Production design in Somersault

This excerpt from Inside the Snowdome: Making Somersault focuses on director Cate Shortland's strong visual sensibility, the film's influences and her ongoing collaboration with production designer Melinda Doring and cinematographer Robert (Bob) Humphreys.

This making-of documentary is a fine example of the genre which is often included in DVD releases. The clip succeeds in giving a sense of how much work and thought goes into the look and feel of a film and is enhanced by using examples from the film and the art that has inspired it.

Producer Anthony Anderson says that photographers such as Nan Goldin and Bill Henson have influenced Somersault's visual style. Robert Humphreys talks about referencing photographer Todd Hido's use of available light long exposures.

Shortland mentions that German folk stories and romantic poetry partly inspired the look of the characters. The choice to restrict the colour palette to browns, greys and blacks is illustrated through clips which also showcase the striking and deliberate use of red at key moments in the film.