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Signal It’s the last snow breeze at the beginning of the spring in 1940 as Lieutenant Felicjan Pawlak enters the walls of Silberberg (pl. Srebrna Góra) Oflag VIII B. It’s the second prison he’s been sent to after the failed escape from his preceding confinement. Oflags were German camps for prisoners of war during WWI and WWII for army officers. Established in accordance with Hague and Geneva Conventions, the officers were not forced to work in the Oflags. The one in Srebrna Góra fortification was created as the toughest to escape prison for individuals that managed to escape previous lockup and were recaptured later on during War. That is a brief summary of a true event based, full length feature debut of a creative team based in Poland - Krzysztof Rymsza (Director) and Patryk Dróżdż (Director of Photography). The project is currently in development as the team is in search of the main investor for the whole undertaking. Part of the process was the implementation of “Signal” as a short film, nominated in four categories on WSE Europe IFF (best directing, cinematography, editing and costumes). With creating the short, Patryk and Krzysztof wanted to gain the trust of the potential producers as the film showcases their knowledge and experience gained in the industry. Being the official cinema debut, it would actually be the second full length feature shot by the team. After graduating from film school in Warsaw, Krzysztof and Patryk developed an off-cinema movie “Memento Mori” in 2018 (premiered in 2019). In fact, their long time collaboration started back in the school, when after working on etudes they started professional work on commercial spots and short features. “The story of escape from Srebrna Góra is unique. No feature film nor drama book based on those events has been developed so far so we’d WSE EUROPE ONLINE EDITION BRUSSELS|VALENCIA|WARSAW 2022
be the first to explore it in cinema” says the director. “As Poles we have a tough history connected with WWII but we don’t want to brutalize the plot of the film. We want to focus on action-driven history with an ‘escape from the prison’ themed approach. No battle scenes, just character and action driven drama. Purely spythriller genre.” “We want the camera to stay close to our characters so the audience would explore the new surroundings (the camp) along with newly arrived officers, who are yet to see what awaits them “behind the corner” mentions Patryk when asked about the general concept for the photography. “For me the most important aspect of cinematography
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is lighting - noticeable, tangible, creating the aura of dark mystery or secret. Dynamic light that combines colours, creates dynamics and depth, brings up the 3 dimensionality. My approach isn’t necessarily realistic. As the DOP in drama features I create my own world from scratch, I experiment with colours and contrasts as long as it enhances the story and doesn’t the break viewers’ immersion. I’m not a documentalist I’m a creator with the most powerful tool by my side - the imagination of myself and the crew I’m working with”. Throughout the years Patryk and Krzysztof have developed their workflow. After the first reading of the script Patryk notes the shot-list,