The Argus interviewed budding filmmaker Alessandro Sassi ’21 on his latest and first film “The Bathtub,” a film in which a man who lives in his bathroom struggles to interact with the outside world.

The Argus: What was your inspiration to pursue this particular line of work: the path of being a filmmaker?

Alessandro Sassi: I guess before I applied to Wesleyan I was a little bit interested in certain film schools…. I’m from North Dakota, so I had never heard of Wesleyan before, and I was looking through one of these books that had the best college for “blank,” and I saw Wesleyan popped up. When I got here, for the first couple years I didn’t take any film courses…. I was gearing more towards a Government major, which I’m very glad I didn’t [pursue]…. It just wasn’t quite for me…. I took a few [film] courses at Wesleyan, and I saw what could be done with film, and I’ve always been interested in music and arts. I played the violin, I’ve done drawing from time to time, nothing super serious, but film seemed like fusing [these] different interests of mine into one, and after seeing what could be done with [film], I got really excited and wanted to pursue that.

A: Obviously any art form can tackle anything. With film, why do you think it’s a great medium to tackle what you’re concerned about?

AS: I think film has a unique ability, at least I’ve found for myself, to evoke a strong emotional reaction in viewers. [I’m] not saying that music can’t, [I’m] not saying that drawings or paintings can’t, but there’s something about the visual experience of seeing [and hearing] something and feeling as if you’re in it. I feel as if it’s easier to cross that kind of barrier from that life to what you’re seeing, and get lost in the movie…. I love…being able to create a kind of world, or an experience that you can share and people have access to by watching.

A: Is it something about being able to see what’s happening that evokes a visceral response?

AS: Yeah, absolutely. There’s also something to be said about the emotional capability of combining sound and visual art. They can be complementary as well as work against each other in ways that wouldn’t be possible with a traditional piece of music or painting. So I think that that’s another thing that film offers that’s unique—having different mediums working together on screen, but also different mediums potentially clashing, and both of [those] things can produce different emotional responses in the viewer.

A: In that regard, what motivated you to make “The Bathtub?”

AS: This [past] summer, I was really interested in trying to get some hands on experience with film. And, finding myself back home, I felt limited in what the opportunities were in terms of working with film and trying to get something produced. I thought it would be interesting to try to use one space, so the camera never leaves the bathroom at all—the focus is always in the bathroom. And I just thought it would be a unique challenge to see if I could tell a story with only one actor, using only one space and a particular situation. I also will say it was a way of also keeping the different factors…

A: …under control?

AS: [laughs] It’s much easier to deal with one actor in one space, as opposed to multiple outside [spaces]. It stemmed from being home, having time [and] having access to this location. I feel like people will go to spaces they feel comfortable in: you get a chair, a sofa, an activity even. So I just wanted to poke at that: here’s a situation in which somebody, [and] their place of comfort is absurd to us, right? [We’re] seeing it from the outside but then hopefully it will make people question “so what are the spaces that I go for comfort?” Would that be absurd through a different lens?

A: Wow, there’s so much to unpack within that! So you’re concerned with the ideas of home and of belonging?

AS: To a certain degree, yes. I think in “The Bathtub” I was also concerned [with] trying to present strange situations or experiences characters are going through. On the surface it’s very jarring, like “why is he living in a bathtub, why is he not leaving the bathroom?” This might sound strange, but I think…everything is relative. We probably do things in our lives that through a different lens would seem absurd. So, [I’m] just trying to bridge that gap. You know this is weird but like, is what I do any different really?

A: If there were anything you could change about the film, what would it be? 

AS: Sure, if there’s one thing I could change, I would have recorded sound on set. I didn’t have the proper sound recording equipment, so I had to dub almost every sound in after the fact, and that just made post production so much more tedious than it had to be. On a technical level, I would have recorded sound on set. On a creative [level], I would have maybe liked to explore the world outside of the bathtub. It would have broken that exercise of keeping it contained within a room, but if I had more time to maybe develop the story, it could’ve been interesting to develop the space. Then, once we take the step outside with this character, we break through that wall. I feel like it could be interesting to present situations that would help us better understand why he retreats and closes himself in this bathroom most of his life. 

