[Sorry for lack of picture – but imagine Pancake picture here]
It has been a while, and there are several reasons for that. I guess you would have figured out by now that if the Wales shoot had all been tickety boo (= satisfactory) I would have written about right after it finished.
In stead, I write about – the Pancake Analogy.
I should be packing by now, but a short note here before I am off. All is prepared for my trip to Wales, well all that I could think of that should be prepared.
There are a couple of changes to the original plans:
The school children will not be there. The school has withdrawn from the project because they were in involved in too many other things so they did not have the time anyway. This makes my life as producer a whole lot easier. In stead of school children we will use some more actors. It is not completely the same, but with some creative camera work, I am sure it will be fine.
I am very busy planning the 4 days film shoot in Wales in February. I have never really done serious production planning before, and this is a great opportunity for me to get experience. Planning this shoot is not very different from planning a four day film shoot for my own short film, should I ever want to do the production planning for that myself.
But what I got was a script and what I was told was: go do it. And I thought – oh shit – where do I start. The way to do it I learned is to take a small step at the time.
Just in case you thought I am going through this whole make-a-film-process with 2 fingers in my nose having nothing to worry about – it is not like that. It’s tough, it’s difficult, it’s hard work and some days I want to give up. Today is one of those days.
Did I write that my script was ready to shoot yesterday? I take that back.
In between everything, I have actually written 5 pages of brand new (feature length) script. There is no chance that I will finish this script anytime soon, but the beginning is there.
My mind is thinking about the story a lot, there are a couple of options and I am trying to figure out the best one. I think it will be more rom and less com this time, even though there will certainly be things to laugh about. I actually look forward to return to my writing in a cafe life style. Billy Mac(book) hasn’t been out for a while so he is eager to get back out there too.
Next week I hope to have a break through on the search for Producer/Production manager mission for SweetArts. I don’t dare to count on anything for certain because I have seen too many people come and quickly go again, but something tells me that this might be the real deal. Maybe I am just ignorant, or maybe with a little luck, it falls into place.
If that is the case, I need to get back to focusing on casting. I watched the audition tapes again, and there are certainly a couple of women I can see as June. But I am not too sure I have spotted Dan amongst the men yet.
And look at the above snap shots: it is very likely that this is going to be the location for the art school. The pictures are not very clear, but there are easels (they are leaning against the wall folded together on this photo), brushes, paint and all kind of other art school stuff around in this place. And seeing as it is in fact a place where they teach art, it seems perfect to me. It is also pretty spacious so enough room for a camera crew. So I think that location nut is cracked. That leaves a bookshop and a park to sort out still.
This weekend I have been invited over to wonderful Devon by my good friend. I look forward to some fresh air, the sea, excellent company and to meet her two lovely dogs.
Enjoy the weekend wherever you are.
A somewhat hectic weekend, with again, ups and downs. Here are some notes on the casting and audition process:
I have long struggled taking this decision. I was jumping between the following two options:
No! No! No! Don’t be bloody ridiculous. Are you insane? Don’t do it. He will think you are stupid. It’s just not done. You can’t do things like that. Do-no-do-it. No! Don’t!! You will be doomed forever and he will never ever want to hear from you again.
and
OK. What have I got to lose? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life thinking: why did I not at least give it a try? What is the worst that can happen? That I don’t hear anything in return? Or that I get an angry letter from his agent telling me to bugger off, or saying “How dare you! Who do you think you are?”. Would that weigh up against the fact that I then don’t have to wonder about it the rest of my life?
Thoughts like these have played ping-pong in my head for a long time. I think the thing that eventually made me make my decision was the fact that all the people I have met the last couple of weeks, the very experienced producers (who are used to reading scripts) and the casting director: they all loved the script. It gave me confidence.
So last week I decided to risk it. I sat down, wrote a letter and posted it. Today I got the answer from his agent, and this is what it literally said – *he* would *love* to read the script. Shall I repeat that – *HE* WOULD *LOVE* TO READ THE SCRIPT! No I don’t quite believe it either.
Now *HE* is also a very busy man, so it surely won’t get any further than him reading the script. But bloody hell – *he* (the best actor in the world) is going to read my script!
(I won’t mention his name here, but people knowing me just a little, know who *he* is)
Oh and one more thing: there will 24 actors coming for audition tomorrow. 24!! I just checked a few of them and these are people that have been in things like Dr. Who and James Bond movies. I think I am going to pack my bag and run away now, this is becoming way too scary! Scaring the willies out of me this is!
