All Change!

Once again I find myself updating the Blog on a Friday evening. I’m beginning to wonder if this is the only free time I have! It’s barely been a few weeks since we finished filming Etiquette and already I’ve become completely restless, wanting to find another project to keep me out of mischief. Enter Gail Hackston (aka ScriptPunk) who I’ve been chatting with on Twitter. She pitched a few short ideas to me which I then narrowed down to a couple I’d consider. After reading, I’m happy to report I have selected a follow-up project which is called Spare Change.

This is a smaller project than either Gardening and other crime or Etiquette (my films are getting smaller in length – I’ll never get to make a feature at this rate). In other ways it will actually be more challenging technically speaking (did someone utter those words which every film-maker fears – “night-shoot”?). It is also quite a departure from the style of the previous projects (must keep shaking things up and pushing myself!). I’m thinking of releasing this as a charity project to raise awareness for homeless people.

It’s all rather exciting and very early days still. Suspect we would be looking to shoot this sometime early next year. I’m happy to say that Layla Mirmalek (who not only acts, but also produces some wonderful mural art – see below) has agreed to help with storyboarding.

Sherilee will also be returning as producer. In fact I will aim to retain as many people as I can from the last shoot as it went so smoothly. I will be speaking to Sherilee in more detail about this project over the next week. We will also be going over Etiquette editing. Our current estimate for releasing Etiquette is sometime around January/February. Our Indiegogo campaign has ended now and we raised $185, which after fees works out at about $137. Of course we spent (and will still need to spend) more than this, but even so I have to say a massive thank-you to every who contributed, it really helped!

Mentioning murals earlier reminds me of a local thing which saddens me. It appears that the wonderful Jericho mural in Oxford is being ripped down along with the wonderful building it hangs off.

(Special thanks to Max Bradbury who let me borrow his camera at lunch to take these snaps)

I was really hoping to use this building for a period project as it has some wonderful historical coffee/tea adverts over some of the windows (which I assume might even be a hang-over from the days of Window taxes). Such a shame! And what will be in it’s place? A Tesco store! We clearly need another Tesco store, especially as there is a Co-Op a few metres down the street. Ho-hum!

Anyway, below are a couple of photos I took of it when it first opened in 2009. It added a real vibrant splash of colour to the community. I know it was well loved by most of the locals also, will be sad to see it go!

You can also click here to see some photos by JudyGr.

Calm before the storm?

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks and it’s getting more hectic by the day now. Am I really shooting another film this weekend?

Last weekend I had a rare break to see local film-maker Philip Hind and his screening of The Ultimate Survivor.

This (if you can’t be bothered to click on the YouTube link above) is a documentary about The Ultimate Picture Palace, one of the oldest and most unique cinemas in the country. It was an amazing debut effort, which I was glad to finally see – in part because I knew Philip before-hand. I have been holding off seeing this at other festivals because I specifically wanted to go to the screening to support our amazing local library at Kennington (which has been threatened with closure). It was marvellous to see how the community was pulling together to create this event. It was also lovely that a reception drink + pop-corn were provided as part of the entrance fee. After seeing the film, I stayed behind and helped Phil pack up and we went across the road for a pint in The Tandem to discuss the film. It was amazing to hear how he made this with such a low-budget and fascinating to hear him talk candidly about the parts he wasn’t entirely happy about (which I hadn’t even noticed until they were pointed out). This all put me in the perfect mood for the weekend’s other big event: the pre-shooting production meeting with script read-through!

Despite many of the cast and crew (myself included) discovering that Oxford is a total nightmare to park in (even on a Sunday with the new scandalous parking charges), this all went rather well. Our entire cast were there, as was Sherilee, Production stills photographer Ben Ewers and DoP Adam Evans. This aims of the meeting were:

1. To get everyone acquainted with each other before the shoot
2. To get some further photos, some of which may be required as props in the film
3. To go over costume looks for each of the characters
4. To go over the timings/locations for the weekend shoot
5. To do the script read through

We all got on very well, there was a nice laid-back atmosphere with plenty of banter. It turned out that two of the actors (Tracey and Mike) had already worked together before, unknown to others (including me). I really can’t thank Ben enough, he was working tirelessly throughout the whole meeting taking prop photos, promotional shots, costume shots, behind the scenes shots. And then we got to the script read-through part. This was actually a moment of clarity, the point where all the things we had been talking about for the past couple of months were starting to feel very real.  The reactions and mannerism of our actors made the whole piece come to life rather than just being words on a page. Many laughs, some wonderful improvisation (which will benefit the project) – I have to say it feels like we have an amazing cast in place!

