brighton

Bollocks to Process

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Last week was a very hectic week. Monday saw us kick off with some scenes in a flat in Hove. Two guys talking on Zoom. Simple enough, you’d think. But no! Because the minute computers get involved, all sorts of complications arise. Last time we did a similar scene, we’d learned something that now seems bleeding obvious: if you shoot an over-the-shoulder shot of someone on a Zoom call, the camera operator (and probably the sound guy, director and the AD) will also be visible. This time, the headaches came from a couple of the “digital props” I’d put together, such as images and web pages displayed on laptops. I hadn’t fully thought it through, so there was a fair bit of faffing around while we worked out the logistics.

Once those scenes were wrapped, we walked a mere 15 minutes north to a different flat in another block. Here we filmed a scene that was…..let’s say, quite lively. Part of it took place in the communal hallway, and the flat’s owner was worried that the neighbours might call the police. Thankfully, it all went off without incident, with excellent performances from Keaton and Stewart.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent back at the Hove flat with Keaton, Lamb, Simon and Oliver. These scenes are closer to the end of the film, where tensions rise and tempers flare, with lots of shouting and swearing, and in one particular scene, there were three of our allocated quota of “fucks” in a single sentence. As the script writer, it’s a remarkable feeling to see your vision brought to life by such skilled actors, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

At one point, piano music drifted from a nearby flat. A quick phone call later, and the guy had kindly agreed to refrain from playing, but I felt a bit guilty because our shoot was probably making a shocking racket.

Morgan did an outstanding job as DOP, and we managed to get some strong shots. Alistair on sound was brilliant too, especially as we were trying to make three different flats from one. He was nipping around, constantly checking the audio.

Chatting later, I remarked that we seem to spend much of our time finding ways around problems, and someone said that “Filmmaking is constant problem-solving”. I think they were spot on, particularly for indie filmmakers.

For example, the past week has really shown me the value of a script supervisor for continuity. When we shoot scenes from multiple angles, we have to repeat them several times, and each shot requires numerous takes. This has benefits and drawbacks. The upside: the actors have a chance to settle into the scene and find the best delivery. The downside: they sometimes have to repeat it too many times. Plus, someone has to remember every tiny detail – when she put her cup down, when she took off her coat, when he threw down his headphones, when he picked up his phone, and whether the door was open or closed in the last take. In short, someone has to monitor every bloody move the actors make. Months ago, Angela suggested hiring a script supervisor; I didn’t see the point at the time. Now I can. Luckily, Angela has taken on this role herself, and I’m incredibly grateful, although juggling it alongside wardrobe, casting, and AD duties is quite a load.

Another thing that struck me: after each take, everyone has comments about problems and improvements from their perspective. Sound, lighting, camera, continuity, dialogue. It can get quite fraught as we all try to get our points addressed before the next take. I’m still on a learning curve and a lot of what we do is improvisation, but each time I find myself considering how we can manage issues more efficiently, perhaps with a documented process.

But I just reread what I wrote: “ensure that issues are efficiently managed by a documented process”. I could have added that these processes could be measured against maturity levels, standardised, optimised – I spent too long in corporate life. That is the antithesis of this film!

Bollocks to process!!!!!!

This week, we’re releasing the first of Julie Russell’s interviews with the cast in two parts. Julie is chatting with Stewart, who plays Ray and Gillian, who plays Donna.

Next week, get that schedule pinned down and finalise that truck!

Interviews and a Message from the Universe

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Last week was fairly relaxed. We’d wrapped a shoot on the previous Friday, and with three more shoot days looming, it was time to catch up and do some maintenance. I’d wanted to get the outdoor scenes shot during the summer, but time is running out, so I spent most of last week juggling schedules. I have a tentative plan for four more shoot days, although I’m still chasing up confirmations for locations and from actors.

On Monday, Julie conducted interviews with two of the cast, Gillian and Stewart. These went well, and we’re editing them now with a plan to post sound bites on Instagram and a fuller version of the interview online – YouTube or whatever else people use these days.

Thursday evening was supposed to be a rehearsal session. Lamb couldn’t make it, so Pat kindly offered to read in for Myra. Lucky she did, because Simon couldn’t make it either which meant Pat ended up covering for both Myra and Bob. To her credit, she pulled it off with gusto. Lots of vim and vigour for both.

One of the great joys about indie filmmaking is the sheer range of random jobs you end up doing. Sunday had me combing Brighton’s charity shops for T-shirts for Bob. I didn’t find what I wanted, but I can confirm that Brighton’s unwanted clothing stockpile includes a plethora of Hard Rock Cafe and Mickey Mouse T-shirts. I was seriously flagging by the time I reached London Road, when the Universe sent me a pep talk via a shop window: “You must be patient and persistent. Even if you meet difficulties and setbacks, you must overcome them”. Yes, indeed.

Later on Sunday, we had a good rehearsal with Lamb and Keaton. The scenes were fairly fresh, and one in particular, a crucial one, fell flat. We all agreed that it didn’t work, so I spent Sunday evening reworking the script. Hopefully I’ve nailed it – we’ll find out soon enough.