There are a couple of reasons for this:
Back to the film.
I know that this is starting to look a bit like the diary of a film maker. Well it’s important for me to write up this process. One year from now I want to be able to read back what an insane time this has been and how things went. So the coming time the focus of this blog will be on the making of SweetArts.
The other thing is that I won’t have any time for anything else in my life for a while. Here are some random notes and thoughts again:
Bob called me while I was drinking a juice in the Caffe Nero in Hammersmith. I walked out and tried to spot him. He told me to walk towards the tube station. I walked and looked. He was in his car he said. I scanned the area. Lots of cars around Hammersmith. I saw a man with sunglasses in an MG convertible with open roof. Funky car I thought. I scanned further while talking to Bob. I didn’t see him. I had a closer look at the MG. Really nice car. I looked at the man inside it. He was on the phone. A closer look revealed that his lip sync with the man I was talking to was near perfect. Wait a minute …
“Do you happen to sit in a funky MG?” I asked Bob.
“Yes!” he said with a friendly British voice.
“I am on my way to you now!” I said.
A split second I thought – am I actually going to step into a car with a man I don’t really know? Bob seemed reliable, and a car like this with an open roof, I could always climb out. I jumped in. We drove off, the wind trying to blow the worries out of my head.
And that’s when I met Bob.
Here is your regular short film production update. And really, I can’t quite believe all this is happening either.
If there is one thing I learn it’s that nothing is as unpredictable as the process of making a short film. It might be back on track again now, and I am again aiming for a shoot at the end of August. If all goes well, I am going to take a week off there and shoot it five days in a row.
But seeing the nature of this project, tomorrow things might look completely different again.
For those not knowing anything about the film:
Dan (50’s) is an award winning romantic novelist, an expert on romance – in books.
Being a master with written words – Dan loves corresponding with June (50’s).
Until the day where June invites him over for tea.
Having a severe stutter, Dan has refused dating women for what seems like a life time.
Will he lose June or is a Jammie Dodger going to save the day?
But I am trying to fight against it!
First a recommendation: WALL-E. Go see it. It’s a 10/10 film. It’s clever, funny, very actual, and it’s a roboromcom! Wall-E is such a cool character that I took the bus from the cinema to Hamley’s and brought him home with me. See how much a film can say without any dialogue. Great for both children and grown ups. Go see it! Go! Go! Go!
On the short film front – Sunday was a day of location hunting.
I met with a potential assistant yesterday, we got along quite well, so I guess he is the person who will help me not going mental.
And I forgot to add: I need a dog as well!
I feel like running away.
I have a meeting with a potential assistant this evening. And also hope to have a meeting with a potential assistant producer very soon. See, I am actually working on it!
And I will soon start the search for locations and actors.
The words above are words from my feed, which means that these are recently written words on this weblog.
Tomorrow I will be joined by a good friend and we will go and admire the long legged lanky grooviness of Bill. Portland Bill. We will also play frisbee!
Extra bonus information: Weymouth is also the location where they have shot a lot of the exterior scenes for The Boat That Rocked.
When I walked to the toilet yesterday I passed a woman at the shared washing up sink. She was cleaning brushes. Not just a few of them, loads of them. A closer look revealed that she had a small cart filled with glasses with brushes, and palettes filled with paint. I walked on.
But then my brain started working and it said to me:
Scene 25
INT. ART SCHOOL CLASSROOM – NIGHT
Oh! Wait a minute!
5 tips from a girl who desperately tries not to go insane while slowly moving towards the actual production of her 10 minutes short film.
And 4 tips to get you started.
This is just a short post to say that I am back on Earth. I think. Travelling in space messes up your mind. But here is a short list of things I have to say today (will write proper posts soon, I promise):
I have decided something, as my red laptop is lovely, it is simply too big and heavy to drag around to cafes. I want to be able to write in cafes and have my eye on a Apple Macbook. Not the least because Windows Vista is pissing me off beyond reason, and also because it’s such a beautiful designed machine, and I am sure we will be happily ever after. And Final Draft will run on it nicely.
SO expect some irregular and messy posts until somewhere after the weekend.
After next weekend my life should be back to normal. Well not too normal I hope, that would be too boring.
I hope you are all well out there.