A: Just at a cursory glance, I saw you cast Austin Jones as the main character. What went into that choice?

AS: My entire [crew], the actor Austin as well, I found through a Facebook group of people like filmmakers in the area. I did auditions online, so I had each person submit a video with an exercise for the audition. I had a few submissions, and Austin stood out. After that, we had a few conversations over the phone about the character. We talked a little bit about which artistic direction we were thinking with it, and we came together to do this. But, had it not been for the Facebook group, I [would’ve] been struggling to find a crew, as well as talent.

A: Do you think that would have been different if we weren’t in a pandemic?

AS: You know, I think it would have. One thing that a couple [members] of the group mentioned was [that] they haven’t done work like this since they were in [college], so it was very refreshing for them to have the opportunity to not shoot a commercial or a series of interviews for some organization or something. Had there not been a pandemic, there might not be this opportunity to work with certain people, so in a way it did open up some doors in terms of collaboration with certain people in the group.

A: How long did it take you to film and pre-produce and [do] post-production?

AS: So I would say I worked on the script for maybe two or three weeks, doing different drafts. Getting everything ready for production [took] maybe a week or so. We shot in one weekend, and then post-production was longer than I’d expected with having to dub in all the audio, so that was about another two and a half weeks. It did take a big chunk of the summer to get this thing together, but that was a rough timeline.

A: So now that you’re done doing that, you’re doing your senior thesis, right? Do you have any other works that you want people to see, and are you intending on working on anything else besides your senior thesis?

AS: I think at the moment, my mind is definitely on shooting [my] thesis, but I have been doing a little bit of writing in the little free time that I have. And I will hopefully be pursuing some other short films after I finish shooting the senior thesis.

A: Nothing beforehand though?

AS: No, ugh, nothing beforehand.

A: So this was your first project?

AS: This was my first formal project yeah, and I saw it as a way of preparing for my senior thesis as well [as] working with actors and working with a crew. I’m super thankful that I was able to have the opportunity to get some experience with it and put it together.

A: I noticed Professor [Stephen] Collins, he has a production credit, he was a supervisor. What role did he play in it?

AS: I was in contact with Professor Collins for the period of pre-production. I used money from a grant from Wesleyan to fund this film, including equipment and production cost, so part of this was that I would have an advisor kind of monitoring my work throughout the summer. I met Professor Collins multiple times throughout to talk about the script, to talk about other things, [such as] logistics. So it was kind of in preparation for the shooting, and then also after I would share cuts with him [and] get some feedback on that.

A: It sounds like he helped you a lot

AS: He was very helpful.

A: How did you feel after you got everything done? You know, you finally produced your first [project]. Was it good?

AS: It felt great. I liked it a lot. I think there’s definitely a weird way of—once the film’s in its final form—if I watch it, my mind will just go into the mindset I had when I was editing it. Having watched it so many times, I don’t know if I can [like it]. I guess I can enjoy it to a certain degree, but there’s always that baggage of “I spent so much time looking at this footage over and over.” But, that said, it’s very rewarding to see it’s final form, and it definitely makes me excited to continue and try to produce some more things in the future.

A: I had been thinking about that too. You mentioned the baggage you felt. You know, after you’ve created something, how the audience might receive it might be entirely different from how you feel about it.

AS: That’s definitely [a concern]…. I always view a director or filmmaker or an artist…[as being able to] make suggestions [as] to how they would like the viewer to respond, but in the end it’s gonna be up to the individual to decide how they want to react to a piece of art.

A: Is there anything that you’ve been pining to tell people about your work or just in general?

AS: Well, check it out [laughs]. Link in bio. Nothing in particular, just I’m excited to share new things in the future and I hope people enjoy and take something away from my work.

 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Cameron Scott can be reached at cyscott@wesleyan.edu.