Segal Tsang and production designer Lee used color to

Segal, Tsang and production designer Lee used color to distinguish Samis from the bright world “he” finds himself in when “he” meets Margot: the scenes of “his” daily life and home are darker and colder than the bright, more colorful scenes with Margot. In the black-and-white dream, Sammy rides a huge rabbit and reminisces about the fantastic stories “his” mother told him. Segal and Tsang thought about how best to realize this scene on a separate budget. Tsang wanted to incorporate black-and-white dreams into the film and had Seagal watch Chinese martial arts films from the 1960s. Kate wanted to emulate the style of the Wuxia movies “she” watched as a child. The characteristic naturalism, use of color and fantastic scenes with huge animals help convey the magic of writer-director Kate Tsang’s charming story, beautifully shot by BSC’s Nanu Seagal. When Segal and Tsang pondered the overall tone of the film, they agreed that a naturalistic but slightly exaggerated style would be most appropriate. Tsang, passionate about one of the central themes of the film and fully immersed in the world “he” explores, trained as a close-up magician in preparation. Kate is incredibly collaborative and has a unique perspective on the world that’s different from mine,” Segal says. “We worked with magic consultant Kayla Drescher on scenes like the rose flying out of Margo’s hand or when “she” makes Sammy’s cigarettes disappear. She adds that the main thing was to work with Andre Rivas of Company 3 to make the house setting cool, not too lush and hot, and to make Margot’s world more colorful and intense. Sammys’ father is about to remarry, which “she” doesn’t like at all, and “her” house has become a difficult environment in which “she” feels withdrawn and rebellious,” Segal says. They thought about how best to alternate between the everyday situations in the film and Sammy’s inner world as “she” thinks about “her” mother or the problems “she” faces. ‘Kate is a fantastic artist with a unique imagination,’ says Segal. “We made ‘709’ because we knew we could play with so much more information in the classroom,” Segal says.