Berlin Syndrome Behind the Scenes: attention to detail

This short clip from a behind-the-scenes documentary about Berlin Syndrome (2017) focuses on how different departments worked with director Cate Shortland. 

The clip begins with voice-over from producer Polly Staniford talking about working with Cate, followed by actor Teresa Palmer discussing Cate's attention to detail. It's obvious from what Teresa and fellow actor Max Riemelt say that she develops mutual respect with actors she works with.

The clip also features cinematographer Germain McMicking and production designer Melinda Doring, who also worked on Cate's short films Flowergirl (1999) and Pentuphouse (1998) and her first feature Somersault (2004).

This short documentary was produced as part of the marketing collateral for the film. As with many of these types of documentaries the budget would have been small and it would have been shot in brief time windows during the shoot. We have evidence of this in the poor audio quality of Teresa's interview for example.

The documentary benefits greatly from the use of excerpts from the finished film and its soundtrack is inter-cut with footage of Cate directing actors and working with crew. The footage of Cate on set and in rehearsal nicely complements the comments from key cast and crew about their work in bringing her vision to the screen.