This time next week we will have completed our first day of shooting on Booked Out. The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind but things are all falling into place. I will try and remember all of the interesting things that have been happening over the last few days.
Yesterday I have the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with Sylvia Syms to discuss her role in the film with her. I was a bit nervous to be honest but things went really well and I think she is going to give a stellar performance. It was lovely to finally meet her and I definitely wanted to spend some time with her before standing on set directing her in the heat of the moment.
Myself and Jordan have been working through the script to produce a shot list for the film and everything always goes great till we get a scene in a dreaded stairwell or doorway then we see who is the best head scratcher. We have secured a single flat and are going to redress it three times as well as matching it up with other doorways within the block of flats.
So never before has someone walking in or out of a front door been such a big decision. As has two pages of dialogue as the two characters descend a flight of stairs. We even tried out some techniques on a stairwell with Jordan doing different variations of a man walking backwards down the stairs as I did my best impression as an actor.
We have a lot of crew on board but frankly none of them have time to give me photos or biographies to put up on the website. I remember when I created the website thinking that I would get them to write blogs during the shoot to explain the whole process but I slightly underestimated the amount of work that they are all putting in right now.
I have also been working with Sophie Howard on costumes and she has came up with some really interesting combination’s of clothes for each of the characters. Then there is the art department headed up by Sara Ranieri who is trying to get her head around how to make three flats out of one as well as trying to work out why I wanted so many Polaroid photographs in the film!
The actors have also started rehearsing with me and things are coming along well in that department. Today’s rehearsal in particular went well and I think we established a good tone for the film. I also held auditions last week and hope to be able to announce the remainder of the cast in the coming days.
So who knows how many days it has been since my first blog but it is finally right in front of me. The pieces are falling together and pretty soon all that will be left between me and my film is a three week filming period. Yesterday I thought to myself that the film is an upbeat quirky comedy so I need to treat the directing that way to make the film come across in the right way. It will also be more fun that way rather than stressing out for the three weeks. Controlled stress is the name of the game!
Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far as well as all of the crew that are surprising and delighting me on a daily basis at the minute.
Today I have mostly been watching our awesome DoP Jordan Cushing draw. Spent the day going through the script and our shortlist and armed with our location from yesterday we could start to piece everything together to work out how we are going to shoot the film. I am pretty exhausted now but it has been really great to work with such a talented individual that Jordan is. It also helps that he has been on the longest out of all the crew (who are on day 2!) so we have already discussed things a fair bit and he more or less got my vision of the film when we first met anyway so I feel confident that he is going to shoot the film that is in my head, only better!
Tonight especially was more like a geometry lesson as we were joined by our production designer to work out the overall geography of our apartments. I feel that we made a lot of progress tonight and started to really gel together as a unit. All the touches we added that weren’t written in the script just really bring the story to life and I think that is what it is all about. I think we brought Sara (our production designer) up to speed on what we had been discussing previously and on her second day she is in good shape to deliver what is required to tell the film in the best way possible.
More of the same tomorrow with the addition of some wonderful recces of numerous places that have been lined up for me and the team to view. My head can’t switch off from imagining the film after discussing it in detail today but this is what it is all about and I can feel my story coming to life.
Today all of the heads of department started on Booked Out and we held our first production meeting where we walked through the script page by page. It was great to meet everyone again and I am in no doubt now that the pressure is on and will only intensify from this moment forward. I feel as prepared as I can be and I am looking forward to the challenges that come ahead.
After the script read through I got a little time with each department head to answer their immediate questions before we were all on the road to go and visit a number of flats that are potential options for the main location of the film. I really like watching the various reactions of the department heads as they try to figure out whether the locations are workable. I am normally doing the same and it is amusing when you share a glance with each other to try and work out what the other person is thinking.
We found a great flat for the film and now need to get all the paperwork, etc sorted before we move in and prepare the place for the first day of filming. It feels good having an actual space to think about because it limits your options but also helps me to bend the images in my head onto an actual living and breathing space.
After the final location we all collected together in what seemed to be the dodgiest bar in London for a quick regroup and plan for the coming days ahead. I am definitely taking one day at a time at the moment but more because one day feels like a week!
Another missed update… whoops. Lots of thing kicking off but the main thing over the last couple of days for me was meeting up with Claireto discuss Jacquelineand to talk through the costume and production design with our crew. I think it is really important that each character gets the same attention as each other right down to the one liners.
Jacqueline is a really interesting character who is mostly mute throughout the film and is very internalised so it is a good challenge for Claire to get her teeth into. I feel that she already has went a few levels deeper with her character compared to what I went to when I was writing the story. In some ways I think we come to the story from different directions but ended up in the same place.
Apart from spending time with Jacqueline (Claire’s new name) I have also been meeting with even more crew people… I should stop mentioning this as you are probably getting a bit bored of it… as well as breaking down the script to understand what shots I want to do during the film and what potential direction to give to the actors for every scene. The way I see it I want to be as prepared as I can for every eventuality as we don’t have any time in our compressed schedule to take our time deliberating over problems.
We have scheduled our first production meeting for Tuesday when all of the crew will come on board. I think for me that is the point where things will go up another level towards the madness that will be the film shoot. It is a really exciting time and I am looking forward to seeing my story come to life.
Today I have been scaring myself as my mind wandered to thinking about what it is going to be like that first day on set and doing our first take. That is what the last year has been all about and it is so close I can almost touch it. It is pretty frightened. I feel like I have an exam tomorrow and I haven’t studied enough at the moment.
I think this is a good sign as it just makes me super aware of what I need to do in the next two weeks. Today I sorted myself out with a schedule of activities that I need to be part of to ensure that the crew know exactly what I want to make and from Monday I won’t really have time to myself to think and I will be having to speak to people about what they are doing and to guide them in the right direction so I want to get myself organised in the next couple of days to make sure that I can ride that way for what will be 5 weeks and come out the other side feeling satisfied with the job that I have done.