It was also good to meet and chat with Adam Evans in person. I feel he is going to help the look of the film no end and has come up with some great shooting ideas. One of the defining moments in the story will be handled with a few carefully choreographed dolly movements, exciting! You can find some further behind the scenes shots from this on the Ferny Films Facebook page, please remember to “like” us if you want more bite-sized updates!

So now you might be forgiven for thinking everything is going swimmingly. Well, not entirely. It’s all crisis management. Firstly the aforementioned Dolly is proving a pain to try to source and could end up doubling our budget if not significantly more. Also our sound-recordist has dropped out at the last-minute with little warning – this hasn’t helped. So in between Sherilee and myself trying to organise the weekend shoot, we are also working out how we can plug these type of problems which occur. Par for the course at this point really!

Just a final unsubtle reminder, if you are able to help out in any way, please get in touch via our IndieGoGo campaign page (especially if you are a sound-recordist or dolly/slider owner who is free this weekend – or you know one!).  Next update is likely to deal with how the actual shoot went and what compromises we had to make. Until next time!

Casting – Round one

Just a quick update. Sherilee and I held our first casting session last night along with Jeff (our runner) and Ben Ewers (who is handling production stills) – want to say a big thank-you to you all for your efforts.

The first thing I recall about it was how difficult it must have been for the actors and actresses that came in. I guess this is why they are actors and I am the person who sits behind the camera. Only I didn’t – I occasionally found myself stepping in-front of the camera so the actors had someone to bounce-off. Aside from my dismal efforts on camera I have to say there was a wonderful display of talent, also surprising to see how varied they all were in their individual approaches.  An extremely enthusiastic and likable bunch too! Some fit their characters like a glove, some took the scripted characters and did unexpected things with them or gave them motivations or histories we didn’t see coming – opening up a huge range of possibilities. A special mention should go to the people who travelled a significant distance especially to turn up. Of course there were one or two inevitable “no shows” – but to be honest we were so busy chatting away that there weren’t any gaps in the schedule. The worst part about this process is that at some point we have to make some decisions on who ends up getting a role and to be honest – I would happily work with any of them.

The other thing when I think back is how completely exhausting this process is. I didn’t feel this at the time because I was caught up in the moment, by the time I’d returned home at 11pm – boy was I was ready to drop! The good news is that we go and do exactly the same thing again on Friday. Can’t wait, but hope for a good night of sleep afterwards (kids are you reading this?).

Just noticed a very timely video entry on Chris Jones’ blog: “How to attract actors to your project” with Jessica Hynes and Stephen Mangan.

One final bit of news before I bow out for the evening, I have finally updated some of the content on my website – feel free to send some feedback on:

www.fernyfilms.co.uk

Composing productions

No one will ever truly appreciate how much work goes into making a film except the actual filmmaker. A simple but rather depressing fact which filmmaker’s need to accept early on. You spend ages honing the script, storyboarding, working with actors, making creative decisions about the locations, costumes, shots, editing – half of which is only on-screen for a second, or in some cases not at all. Once the shoot is done – a handful of people think the final film is done and it just magically sprouts out of thin air (all snappily edited, colour corrected and sound mixed). If only!

This blog is a form of therapy for me, hopefully I’ll sit down in years to come and remind myself how I spent hours agonising over the smallest details. These are details which most people will never notice or appreciate. They are vital for the story, but will cost an unbelievable amount of time, effort and energy to work through. To add insult to injury the audience will highlight a completely new range of issues (usually even larger) which have been over-looked. It can drive you insane thinking about it!

Well, it appears I’m about to step through this whole cycle again with Etiquette, albeit thankfully on a much smaller scale than with Gardening and other crimes. This is really just an exercise in sharpening up and expanding my film-making skills which I haven’t really been using to great effect recently.

