Divine Intervention
Director: Ravenna Tran & DP: Deon van Zyl SASC

We had a lovely chat with the guys behind the creation of “Divine Intervention”, a short film about an earthbound angel who tries to get two ex-best friends to admit their love to one another, in order to win a dream promotion. The short film is a 2024 Iris Prize Best British nominee and is now streaming on Channel4 until the end of the year.

DIRECTOR

Ravenna Tran, Director of Divine Intervention and co-creator alongside writer Rebecca Ozer has a rich background in fantasy concept art, video game illustration and cinematography. Growing up consuming fantasy media, she was captivated by the genre, but soon realised the space did not have much queer representation, and wanted to expand the genre and create a story with a wider background of characters and relationships, a film that more people could see themselves in. A film to escape to and enjoy.

The story of Divine Intervention was inspired by the random interactions of the kindness of strangers, during Ravenna’s first year in London. In moments of isolation in a big new city, these seemingly mundane encounters with ordinary people would make her days lighter.  

Director states – “My work is about finding human connections and the overlooked beauty in everyday moments that are often magnified through a surreal or escapist lens. As a solo second generation Asian-American child to strict, overworked, immigrant-refugee parents, I would find company in the worlds and characters of television programmes and films. This inspires the types of films I make today – comfort films and stories that allow idle daydreaming and optimism. ‘Divine Intervention’ is a celebration of love, joy, fun, and hope.

 

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Ravenna met Deon van Zyl, DI’s Cinematographer, at a time when they shared an agent. They sat together at the UK Music Video Awards table, the two got to talking, and without knowing of the serendipitous timing, Deon had agreed to jump onto the project. 

“I admire the visually rich, moody, and abstract textures in Deon’s work, which is why I was eager to have him as the cinematographer for Divine Intervention.” – shares Ravenna  – “Deon’s shooting style truly enhanced the story within the indie film, perfectly aligning with its vision in a way that I did not feel I had to compromise, which is a testament to his craft and work ethic.” 

As Deon read the script, he found some fairly unusual moments, which he found exciting: The script was quirky but more commercial in some ways,  than the things he sees himself doing. On our question to describe his own personal style, Deon responded:

  • “I like to do things that feel very real.But then, I also like to play in a heightened kind of abstract space. I kind of have a tough time when things feel non-committal, so the shots need to be either stylized or very natural and disarmed. That’s why the script was quite interesting to me. It contained both those worlds..”

Even though the director and DOP share a common craft, Ravenna was happy to completely hand the visual part of the project over to Deon and the production designer, Ali Al Akel. As a result, she got to fully concentrate on her favourite thing without compromising too much of the performance, story, and other aspects of the film. 

THE LOOK 

The story of two friends and one angel, plays out in two parallel worlds that open up to us through the subtle tricks of filmmaking. To separate the two worlds from one another and to do it with style, Deon Van Zyl has used some distinctive techniques like changing camera angles as well as lenses during pivotal moments of the story. 

The premise of real people interactions are broken up with cutaways from an angel like world. Those scenes, set in “Heaven”, would stand out with a more heightened camera language, almost resembling something transcendent. On the contrary the camera angles, as well as the camera movement would take us back to earth by being more grounded handheld shots less formal. 

“Typically when angels were around, the camera would either barely move or be static for a more formal frame. And then, we use a bit more handheld movement when we were just shooting with the real people” – explains the Cinematographer. 

LET’S TALK LIGHTING

Sometimes, more – is less. In the case of Divine Intervention, natural light, which is easier to control in January, meant that smaller lamps were more effective. The DOP shares that favouring more simplistic lighting was a decision often made for stylistic as well as practical reasons due to the indie nature of the film.

which helped contrast between the locations, the real world and the fantasy characters .”I tried to lean into it as much as I could.”  – “A lot of the overall aesthetic of the film is really just informed by the locations chosen by Revenna. All we had to do is some slight adjustments, whether it would be slight changes in set design or choosing the direction of the shot”. – Shares Deon.

LET’S TALK LENSES

Divine Intervention was shot on the Vantage One4’ lenses. To come to this conclusion Deon had to consider the visual as well as the technical criteria of a few options.After going through years of reference material from Deon’s visual collection, the director and the DP knew the direction of the colour palette, framing and locations of their project. 

“For me, the camera and lenses are the last piece of the puzzle”. – Notes Deon. After testing a few options and some technical considerations, like shooting on a large format. The DP and the director chose Vantage One4’s.

Coming from the commercial realm, Deon prioritises a high level of efficiency on his sets. While shooting an indie film that lasts 5 days, he suddenly realised how rewarding it is, to not worry about things like having to carry extra accessories and being able to get closer to what he is shooting without a diopter. – “I have never experienced that on set before”

–  “What struck me about these lenses, is that they kind of seem to have this interesting marriage of vintage characteristics I am familiar with but they are also quite clean with beautiful separation.” – mentions Deon – “I shoot on K35 a lot, which is like the one extreme in the large format world. 

The Vantage One4’s are very tunable lenses, so wide open, they were quite dreamy, but still resolving. And then they actually become quite modern looking as soon as you begin stopping them down. They have this rainbow flare, which I enjoyed a lot and felt quite fun and appropriate for the film.”

Hawk London is grateful to help great minds bring their ideas to life by providing the best equipment possible and pairing it with suitable glass. Deon and Ravenna express their gratitude for ‘tremendous support on this project.  – “I have never felt as supported by a rental house as I did by Hawk” – States Deon van Zyl  

– “I’ve really liked the relationship I’ve developed with the guys in a very short time. It was amazing and so was the kit!” – states Ravenna.

We thank you both for choosing Hawk and look forward to future collaborations!