We’re speaking today with Daria Rountree, the director and cinematographer of the award-winning and truly excellent short, Virginia, Forever. The film follows a couple who fall deeply in love and get married. But when one of them disappears without a trace, the other is left to pick up the pieces and to try and move on alone. Thank you for having a chat with us.
Chris McClure, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): What was the inspiration for this film?
Daria Rountree (DR): I had written a feature script in film school about someone dealing with abandonment issues who captures the people they love that are going to leave. My talented partner and writer, Jordan Campbell took that idea and wrote Virginia, Forever. We didn’t have the means to make a feature but I loved that concept and I couldn’t be happier with what he created. I had felt abandoned by a lot of people and I remember thinking if I had a way of keeping them, would I? It’s interesting where the brain goes when you are hurting.
(UM): Although on the surface, Virginia, Forever seems to be a simple tale of romance gone wrong, it actually brings up a lot of what we might call existentialist themes: is it possible to really know another person? Can we really know what we’re capable of? Are these the sorts of questions you were hoping to raise?
(DR): They were. I mainly wanted to make people question themselves. A lot of people sided with Addison which I found interesting but I understand. When you’re in pain you become desperate to make the pain go away that you’ll sometimes go to lengths you never would normally. Have you ever been left by someone you love deeply that you feel you’d do anything to keep them in your life, whether it be a breakup or death? I know I’ve felt that, though not to this extent, but I wanted to make a movie where someone was in so much pain they did act on those thoughts.
(UM): The film is beautifully shot. Can you tell us about your directing style and what you were hoping to achieve here?
(DR): Thank you so much. I really wanted to immerse you in their love in the beginning. I shot it dream-like because when we think of our memories they are like dreams that change over time. A relationship can be remembered as so much better than it was because most of the time we remember the good and not so much the bad. Our memories are deceiving so I wanted to not only show the audience how Addison remembered their relationship but also make everyone fall in love with them and their love. The rest had a grittier feel for reality and the truth. Life isn’t always beautiful and I wanted the audience to sit with Addison and feel her pain with her. I wanted it to be a journey we were all on together.
(UM): I thought the handling of the fact that this was a lesbian couple was done very well – by really not drawing attention to it at all, and just leaving the fact there without any comment. I did find myself wondering, though. Do you think that the story would have been different, or would be perceived differently if one of the two were a man?
(DR): Thank you, As a member of the LGBTQ+ community I find it frustrating when movies feel the need to draw attention to the characters being gay when that isn’t reality and I feel separates us. We just live our lives like everybody else, we fall in love and we get hurt just like everyone does. We want to show that in our films and show people who may not understand the LGBTQ+ community that we are all the same. I don’t think it would have been as impactful if a man played Addisons character. I think the audience would’ve just thought of him as obsessed and a psychopath instead of joining Addison on this journey and relating to the pain she is going through along with being vulnerable enough to question ourselves.
(UM): I loved the fact that there is a vague allusion to what’s coming when the couple discuss their first impressions of each other near the beginning of the film. Is part of the moral of the story that you should trust your gut or your first instinct about people?
(DR): We like putting little things in our films that you don’t think anything of until later, it’s very rewarding. Jordan is really good at writing these into our films. I don’t believe that Virginia had any idea that Addison would go to the lengths she did to keep Virginia in her life. We wanted the line “I’ll do anything to keep you in my life forever” to show how much Addison truly loved her and couldn’t live without her. Something a lot of us have said but how far would someone really go to keep that person in their life? It gives that commonphrase a deeper and darker meaning.
(UM): I thought the music really added a lot, especially to the opening sequence. Could you tell us about the soundtrack?
(DR): We work with an incredibly talented Composer, Dylan Schweitzer. He is based out of Chicago so we spent every Sunday for a few months on zoom calls going over the music for each scene. I would mainly tell him the feeling I wanted to give the audience and he would play something then we’d work through it. We used a lot of ambience because I wanted the
audience to feel as alone as Addison was. I felt music would take away from that loneliness and separate the audience from being in this with her. I also felt complete silence wouldn’t have had the impact I needed. I always say half the reason this film works is because of
Dylan. It truly is his music that made this story really drive home.
(UM): What was the production like? Did anything unexpected happen on set that changed your overall plan?
(DR): Jordan and I always joke about the movie gods watching over us when we shoot. Things randomly happen that end up making our films so much better. There was actually a scene we had planned where Addison was at work in the doctors office but that day the doctor who was going to let us use his office got called into emergency surgery so I decided to just shoot her going into work at the hospital. It ended up being so much better because I feel showing Addison at work as an anesthesiologist could have given the twist away and I don’t know if I would’ve had the strength to cut a whole scene out of the film haha
(UM): Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?
(DR): We are actually just finishing up a micro short Jordan and I have been wanting to do for about 3 years now. It’s a horror that’s a little over 30 seconds and we are very excited about it. We also shot a commercial based on this short that is the cutest and most wholesome thing we’ve ever done. It’s wild to see complete opposite tones coming from one shoot. Dylan is composing both of these which he did on his own just by going off the script because I was on a time crunch. Jordan and I were so amazed at how perfect the music fit because all he was going off was the script. We should be releasing them within the next few weeks so keep an eye out!
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