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Thursday 8th February
February 8th, 2007Keeps on rolling…
…so finally we might have our web designer. Hooray! It feels like it’s been more effort than getting the movie made. Met up with Greg (the designer) last night. Really good guy I think he will fit in well with our little band of brothers (and sisters). He appears to have the mix that I’m looking for in all the team a hunger to do something special, good technical skills, left field sensibilities and a quiet confidence in his own abilities. The plan is to let him to think things over, then meet up with Rob, Hels and me mid Feb with the aim of getting the site up and running about two weeks later. It’s an ambitious schedule but it will bloody great if we can achieve it.
Greg was also the first person not directly related to the project to see the trailer and luckily he thought it was great. Putting the trailer together has been more difficult than I thought, for 3 reasons. First, the movie is not a genre picture and the main point is that it has been constructed to have space to breathe, i.e. it’s not about lots of quick action scenes which give a good sugar rush but have no real substance. That makes for a hard time when you want to fill only 2 mins.
Second, I have often read that you donÂ’t know what your film is about until you start editing. I’ve always thought this was bullshit but actually it’s not. Little themes that were buried start to emerge, some characters who were less important come to the fore and vice versa. Very disheartening for an actor as it may mean that a lot of your scenes are cut, even though you gave a great performance. The long and the short is that when you start the edit as director you should let the editor have a lot of freedom. He should listen to your initial view and construct the scene in his own way (probably with you not being present in the editing suite when he weaves his magic). If you don’t like all of the results, you can always go back and work together to get back to your initial vision. But in the first instance it is definitely worth letting your editor do his stuff. Always remember that old chestnut, FILM IS A COLLABORATIVE ART FORM - another one to tattoo on the back of your hand.
The third reason that it was difficult to put the trailer together was because I wasn’t sure what the brief was. Screen South had asked to see some footage and so I guess that I had taken that literally (a failing of mine) thinking that they would want to see a mixed selection of footage. Well Mel started doing that but it wasn’t really working well. All parts of any film relate to the rest of the film; taking things in isolation means that they are weakened - you need links and a narrative thread. So after I left the edit suite I was a bit down and not sure of what we were trying to achieve.
Late Sunday night Mel texts and says he has been working hard and that he is pretty happy with how it looks. I ask to go over and take a look and when he plays it I’m blown away. He has focused on the mood and atmosphere so the trailer looks stunning visually without giving away too much of the story, perfect! I make some suggestions and by the time it’s finished I’m thrilled. At this stage I must have seen the clip 30+ times but each and every time it gives me goose bumps.
We burn some DVD’s and now I have a great marketing tool. And finally, after over a year’s very intense, long, hard work I can show friends and family something that really represents the story/look/feel of what we are trying to achieve. It’s a great feeling.
Friday 2nd February
February 2nd, 2007I’ve noticed that my mood is often dependant on how things are going with the film, hence no diary entries for 2 weeks. I know it’s wrong; everything in life goes in cycles and so there are bound to be good weeks and bad weeks. Today things have started to build up pace again. I imagined that getting the film shot would be the hard thing but in fact I think that the real battles are during the post production process. The other directors I have spoken to or read about, i.e. the ones with bugger all money, find that you are always going to get bumped for paid gigs - that’s inevitable and understandable but it doesn’t lessen the frustration.
I’ve decided to delay slightly getting the DVD trailer to Screen South to ensure that it is in the best shape possible - not perfect but very good. So Big Al is sorting out the packaging so we have some good pix on the box, Mel and I fine tuned the visuals a couple of days ago and this Saturday I have a really good meeting lined up with a potential sound editor. He has a very impressive track record, is Brighton based, sounds nice and open on the phone. It would be great to get the position filled ASAP so that the sound on the trailer can be cleaned up. It’s not at all bad at the moment but could definitely be improved with a bit of play.
The big hassles for me at the moment are:
1. Getting all the contracts rounded up - bit of a bus man’s holiday for me
2. Getting all the stuff coordinated for the web site (of course this gets done fine, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading these words now!)
3. Ambient music. The guy I had lined up is just proving so unreliable.
We discussed the music 8 months ago. In that time he hasn’t managed to be free for a single meeting, I’ve lost track of how many possible dates I’ve suggested so I really think it is time to go elsewhere. The sound editor guy said he could probably help with some good connections, would be great to have a sound track as good as the visuals.
I’m watching a lot of movies at the moment and trying to see non mainstream stuff, as well as the usual multiplex offerings. The more movies and trailers I watch the happier I feel about MIAB. All the people who see the trailer pretty much make the same two comments; that it is intriguing and that it doesnÂ’t look like anything they have seen before - the two major aims when we set out back in Jan 2006.
The point in time that I really focus on is that moment when the lights come on at the Duke of York and I have just watched the whole movie on a big screen with the rest of the cast and crew that’s going to be such an amazing feeling. Between now and then (sometime in May, I hope) there is just masses to do. The edit seems like a huge task but I have sent Mel some scene by scene notes that so that he can get on with his vision and then call me in to get my input.