I’ve just taken Dan Collier’s original script and adapted it. What I found interesting is how the original script differed from the final production. I actually happen to think some of the creative choices made during the shoot greatly benefited it. Therefore I’ve made the decision to keep things closer to the filmed version for now. I’ve also added a couple of small tweaks, I always like to have some additional input into the script no matter how small. Whether or not these changes work remain to be seen.

Sherilee (producer) has seen the script and we are both preparing ourselves to go off on the pre-production hamster wheel. We have planned a production meeting next week where the agenda will cover the usual pre-production topics (eg. who, when, how and where) including:

1. Script thoughts/changes. The goal of this will be to remove anything which doesn’t work or isn’t needed and keep the production as simplistic as possible.
2. Casting (there are seven characters in the script). We will need to fill these somehow.
3. Crew members. Part of this is deciding how we will film the project and therefore what skills we need. Hopefully being a smaller production, the crew size will also be small but flexible. We need to find people to do these roles (eg. DoP, camera operators, lighting, sound recording, make-up, continuity, runners, catering etc).
4. A list of equipment needed to make the film.
5. Scheduling when we are planning to shoot (still in flux, part of this comes down to the availability of cast, crew. It might also come down to locations or equipment availability too).
6. Locations. Most of the film can hopefully be handled in one location, moving a film-team around can eat up a surprising amount of time. I found this out the hard way on Gardening. The opening scene was set one house, but we ended up using four different locations for the various parts of the house (one for the front door/stairs, one for the bathroom (a scene we ultimately cut), one for the kitchen/bedroom and another for a kitchen scene). Logistically I’m very keen to avoid that this time around.
7. Props list and where we plan to source them. This is also likely to cover the costumes which are required for the characters. Actor input will no doubt affect some of these decisions further down the line.

For the meeting I’m also in the process of creating some rough storyboards from Dan’s version to give Sherilee a visual idea of what we need to achieve. I suspect the final storyboards will end up being quite different, but this is a great starting point for now.

Etiquette storyboarding

To be honest making a film can be a lot like writing music: there are many elements which need to come together, in the correct tone, in some semblance of order at the right time with many potential creative paths which lead to completion.

For the next part of this blog entry I am going to share the basic musical process travelled to create the recent Etiquette tune. As quoted in an earlier post. the track took 30 minutes or so to assemble and features only a handful of instruments (making it one of my less complex tunes). Because it isn’t a complex piece it is easier to show how things fit together. I found using a small number of instruments liberating, a throwback to my early days using a 4 channel Soundtracker sequencer on the Amiga – which is how I originally started to compose tracks, one or two of which I’d rather forget 🙂

So what did I use to create the track? Firstly there is the sequencing/recording software itself  for which I am using an older version of Cakewalk Sonar. I’ll be honest and say I don’t find this version the most intuitive package ever – but it does the job. The keyboard is a M-Audio keystation 88ES, for the price you can’t argue but it’s not exactly what you could call a compact (it takes out most of my room). For the sound library I’m using the East West Quantum Leap Complete Composers Collection set (in particular the Symphonic Orchestra Gold instruments, which is because I love orchestral scores). This library (which is to be fair awesome) is a complete monster and takes up over half my hard-drive. I now see it’s sold on a dedicated hard-drive which makes sense, it took me a whole day to install it from DVDs!).

Now that I have my tools, all I need to do is write the tune!

The first thing I try to do is establish the tone and character of the piece. This initially is in terms of the instruments I plan to use and it turns out to be one of the most time consuming/difficult parts of the process. I tend to have a lot of instruments at this stage whilst I experiment, but always add a piano for identifying melodies and chords. Once I have identified my orchestral palette, I start to colour in (which is the fun bit). Click on the links to hear how things build up to the final track!

01. Setting the tone – Pizzicato Strings
For Etiquette, I started with Pizzicato (plucked) strings, which had a snappy but almost comical urgency about them. The first thing composed was the low backing for the track which set a nice tone which I could form a melody over.  I play everything in live on keyboard. This does tend to mean that the timing isn’t going to be 100% perfect, but it lends a human element which I really like.

