PTO is a dark comedy short directed by Taylor Becker, starring me! After receiving news that his vacation request had been denied, a burned-out employee deals with the repercussions of having the audacity to ask his manager for some time off.
I was this project's Director of Photography, Editor, Colorist, and Star. One of the fun challenges of this project was visually conveying the transition from depression to acceptance. Part of the challenge involved creating a muted color palette at the beginning that was still visually interesting. This palette also needed to contrast contextually with an overwhelmingly bright and saturated environment toward the end.
PTO is shot on a Blackmagic Cinema Pocket 4K Camera, with a 35mm SIRUI Anamorphic lens. The widest shots utilize a 9mm lens by LAOWA. This project was edited in Adobe Premiere Pro and color graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio.
