Left or Right? is a romantic short film about the inner conflict of a first date. Judy sits across from Luke in an atmospheric jazz bar, while her Left and Right Brain appear as two characters beside her, commenting on her every move. The film plays with the idea that we often get in our own way more than the situation itself does.

As DOP and gaffer I was responsible for the framing and composition and the lighting on set. The jazz bar called for a warm, intimate atmosphere with candlelight as the starting point. That meant working with soft, subdued lighting that supports the romantic tension without disrupting the intimacy of the space. At the same time I had to visually distinguish the brain scenes from the date scenes, which I did by playing with light intensity and colour. For the framing and composition I chose angles that reinforce the emotional dynamic between the characters: close-ups to make Judy’s nervousness visible, and wider shots to emphasise the space and distance between her inner voices and reality.

This project taught me how lighting and camera angles tell a story together. Not what is being said, but how it feels in the moment it happens.