Time for more phone calls, i think…
Thursday 1st February
February 1st, 2007Hooray! Things are starting to speed up, lots of exciting things to look forward to in the next week. Finally made some progress getting the contract with the band sorted. Once that’s been signed we can get cracking on editing the music video. Then the music video can go on both myspace and our web site and talking of web sites, what a total pain it’s been! We have got through 3 sets of designers trying to find someone who has the skills and determination to make it happen. In the end after so many no shows and dead ends, we have decided to do it on Helen’s all singing, all dancing gorgeous iMac. The end result may not be quite as posh as I’d initially hoped but we will be able to modify it ourselves and at least itÂ’s a start - without it you wouldn’t be reading this now!
The best thing is that Mel has now got more time free to really blitz the edit. My meeting with Screen South will be so much more productive if they can see some footage before the meeting. So the plan is to have the trailer finished by the end of Friday and then get it over to Screen South so they can gauge what approach we should be taking with our marketing. Also, starting to put together the bare bones of the film making course we are hoping to run. Rob has made clear that for it to be really popular it needs to be fun and have loads of audience participation, totally agree.
Can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel…but know we are getting that much closer now…
Friday 19th January
January 19th, 2007This is a very testing day.
It starts with Bee, who is writing the incidental music, calling to say that his computer has crashed and that all the music may have been lost. HeÂ’s got a computer guru on the case but we need to be prepared for the worst. I’m disappointed for him but this isn’t a disaster if the worst comes to the worst, he can re-record the material.
Next, over to Mel’s for some more editing. We look for some footage and can’t find it anywhere - where we think it is, is just a big blank bit of tape. Very worrying. I ring Geoff and he says that he has watched that particular piece of footage he knows it’s there. I’m trying to stay calm but its bloody worrying, where has it gone? And what happens if there is other footage missing? It’s nobody’s fault but I need to find out what has gone on and why. We have now wasted 2 hours looking for this bloody footage. Time to forget about it and get on with editing something else.
Then the phone goes, it’s Geoff. He thinks that he has the answer. He did that particular mornings shoot on HD by mistake. Mel’s system is probably not picking it up. I agree that I think that is what has happened. So we will need to go back to the camera hire company and somehow play the footage from the camera onto a non HD deck. We need to go back there anyway to re-shoot a few odds and sods that I have missed along the way so it’s no big deal.
Then it’s over to meet Ade and Rob prior to our website meet. Ade comes up with some really good, big ideas and we head over to the sea front apartments for our main meet. At the meet it’s instantly clear that not a thing has been done by the design agency since we last met. In fact, this is the 5th meeting in 5 months with practically zero output from them. I’ve really had enough of this. At this rate I will be taking the film out cold with no marketing to back it up. Time to find a new technology/marketing team.
Wednesday 17th January
January 17th, 2007Screen South open day, Sevenoaks, in Kent. I leave Brighton with plenty of time for the hour long drive not realising that an ark would have been a more appropriate form of transport than my car. The M25 is foul, next to no visibility and when I arrive I get drenched walking from the car park to the cinema.
There are about 30 or so people attending the course and when we go around and say who we are it seems there is a good cross section but no-one else is working on a feature. Very sensible, they obviously want to keep their sanity and have a life away from movie making. We all give a 30 second description of ourselves and when I say that I’m not after money there is an audible gasp from Jo, the Head of Screen South - that never happens as everyone wants a hand out.
The mornings lectures are all very good and actually two of them giving me ideas for future screen plays so an excellent start to the day. I chat to the guy sitting next to me, Ade, and he has lots of experience with websites and marketing two huge holes in my CV. I tell him about the project and he is very interested so we swap details and arrange to meet up two days later. The afternoon is taken up waiting for a 15 minute slot to talk to Jo, the boss. The group before me are four very excitable women who clearly want 15 days, not 15 minutes, of Jo’s time. She looks relieved to see them finally get up and go.
Jo’s first words as I sit down are please let me be calm. I explain a little about the project and Jo says that she likes the sound of it and goes on to talk about some similar projects (in terms of scale/evolution, not subject matter) which will probably be of relevance. The key point is that they need to be involved ASAP; first cut is about the last chance for them to take an active role, any later than that and it becomes difficult because they can’t have any artistic input. Jo says that the head of development actually lives in Brighton and that I need to contact her, explain the project in detail and show her some of the footage.
The areas that I hope that Screen South can really assist with are getting a festival plan together and putting us in touch with distributors. Jo says these shouldn’t be a problem and also that they are very good at sorting out mentoring. This is fab news, as these are the final missing parts of the jigsaw - I feel comfortable about delivering a film but what then? Getting the film out and sold was always going to involve a huge amount of trial and error and I’m not good at making it up as I go along I’m much better with a plan. From the outside I’m sure that it looks like the project has been assembled quickly with not much planning
but that’s not the case at all. Everything has had a lot of research and thought as they say, it normally takes 10 years to become an overnight sensation! Well in my case it’s been 15!
I leave the day feeling very pleased that we finally have some contacts on the inside. You can go so far by going it alone but it’s not possible to go all the way without industry help. The collaborative nature of film means that if you want to do it for real then you must be invited into the club. I guess we are about to go on probation.