That’s it for now. The coming week’s shaping up to be quite hectic: three shoot days all in the same flat, which has to stand in for three different flats on screen. We really think it’s doable, but undoubtedly we’ll be very busy.

House & Garden

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After a long, tiring day filming in the office on Sunday, we kicked off last week on Monday by prepping a house in Seaford. Angela, Nicky and I spent hours arranging furniture and props, getting everything ready for the shoot on Tuesday. We’d noticed that the garden looked stunning in the morning light, so we were hopeful for some great shots outside.

When we arrived on Tuesday it was raining, so we began with the interior scenes featuring Pat Garret and Angela Elise Munnoch. This was the first time both actors appeared in the film, although Angela has been working as the Assistant Director on most of the previous scenes. We certainly missed her AD skills, but both she and Pat gave really strong performances.

After Sunday’s office scenes, I’d assumed the house shoot would be a bit more relaxed and straightforward, especially with only three actors. How wrong was I? Lighting and framing the shots inside the house took far longer, maybe because we were aiming for more emotional depth. By 2pm we were still filming, so we broke for lunch before continuing with the interior scenes.

David Burton had been waiting patiently all day for his debut, but by 5pm we still hadn’t wrapped the interior scenes. So, I made the call to reschedule the garden scenes for another day. We finished up by capturing some nice B-roll of Pat and David strolling through the garden. Angela and I then prepped for a flashback scene with Isabella and Stephanie, both of whom gave excellent performances.

The rest of the week was mostly admin – scheduling and tinkering with Davinci Resolve 20 on my new editing PC. The old Apple screen I’d been using with my previous setup proved to be a bit antiquated, so I ordered a new 34-inch ultra-wide screen. Wow! What a difference! I was a bit concerned about the sound in some scenes, especially the one near Shoreham Port, where the noise from the ships was very noticeable. Plus, we’d been getting a strange crackling from the radio mics on some office recordings. I’ve had some success reducing background noise already, but the port recordings were still truly appalling… until I noticed a new button named “AI voice isolation”. Blimey! It’s like magic!

I also had a play with with colour grading and grabbed a few stills for promotional material. It’s all looking really promising.

Our next shoot is Friday, back at the house, and we’ve got a few days lined up in a flat in Brighton in a couple of weeks time. And we’re also very close to finalising our new Morgan character.

Breaking the Ice

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Last week, we actually made great progress on scheduling, and we now have seven dates in the calendar, including the house scene. Digital props, thanks to Andrew’s help, are now largely under control and should be ready for the relevant scenes. Corporate promotional material has arrived, as have all the components for the editing machine I have the pleasure of building. Yes, yes, all very productive – but the main success of last week was finally breaking the ice on filming.

On Sunday, Angela and Lamb arrived about 1pm and did a great job planning the clothes for Lamb’s scenes. Then off to a car park near Steyning for 4pm to begin the modest task of climbing the South Downs. I’ve done this many times before – it’s hard work but doable, though I don’t think any of us properly considered what it would be like hauling a trolley full of heavy filming kit up there. Turns out: awful.

There were moments when I genuinely started to question the wisdom of our location choice. But largely thanks to Morgan and Andrew (with some help from me and Angela), we made it to the top. To be fair, the view was stunning. So yes, we did the right thing.

We spent about three hours filming up there, during which time the actors wore a visible groove in the grass with all the walking.

Then, about 7pm, we headed down into Steyning for some more filming along a lane at the base of the Downs, just as the sun was dropping low and throwing some great light through the trees. Genuinely beautiful – I think we have some fantastic shots.

We paused in a car park for refreshments while we waited for darkness to fall. Steyning, as it turns out, is exceptionally well-stocked with car parks. With five cars between us, we did a lot of pausing in them, which quickly became a running joke.

As the street lights started coming on, we resumed filming in the town itself, finishing inevitably in yet another car park around midnight. By that point, I was thoroughly exhausted and I assume everyone else was too.

I could’ve done with Monday off, obviously, but we’d already planned another shoot in Shoreham. At 9:30am, we went with a minimal cast and crew – just me, Lamb and Keaton to shoot a short scene near the port. One thing we’ve learned, which should’ve been bleeding obvious months ago, is that ports are extremely noisy places. Bloody ships’ engines, reversing alarms, beeping forklifts, and what sounded suspiciously like a pneumatic drill decorated our audio recordings.

Since then, I’ve downloaded the footage onto my laptop and had a quick go at the sound. Some of it might be salvageable, but I’ll need to wait until my fantastic new mega PC is up and running to properly clean it up.

In other news, we’ve got another shoot lined up for Saturday. Should be easier – allegedly. Though let’s be honest, we’ll probably just swap hills and shipping containers with some pettifogging office irritants (POIs). Watch this space.

The main objective this week is to get all props, digital and physical, ready for Saturday and to prep the office environment, which until recently, has been used as a storage area.

Sunday was hard work, but it felt fantastic to finally stop talking about filming and actually do some. I think it was especially valuable for the two lead actors – they’re really beginning to settle into their characters now.

Early night tonight.