot unfolds, the parents are indeed offed, but whether the children actually did it is unclear. A jumble of activities ensues, as the children figure out how to dispose of the bodies and cover up the murders.

Creating a feature film with a budget of $500,000 seemed daunting at first, but Weaver says they got through production relatively painlessly. ‘It’s an issue of pacing. You learn what’s important and what’s not important, when to put emphasis on something and when not to worry about things.’

Siblings was filmed on location in Toronto and Kleinburg, ON in February and March. For director and cameraman, preproduction was essential in order to keep the 18-day shoot organized and naturally progressive.

‘I drew storyboards and David draws his own diagrams from my storyboards as to where lights and grips, among other things, will be placed,’ explains Weaver. ‘The crew was always one step ahead during filming because they had the visual references through detailed sketches.’

Greene says their work on Century Hotel, which unfolds over seven historical periods, was never referenced in any way on Siblings since the film is much simpler and predominantly story-driven. ‘Century Hotel was stylized to a greater degree, to help differentiate between the numerous stories within the film, but with Siblings we took a very naturalistic approach,’ he explains.

Adds Weaver: ‘Because outlandish things happen in Siblings, the look had to be kept naturalistic. You have kids carrying the bodies of their parents around, hiding them in closets. It cannot look unreal and must appear as if this could actually happen,’ he explains. ‘If we stylized the look of the film, it would become more of a fable.’

As far as shooting goes, Greene says they didn’t rely on any camera tricks and kept it straightforward, having the camera mostly on a dolly, with the addition of occasional Steadicam shots. He operated the Arriflex 16 SR3 camera fitted with Zeiss lenses, while Richard Wilmot manned the Steadicam.

‘I always choose Panavision cameras wherever I can because of the lenses,’ notes Greene. ‘A Primo lens is just a beautiful piece of glass.’

The DOP adds that he is pleased that Panavision has made it possible for its Primos to be fitted on the SR3, albeit too late for this production. ‘We were filming Siblings just about the time Panavision started experimenting with this,’ he laments. Siblings is shot in Super 16, a format Greene says will look better with this new camera/lens configuration.

Film stocks included Kodak Vision2 7218 500T for both daytime and nighttime interior shots. ‘It’s just a fabulous 500 stock, and helps when you do your blowup to 35mm,’ notes Greene. Daytime exteriors were filmed on Kodak Vision2 7217 200T stocks.

The DOP gives special credit to screenwriter May, explaining that her script was the main motivator for everyone on the set. ‘The actors were fantastic, and that’s another testament to the quality of the script, since it’s almost unheard of to shoot on a budget of half a million with such a great cast and crew,’ he says. ‘There’s nothing better for a DOP or director than material that is motivating – that they can be proud of.’

Weaver agrees, saying that after he had read the first draft of the script, he wanted to make the film as fast as he could because it was so well written. ‘I read it in June last year and wanted to film it during the upcoming winter,’ he says. ‘I knew the only way to do that would be through the Canadian Film Centre, because they would finance it completely. They are the perfect people to understand the movie since it’s so offbeat and independent.’

Traditionally, the CFC’s Feature Film Project has been for first-time feature directors, but Weaver says he knew the CFC had loosened their rules a bit. ‘I still consider myself to be an emerging filmmaker, and nearly everyone else involved in the film had not made a feature before,’ he says.

Weaver says he tries to surround himself with the same people he’s worked with before, and praises the cinematography of Greene, whom, he adds, has enriched his experience of making films. ‘I’m fortunate that we found each other, since we have much the same approach to making films.’

Post-production on Siblings was done at Toybox in Toronto, and the film is slated for a TIFF debut on Sept. 14.

Greene has just completed a TV movie for Lifetime in the U.S. called Plain Truth, directed by Paul Shapiro. Work on an upcoming feature film is pending.