Read More about “Just One Sip” (2024)

Director’s Statement

The reason why I am so compelled to tell the story of “Just One Sip” is because I feel like in a way, it is a personal story to me because of the theme of wanting to do something despite the obstacles in the way. One of the more relevant examples of this in my life is taking my Directing 1 class. When I was registering, it was a BFA only section and all the other sections I wanted to take were full. In the eyes of registration, this is a “no, you are not going to take this class, it’s full” but I still was able to ask around and email the professor teaching the section I wanted to be in and the coordinator for the directing program at Columbia. I was lucky enough to get into the class because I kept looking out for the BFA only sections to be open to BAs. Throughout “Just One Sip” we see Olivia (yes, the characters have names even though they were not explicitly mentioned in the dialogue) keep persisting to have a taste of Carrie’s drink, even trying to recreate it multiple times and failing. Even though at first we see Olivia taking no for an answer, we realize that she is a persistent person and will do anything to get a taste of Carrie’s drink. In a way, I find myself relating more to Olivia, because I am that persistent person who will do whatever it takes just to get what they want. Also, Carrie not allowing Olivia to try her drink right away is in a sense a metaphor for not trusting people right away. Carrie did not trust Olivia enough to let her try her drink. Even though they work together, they are not strangers, Carrie just does not trust Olivia enough. It sends a message that maybe you should not let your guard down and trust people you think you seem to know. Not everyone is who they seem to be. 

Outside of the deeper meanings of the characters and how they might relate to my life, “Just One Sip” is just a fun project to make for my Directing 1 class. As you already read, I was basically fighting to get into this class, so of course I am going to make the most out of it. I am going to use up every moment, every second to make a fun project. I have directed an episode of a bigger project, “A Spoonful” in association with On the Outside Films, and then I had only taken Acting and Directing Workshop. Now that I have that experience of finishing Acting and Directing Workshop, and having directed an episode of a web series with a production company, I feel beyond ready to direct my own project for class. Even though “Just One Sip” is going to be two to four minutes long, I feel prepared to direct actors into a mindset. This excitement combined with the setting of the film being a party, it will be super fun to film. I do not want to sound braggy or anything, but I have run film sets before as a director, and it has always been a fun environment. “Just One Sip” is not going to be any different from my other sets, we are going to have fun while working on a project. I am super excited to get to know my actors, work closely with my crew, and get pre-production rolling because this is going to be a fun project. 

The Making of “Just One Sip” (2024)

"Just One Sip" (2024) was a project in the back of my mind for the longest time. I worked on it every Tuesday when I had my directing class, and sometimes a little bit more than that. I met with my Director of Photography (DP) several times to discuss shots before filming, and also with my actors to rehearse. But since this project is not as big as an on location, there's many factors at play and logistics to worry about, it was easier to stay as a project in the back of my mind. And that really helped because I was on six other productions this semester as well. It was so different than "A Spoonful" because I was not having meetings multiple times a week for a month with different people to discuss several things, it was mostly just me doing the work that was assigned to me. 

How I came up with "Just One Sip" is that we are given twelve one page scripts to chose from in Directing 1. They're all pretty vague but you get to craft stories around why the dialogue is being told. The first day of class, I was assigned to shoot on a certain date at a certain time at the office soundstage at my college's TV studios (there's also a loft soundstage, it's much cooler and would have made more sense, but an office puts the stakes a little bit higher which was fun to direct). I like to do my assignments once they're assigned so after the first day of class I went home and just wrote my script. I knew I had to vaguely do something office themed, but I couldn't pick what. It took me about two hours to come up with the idea and write the script and I was very happy about the story I came up with. I love directing comedies but also with some interesting subtexts (here being their jobs being on the line and their professional relationship) so coming up with a borderline office comedy was fun for me. Outside of that, arranging crew was a piece of cake. Half the people that worked for me were assigned, and the other half were friends I knew could do the jobs I needed. I also had to recruit some extras, but luckily, most of them were classmates that were assigned to be on my set as unassigned extra crew. I love a challenge, but this project wasn't as challenging as I thought it would be. So many things were assigned to me, that I just had to focus on the creative part of the project. As much as that made things easier logistically, I would have loved to worry about some other things as well.

In my director's statement, I predicted how the set of "Just One Sip" would be really fun, and I was super right. At times, I had to call quiet on set because everyone just kept talking. I love how my extras were super in character to the point they made up Janet from accounting, an unseen coworker who everyone hated and was seemingly going through a divorce. I just gave them a simple prompt: "You work at an office. This is an office party. You can be yourself or come up with a new character" and they ran far with it. The cast and crew were just so comfortable working with each other that we had a fun environment on set. Another thing that I also predicted was that I did not have a safety net. Directing "A Spoonful", I had producers and assistant directors, cast and crew having my back at all times. I can say with full confidence that I missed each and every one of them on my set. I missed having a producer to ask if I was doing well and if I could have any feedback. I missed having a 1st AD who would be there to make sure I was ok with every shot. There has to be a time when I'm all on my own, and I felt very confident with how well I was able to do it. I cannot be more thankful that I was assigned to some incredible people who really put in their all into something they were forced to do. I am also incredibly thankful for all my friends who took time out of their day to work on my silly little Directing 1 project. And to my directing professor, if you ever stumble upon this, thank you for motivating me to prove you wrong. You said I would not be able to do seventeen shots in three hours, but I did, and I wrapped 45 minutes early, so thank you for motivating me to want to know my story so so so well that I could have my cast and crew moving efficiently. 

What I Learned

At this point, I feel like I am a decently experienced director. I can organize a cast and crew to come together for a project and do what they're supposed to, and also I can work with actors to prepare them for their role. One thing that really helped me was being assigned to do a Director's Statement and Breakdown. The statement helped me realize why I really care about the project (also a fun thing to use for my website) and the breakdown helped me understand the core of my characters, down to everything. I also took Scriptwriting 1 (CINE 145) at the same time, so we were also crafting characters there as well. Having the experience of knowing who your characters are and what they've gone through, why they are the way they are makes you feel even more connected to the story. The characters are like your closest friends, you know everything about them, but you never meet your characters, you just see someone pretend to be them. I had a lot of fun rehearsing with my actors, I love how they cared about their craft and my project. I was lucky enough that I got assigned actors (some other people in my class did not have that luxury) and they were also taking an acting class where acting in a Directing 1 project was an assignment. I also like how they asked questions, they made me question my own work in a certain way, but also if you know your work well enough, you usually have the answer to those questions. Being able to break down my characters helped me understand my story much better and helped me become a better director because I knew exactly what I wanted. 

Fun Facts

- Natalija had to register for her Spring 2025 classes at the same time her shoot started (she got all the classes she wanted)

-There were only two (2) takes of the drink being chugged (and Ani and Jessica killed it in both of them)

-It was a whole science to make the drink. It took Natalija and Mara several hours (and trips to Target, Jewel, and Joann's Fabric) to come up with the look they were going for

-The drink was inspired by a drink at Angry Monk, an asian restaurant in Belgrade, Serbia

Credits

Directed, Produced, Written, and Edited by - Natalija Plavšić

Director of Photography - Jackson Huwe

Production Designer - Mara Tanneberger

1st Assistant Director - Owen Piker

Gaffer/Grip/1st Assistant Camera - Teddi Karnes

Sound Mixer - Samuel Kuhrman

Boom Operator - Layla Gaspar

Featuring

Ani Bulleit as Olivia

Jessica Somuah as Carrie

Extras

Bella Durbin

Jack McGregor

Andy Bries

Dean Papayoanou