02. Adding some awkwardness – Tuba
Pizzicato strings were a good start, but it didn’t feel like we were fully there yet. To finish the backing off I wanted to compliment these with the backing of a Tuba. For some reason I was always going to use a Tuba as I envisaged the Etiquette tune to have some oompa-loompa elements. I also wanted to experiment with the timings so that there was some sense of awkwardness timing-wise against the Pizzicato backing – which is in keeping with the main character.

03. Pizzicato and Tuba combo
On its own the Tuba sounds rather awkward, but with the Pizzicato’s added in it, the tune still flows musically. So we now have our backing.

04. The catchy part – Marimba
So now comes the difficult part, coming up with a catchy melody. For this I used a Marimba. This kept melody playful, light and also seemed to give the piece a Thomas Newman American Beauty feel.

05. Pizzicato, Tuba and Marimba
When added together you can hear that the tune is more or less there now.

06. Adding bounce – Harp
Despite this fact something is missing, for this I added a harp. This is to give the tune an extra flutter of energy which it was otherwise lacking.

07. Pizzicato, Tuba, Marimba and Harp
The tune is now slightly more dynamic and the harp compliments the Pizzicato strings in particular.

08. Adding the finishing touch – Alto Flute
This is merely some cosmetic sprinkling on top. The alto-flute isn’t strictly necessary, but it gave the tune an extra human touch when doubled up with the marimba. Unlike the other instruments I had to get the emotion of the flute just right (if played flat it lacks depth and therefore feels artificial and lifeless).

09. Et voilà
The final piece all together! Again, like post-production – this isn’t exactly where the process ends (even if my blog entry does). The piece will then need to mixing correctly into the final track.I won’t go through this process here, as it’s mostly a case of experimenting.

I think that is enough from me for this time, but I’ll aim to keep you posted on how the production meeting goes next week.

Etiquette

As a creative type I should get in to a routine of updating this blog in a frequent manner. The reason for not doing so is part because I need to inspiration to write and part because I like to keep myself busy in creative terms. If I don’t blog for a bit, I end up like a shaken Coke bottle which is ready to explode with everything that has recently happened. This can be quite an exhausting process to go through, so I will try and update smaller amounts of information more often in the future (although I can’t promise). Hence this blog will be written in a quicker manner than some of my previous entries, and it is highly likely to descend into somewhat of a ramble (good luck if you make it to the end).

So what’s been happening?

Well, I’ve had a few meetings with Producer Sherilee who is keen to push me along with the Flanders project. This is honestly very refreshing, I met far too many indifferent potential producers – I need one who chases me rather than the other way around. She is also keen to nuture and give young talent a chance – something I believe strongly in. She announced on her last meeting that she is already stockpiling things we can use for the project (including a lucky run-in with some old army uniforms at a charity shop). Little things such as this tell me she believes in the project as much as I do, which is reassuring to know. She is keen to get the theatre production going, so we have now set ourselves an ambitious deadline (that I won’t reveal just yet). All I will say is that poor Bruce will have his work cut out (I’ve been offering him some support for the play as he’s been suffering a bit of writer’s block recently). Meanwhile I’ve also been looking at some actor showreels for the various roles, I always find this bit rather exciting. One in particular really looked promising, fingers crossed but it is still very early days. The first stage once the play is done will be to workshop with some actors.

What else? Well I went to the Guerilla Film-maker’s Barbeque last weekend at Ealing Studios. This was a somewhat daunting affair as I didn’t really know anyone when I arrived and everybody seemed to already talking in rather large groups. I literally threw myself in the deep-end and went for it as part of being a film-maker is you have to go outside of your comfort zone. Actually when I say I didn’t know anyone, I did know a few folks from Twitter, but it was hard to find any recognisable faces in amongst the sea of people. I met an awful lot of writers and a fellow composers, some amazing talent was out there. The only person I recognised from the original master-class was Ben Jacobson. He was there with his adorable daughter Holly, who can be seen in one of his shorts called Candy Crime here. This short was written by Leilani Holmes, who is awesome (I say because she is one of the more established Twitter folk on the guerilla film-making scene (@momentsoffilm), but she still very kindly took the time to guide me through things when I first joined). How she finds time to socialise, document as much information as she does and still make films is completly bewildering to me. Originally I was hoping to catch up with her at the master-class in June, this never happened but thankfully this time we did manage to meet up. She is currently producing an ambitous short film called Clowning Around with Graham Inman (who I still haven’t met in person – but follow his tweets) and the director Damien Cullen.

