This entire sequence takes place in a huge, disorienting, concrete stairwell. Everything is grey, cold and sterile. The lighting is beautiful but hard providing us with a world of crushed blacks and bright whites.

The camera starts out locked off at the base of the stairs. A sliver of light floats across the cold, grey concrete revealing the title, Homeland. A pair of patent leather pumps dash by the camera lens, we hold a moment, taking in what is happening. The methodical clank of Carrie’s heels echo in the cavernous stairwell. You assume something terrible has happened and she is being chased. The lighting is exquisite and cascades over each stair and through each rail. Suddenly we cut to a shot of Brody’s shoulder quickly passing through the frame as he runs down what appears to be the same set of stairs. They are unaware of each other and will impossibly never intersect. The camera follows, finds and catches emotional glimpses of each of them as they frantically run up or down the infinite set of stairs. They seem panicked and on the verge of being caught. The sense of urgency and tension is thrilling.

The camera begins to pull out of the stairwell revealing it’s impossible, escher-like structure. Nothing physically makes sense but is somehow visually connected. We see Carrie running up one side of the stairs, and Brody running down the opposite side. This gestalt matrix represents the mind game that both of them are in, the extreme differences their characters struggle with and the obsessive nature of the chase. We end revealing the entire structure and how our characters are trapped in it, running in circles, exhausting themselves. They both simultaneously stop running and end up lining up perfectly on opposite sides of the stairs, still unaware of each other.