One lead actress, two rolesÖand two completely different worlds to create.

This was the principal challenge for the makers of ME MYSELF I, and one that went to the very heart of the two characters actress Rachel Griffiths was required to play.

For the single and slightly miserable Pamela One, director Pip Karmel wanted to create an inner city world that looked cool and blue, a little bit grungy. "Then once she goes into Pamela Two's life it almost looks like a margarine commercial. Suddenly she's in this clichÈ of family life and as that disintegrates as the story goes on, the colors are broken down a bit. By the time she goes back to her single life the contrast is sudden, there's more light and warmth and she sees that her own life has got potential," Pip said.

For veteran cinematographer Graeme Lind, this meant different shooting styles for the two different worlds.

"Pip and I were very much on the same wavelength when it came to the visual style of the film, and we've used different light to get different looks for Pamela One and Pamela Two," Graeme said.

"In Pamela One's world it's a bit darker, more hectic, there's a bit of pollution around, people are dodging cars and there are city scapes shot on very long lenses to squash them all up a bit and there's no diffusion - it's blue, cold and hard," he said. "In her apartment though, we don't go that far because she is escaping the outside environment."

"Pamela Two lives in the suburbs and the light is always shining there. The light is warm and the frames are not as chaotic. When Pamela One comes back from that world she takes a bit of that light with her, and the light in Pamela One's world becomes a little bit more sympathetic," he said.

"As a cinematographer," said Graeme, "The situation of Rachel playing two parts was by far the most challenging because it's very time consuming and expensive. Luckily in the commercial production house I worked in for 25 years, special effects was one of our fortes and we had a motion control unit in the studio, so we managed to get through it with relative ease," he said.

For the production designer Murray Picknett, the challenge in creating Pamela One's world was to design a set that spoke volumes about her life and personality.

"It was very important to Pip to have the audience identify with Pamela One as a real person whose life is a bit of a mess," Murray said.

"We found a 1920's style inner city apartment with high ceilings and paneled rooms with some big spaces, because we had to shoot an enormous amount of footage in her apartment.

"Her world is absolutely my idea of hell, but then I'm very fastidious! She's always got some little bit of renovation on the go in her newly purchased apartment and there are paint charts and wall paper falling everywhere, ladders and paint pots. She's very messy to say the least, but all of that mayhem is there to reflect the way she lives her life," he said.

"Finding Pamela Two's world was a bit more straightforward, it was just a matter of finding the suburban dream home."

After the filming process was completed, acclaimed film editor and Pip Karmel's colleague Denise Haratzis came on board to put the jigsaw together.

"One of the editor's roles is to be supportive of the director, and not only are Pip and I friends, but we were very much on the same wavelength for ME MYSELF I, so editing it was a very satisfying process," Denise said.

"Being a dialogue-based movie - and one that doesn't have a lot of "action" as such - the challenge was always going to be keeping the pace up to support a script that was really clever and wordy. I think the finished product looks great - every performance, even the smaller ones, are fantastic - and it's everything the script promised it would be," she said.

Denise Haratzis is a Melbourne-based editor whose film credits include Dead Letter Office and Love Serenade.

Graeme Lind is regarded as one of Australia's best cinematographers. His feature film credits include Whiplash, They're A Weird Mob, Age of Consent, Stone and The Removalists.

Murray Picknett has worked as a production designer for over 13 years, starting his career at the ABC. His feature film credits include Waiting and Passion.