This project was to be my very first sponsor on Indiegogo which is a place people can sponsor film-makers (please feel free to donate to this project if there is still time – about 20 days left currently). I figured it was time that I gave something into the system and I frankly I wasn’t aware of a more deserving project or group of individuals. After I jumped on sponsor bandwagon I noticed a few of my other fellow masterclass pals (including Chris Jones himself – who even dedicated a blog entry to it) shortly followed. It was great chatting to the clowning team about the project, both Damien and Leilani were instantly likable, candid and down to earth – I’ve no doubt that this short will be absolutely fantastic when it’s shot (probably in October). Another film I’ve also been supporting is Moments by Ida Akesson (again someone I met at the original masterclass). Watch it here and if you like it – perhaps leave it a vote.

I’ve still been tinkering around a little bit musically. As mentioned in my last entry, David Arnold sang a lovely heart-felt accoustic number at the John Barry memorial concert. The concert was broadcast on BBC Radio a number of couple of weeks later, so I took his accoustic source and decided to add a few orchestrals to it. Part inspired by amazing lyricist Don Black’s recollection that John liked simple things (especially with lyrics), I tried to keep the orchestration generally unfussy. There is a little John Barry nod I put in at just after the 1 minute 30 mark. I’m not linking this track to my website but you can download it from here.

I’m pleased to report that this seemed to go down well with David Arnold himself!

Whilst on the John Barry topic, I obtained one of only 5000 copies of his reject score to The Golden Child from La La Land.

For anyone who misses his Bond scores, this is a must – track 7 (Follow That Bird) is an absolutely beautiful piece. It is strangely reminiscent of The Specialist (a wonderful score to a bland movie), I suspect that some of this work might have been reworked. Anyone interested might want to get this quickly as it’s a limited print run. It also contains the original score by Michel Colombier, which is great fun with its mid 80’s Axel-F style vibe.

The final news to report is that I have been offering support to another Oxford film-maker called Daniel Collier who has made a short film called Etiquette. I’ve given feedback, and even had a go at re-editing it to make it even tighter. Part of this re-edit also involved composing a title-theme for the piece. Now the strange thing about composing is that sometimes you can bang away at the keyboard and nothing happens. However the other night something magical happened. I didn’t have long to come up with the tune, I had the idea I would only use a maximum of 4 or 5 instruments, these being a Marimba for the main melody, and using Tuba and pizzicato strings for the backing. I ended up using a harp + flute also. Within 30 minutes the breezy melody was finished – I was after something warm/fluffy and Thomas Newman-esque. Within that time I also managed to compose another melody for the film and a completely alternate motif which I’ll save for a future project – I felt on fire! Perhaps limiting to a few instruments helped. You can listen to the main melody for the score here:

Etiquette Main Titles

I haven’t shown Dan my edit yet, but he has graciously given me the script for this and is allowing me to re-film it for experimental purposes. I have offered to promote his version where-ever I can, the reasons I am planning to re-film this is:

1. It’s good practice
2. It’s mostly set in one location with only a handful of characters
3. It’s fun!
4. I want to practice using a DSLR for filming, something I haven’t played with much – but I need to get my hands dirty.
5. I want to practice directing actors
6. I get bored in between larger projects when waiting for things to happen. This keeps me out of mischief for a bit!
7. I want to test out some potential crew/actors to team up with in future productions
8. I want to add a 2011 production to my list, and time is running out!
9. It’s fun!

Mostly just because it’s fun and I want to practice. So I will keep you updated on both this and if there is news to report on Dan’s version (perhaps the main titles may even put in a reappearance in some form).  Right, I think I’ve written enough for now and well done for making it through this far.