I spoke to a number of the cast and crew today about a various number of things from the draft schedule which is looking good, how we are going to cut Claire’s hair halfway through the shoot, arranging meetings based on a schedule that I have put together and speaking with Sam about everything and anything. As well as that I have been putting together a shot list for the film so I can review it with Jordan next week.
No time for Studio Ghibli films today unfortunately. Boo…
Today I have been mostly planning and meeting people and speaking to people and emailing people and planning… It feels that things are coming together. We have spoken with a number of crew now and there is another flurry of people joining the team. Hopefully they will send me their details for the website over the next day or so.
Apart from helping to recruit the right crew members I have also been re-doing my shot list against the latest version of the script, which is taking longer than I thought. I want to get an initial pass together so I can then focus more attention on key scenes that are going to require storyboarding, and to also understand what equipment we are going to require for each location as well.
There is the draft schedule to look over tonight as well and preparing images for the various creative individuals in the art department arena so I can give them an idea of what I want the film to look and feel like. All in all lots of stuff is happening and it really feels like the ball is rolling down the cliff at full speed and I am running 1mm in front of it. Exciting and terrifying at the same time. I’m just glad that there is a talented and motivated set of individuals coming on board.
I do have a confession to make though. On Sunday I managed to sneak into the cinema to watch the new Studio Ghibli film Ponyo. I love Studio Ghibli and had totally missed that it was coming out and then I walked past a poster for Ponyo and couldn’t resist.
Ponyo
For me a new Studio Ghibli film is like an event. Everything else must wait until I have watched the film. I love all the films but if you haven’t seen Nausica of the Valley of Wind or Princess Mononoke then I might not even talk to you! If you haven’t seen these two films you really should see them. I would happily watch one of these every day for a year… an idea possibly for next year… after Booked Out is finished! and… if you don’t think that the Wolf Princess is the coolest girl in the world then… arrggh!
The Wolf Princess = Cool
So back to Ponyo. I really loved the film but felt it ended a bit abruptly. I would still go and watch the film again. The character of Ponyo is so loveable. Tough, determined, cute, funny, beautiful but sadly not brought up by wolves so doesn’t displace the wolf princess for top Studio Ghibli girl. Now I am thinking is the Wolf Princess better than Totoro… now there is a question.. I will go and ponder this for the rest of the night!
Totoro
Myself and Sam got the great news today that Rollo Weeks has agreed to play the role of Jacob in Booked Out. Rollo was a stand out performer at the auditions and I feel that he will bring a wealth of humility and sensitivity to the role. The thing that really stood out with me with Rollo is that he really listened and adapted his performance not only to the direction he was given but also what the other actors were giving to him. This made the whole audition come alive in a way that no other did.
Rollo Weeks at the Booked Out audition
I am really excited about working with Rollo and in my head I am already imagining ways to work with him to allow him to get into character. From witnessing Rollo performing in the auditions I am positive that he has the potential to be breathtaking as Jacob and not it is my job to guide him in such a way to fulfill his potential.
I would like to welcome the following crew onto the film. Myself and Sam met with each person personally and everyone gave a really good impression and positive energy about the film. Hopefully you will hear more from some of them in the upcoming weeks if I can convince them to write blog entries for this site.
- John Wolstenholme – Executive Producer
- Doug Abbott – Executive
- Martin Walker – Location Manager
- Aleyha Ahmed – Production Assistant
Today nothing really happened with Dolly Mixtures but I am struggling to some up my day in a small number of words. I am more a cola cubes guy myself in case anyone is interested.
Our location manager Martin has been scouring London for some suitable locations so I spent a part of my day today reviewing those and providing feedback to him. We really need to find our main location within the next few days but Martin is doing a great job so I am in no doubt that he will get the job done.
I spent a part of the day thinking about camera movement and trying to define how exactly I want to move the camera, when I want to move it and how fast, etc. I have spammed some info of to Jordan to get his expert opinion on but I think it is vital to be able to tell the story in the most interesting and suitable way possible. If the acting is amazing then that may carry the whole film but great lines delivered well but not photographed appropriately can really affect the overall mood and tone of the film. Hopefully Jordan will concur with what I am thinking or at least tell me that I am crazy and we can work back from there.
I also went swing dancing tonight to relax a bit but also to try and sign some more dancers up as extras for the film. I will send out a separate call for dancers tomorrow as well as other roles in the film as extras.
I think I have maxed out on stills from other movies today! I am trying to get a reference set of images together to be able to share my “vision” with the various members of the production that are responsible for creating the look of the film. I think I have a reasonable starting point now to discuss things with everyone else or at least to be told that I am made or more likely that we don’t have enough money to make what I see appear on screen.
At the end of the day it will depend on the acting performances over and above everything else (no pressure guys) as its a character based film but personally I see the set design and costumes as an extension of the characters that are appearing within the film so they need to be right as if they are slightly off the viewer will be turned off. There has to be an overall palette as well as I don’t want the viewer to feel that they are watching three different films all at the same time.
So its nearly 2AM and I have just shipped a bunch of images to Jordan, who is in Canada this week, to get his opinion and thoughts on what I have came up with. Once he has reviewed them I will put a few of the stills up and go through with you what we have discussed!
Apart from speed watching films I also spent the day meeting more crew possibilities for the film and there is a high calibre of potential candidates out there. Just makes it harder to choose but hopefully we will make the right choices. Things definitely feel that they are happening thick and fast now. Not sure my day count above is correct but I will leave at as is just now not to confuse myself or someone else that we have missed a day.
