Butterfly on a Wheel | Behind-the-scenes featurette
Set against the backdrop of Toronto’s vibrant and urban landscape, Butterfly on a Wheel shares a poignant story of a gifted young musician grappling with the invisible struggles of OCD and anxiety.
In this behind-the-scenes featurette, director and writer Trevor Morris discusses his inspiration for the film and how he made it a reality.
Discussing the film, DP Scott McClellan CSC said: “When Trevor Morris first approached me about Butterfly on a Wheel, he already had a strong visual concept for his script. Though this was his directorial debut, his experience as a composer gave him an intuitive grasp of cinematic storytelling and the emotional power of imagery. He immersed himself deeply in cinematography, studying films, reading extensively, and learning the technical language of cameras and lenses. By the time I joined, he had already chosen the Alexa LF with Alfa anamorphics, a combination well suited to the enveloping visual world he wanted to create, and our camera package came from ARRI Rental Toronto.
“I was drawn to the script’s rich emotional landscape and quickly understood how personal the story was to Trevor. He wanted the film to be beautiful yet shift in tone depending on the point of view of Jacen, the protagonist who struggles with OCD and anxiety. At times Jacen feels safe, especially when surrounded by music, and at others overwhelmed by the chaotic city around him. A key flashback, his grandmother introducing him to music at her stand-up piano, serves as a visual and emotional sanctuary, representing the state of peace he longs to return to.
“Much of Jacen’s journey is tied to the grand Performance Hall at his school, a space that inspires both awe and intimidation as he dreams of performing there. We shot these sequences at Koerner Hall in Toronto, which Trevor had envisioned from the start. We treated the space almost like a cathedral, emphasizing its towering scale and beauty while portraying Jacen as small within it until he eventually gains confidence. Detailed prep and storyboarding helped us manage the hall’s narrow yet soaring architecture within our 2.4:1 frame, ensuring the location became a character in its own right.
“The film’s visual language shifts with Jacen’s emotional states. The flashback sequence employed wide lenses, a floating Steadicam approach by operator James Poremba, and a dappled light effect created with Dedolight Eflect reflectors to produce a dreamlike quality. In contrast, Jacen’s city navigation was handheld, asymmetrical, and layered to reflect anxiety, while subway scenes were captured guerrilla-style in older, more oppressive stations to convey disorientation. Ultimately, the film moves with the ebb and flow of music, lyrical, cohesive, and emotionally varied, each department contributing as if part of an orchestra, building a unified expression of Jacen’s inner world.”
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