Pondering coincidences

It’s been a while (sorry). Film-making is strange business in that sometimes things seem completely dead in the water, then all of a sudden out of nowhere a huge tidal wave of activity can happen.

I’ve been doing the usual routine of meeting up with potential collaborators, sending the script out to other writing folk and compiling feedback. I think the thing which is becoming clearer in my mind is that the story is there, but the focus and the characters aren’t. This obviously needs addressing because without the foundation of a solid screenplay, things won’t (and indeed shouldn’t) progress. So I pondered for a bit, then pondered some more. In amongst all this pondering I stumbled across a thread from a guerilla film-making forum which I occasionally read. The thread was entitled “Is anyone interested in theatre as well as film?” by Emma King-Farlow (please check out the Children’s book she has written called Uncle Alonzo’s Beard).

This immediatedly reminded me of one of the many stories that David Seidler told at the master-class. The script to the King’s Speech wasn’t working (coincidently for the same type of reasons) so he asked his wife what he should do about it. His wife being a rather pragmatic sort said “Have you considered turning it into a play? This will force you to focus on what is really important“. This is exactly what he did, the focus was found, everything else fell into place and of course the rest is (Oscar winning) history. Feeling somewhat worn down by the fact that our script in it’s current form isn’t quite hitting the spot I decided to respond to the thread with:

“I’m seriously considering that in the worst case – if my current project doesn’t work-out for any reason – I’ll produce it as a stage-play instead. I found David Seidler’s comment about writing The King’s Speech as a play very fascinating – it really forces you as a writer to concentrate on what is important about the story.”

Expecting to hear nothing more, I was surprised by the positive responses the idea provoked, with people saying “yes, do it“. So I thought to myself I really need to speak to Bruce about this, could be just what we need. Time passes (I was probably still pondering) and I find myself attending a Digital Media meeting at work. I met some interesting people and got chatting to the guy who was running the meeting. I offered to help support the group and he invited me to give a talk at a future meet-up. After this we began to chat about the projects we are working on outside of the day to day stuff. At this point I tell him all about the Flanders project and say “it’s written by someone who works here“. No sooner had he replied “Who?“, Bruce walks past… Nice to catch up with Bruce again, he seems to be jet-setting around rather a lot at the moment. We had a brief chat and he asked what feedback I’d received. He also mentioned that he had received some feedback and said someone suggested to him “Why not try this as a play“. Coincidence number 2?

So the current status of the project is we are still working on the screenplay, but we will try to develop it as a play as well. There are many advantages of trying things out as a play beforehand. Firstly the costs will be significantly lower. It will force us to focus on only what is important (as already mentioned). We will get to workshop the characters with actors. Perhaps most useful of all, we will get to see what works and doesn’t in front of a live audience before the film is made. This is a huge departure for me, but it seems extremely exciting – will keep you posted!

The other big news (just as everything on the film was starting to feel like it was being put on the back-burner): it looks like I have found a producer/collaborator (Sherilee Wedderburn) who will help to get things going in the background with the project. Film-making is such a long-winded process, so it will be great to have Sherilee working with me on the connections required to bring the project together and concentrating on business aspects. Coincidence number 3 is that she is based locally and just so happened to be the first person I met at the Guerilla film-makers master-class when I arrived at the reception – what are the odds?

Other news, I went to the John Barry Memorial Concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 20th June. What a mixture of emotions, but a wonderful tribute to my favourite composer of all time.

There were so many highlights, it would be difficult to list them all. Let’s just say I have even greater respect for Michael Caine and Shirley Bassey now – if this is even possible! And who knew that film composer David Arnold could sing? Nicholas Dodd was perhaps the unsung hero who conducted his heart out (I saw him wipe a tear after conducting Somewhere in Time, and he went giddy as a child in a toy store after conducting the Bond suite). Talking of which, the Bond stuff was of course awesome and this has inspired me to revisit work with my inital concept for the Goldfinger Audio Drama. There is no way on earth I can reach even a fraction of Goldfinger‘s complete awesomeness. This said, I have a month or so to finish the concept, I’ll try my utmost to try and make it at least worthy. Shirley, if you are available I could do with a vocalist… 🙂